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Today I want to show you why understanding your customers and your stakeholders is paramount for you to win.
Iโm not talking about whether you should make certain decisions, Iโm talking about mapping out how well you know your customer, how well your customer knows you, your offerings, and where you stand with the people who pull the stringsโฆto say yes to you winning your contract.
And why you need to emphasize this on your bids, especially before they get to a Go / No-Go decision.
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What Iโm going to cover the following in this newsletter:
Why Stakeholder Mapping is Important
Why You Should CareโฆEvery Time
Why You Need to Invest in ThisโฆEvery Time
Where to Start and How to Do It
By the way, I have a NEW eBook that focuses specifically just on this. Do you want to get your own copy? Check it out below!
Why This is Paramount for Your Business
Over the years, this was one of the most essential elements of any project that I worked on. We would spend time understanding the customer and the decision-makers, where we stood with the customer, whether they wanted our offerings, us or someone else, etc.
Can things be improved, should we submit, bring in partners with stronger past performance to improve our chances, or can we position ourselves for additional growth? What can we do to improve our probability of winning?
The bigger the opportunity, the more eyeballs on it. The more cooks in the kitchen. The more dynamics you need to think about to make sure you are front and center in the decision-making tree.
The stakeholders that are making the decisions to move forward with a project (or program) cover many areas before they decide to go forward and make an ultimate yes.
Letโs position you so you can get to the yes and the decision-makers want you.
Letโs dance.
First Touch – Who Are the Decision Makers
Building your pipeline requires time, energy, and effort.
Building an effective pipeline requires all of the above, but also getting to know the people in the opportunities.
When you review your opportunities with your senior management, you want to discuss the people making the decisions, what you can do to get in front of the right individuals, or, what you need to do to position yourself ahead of the competition.
You donโt want to lose a bid because you didnโt know someone who makes a decision or because they didnโt know who you were.
Not sure who the decision-makers are? Hereโs what to do.
Build a map out of your opportunity and the individuals who are responsible for awarding the opportunity. Breakdown the following areas:
๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ ๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ Customer ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป-๐ ๐ฎ๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
Decision-Maker
Influencer
Advisor
User
Starting a mind map of whoโs who within the overall decision-making tree can help you understand where you stand and where you need to spend time developing relationships.
Need a mind map? Check out the ones here, here, and here to get started.
Letโs build on that.
Second Touch – Add in Details
Gif by abcnetwork on Giphy
Part of every decision-marking tree is the essential details behind who they are, what matters to them, and how you and your solution sit with this specific opportunity.
Things to consider.
Do they know you? As in are you on a first-name basis with them?
Can they trust you?
Are they even interested in doing business with you?
Why would they change their existing vendors to go with you?
Where in the procurement processes are they?
There are many more. But add context to the people who pull the strings and who you need to know. Never assume that you are a sure lock.
Do You Remember When? Last Contact = Critical
When was the last time you spoke with your potential customer? Yesterday, last week? 3 months ago? Not every opportunity moves quickly (or as fast as your boss wants it to go).
Your CRM might say that youโve updated an opportunity recently, but when was the last time you spoke with the decision-maker on an opportunity? They are different things.
Having relevant details will be critical if you are looking at an opportunity and deciding whether to Go/No-Go on it.
Pack Some Additional Punch
Adding context around your opportunities will do absolute wonders for structure and pinpointing what opportunities are worth pursuing, and others not. Here are a few additional thoughts:
If there are gaps, recommend to your executive team that you need support (i.e., I need help meeting these people, introduce me to so and so, etc.). It gives specific targets for senior leadership to focus on.
Donโt generalize. If you need to focus on a specific person (i.e., the CEO, that Lt. Col, the City Manager, whomever) then put that down.
Stakeholder maps force account managers and business development teams to write down their relationships, there will be gaps. Itโs not anything personal, just need to know where to focus.
Build relationships and deep relationships. If you only have strength with 1 or 2 people, build more relationships as a result of this exercise. Never assume that those (1 or 2) individuals can champion you in a deal, especially the bigger (think $$$) the opportunity.
This is a living document. It changes. New people come in, people leave, people have a change of hearts, people learn, and people build relationships.
Check out these resources below so you can now draft up your stakeholder map. Iโve built out what you should look for
Build towards it, donโt jump the gun.
Relationships are critical. You donโt want to admit that you lost a deal because you didnโt know all the individuals that decide the deal.
Each deal is different, each customer is different. But take charge of where you need to focus and never assume that you have all the customers saying yes to your offerings.
Want to go deeper? Check out my recent eBook above.
People make decisions. People want to know who you are and that you are reliable and can execute the work
Have a great week this week. See you next week.
Whenever you’re ready, there are 2 ways I can help you:
Unlocking Hidden Potentialย – Reconnecting with Past Clients for Explosive Growth – Check out my free eBook on how you can find hidden gems in your past clients and help you crush your sales goals.
Build your Sales CRM – Download our free Sales eBook on How Your Sales Team Can Maximize Your CRM Tool. Whether itโs Hubspot, Salesforce, or another CRM tool, make sure you leverage it to your advantage.
Awesome Sales Resources – Modernize and transform your sales engagement and capabilities across Social Selling, CRM, Lead Generation, Enablement, and more.
