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About 30 years ago, I took a prospect who was interested in one of my technology products to meet with the owner of a company that was already utilizing it. The business owner started our meeting by asking my prospect, “So what are you trying to accomplish?” While it was such a simple question, it packed a substantial punch and segued into a deep discussion on needs, pain points, expectations and goals. And I have never forgotten the power of those words.
Just today, I had a meeting with a business owner who is looking into some new software to manage significant functions of his business. So I asked him a variation of our question, and again it spurred a very interesting discussion. “If you had that software today, what would you do with it?” We all know that simply purchasing the technology isn’t enough and that software sitting idle doesn’t do anyone any good. It would have to be installed, the team would need to be trained and the best way to leverage it would need to be determined.
We proceeded to discuss the specifics of the functionality he needed (which was to manage proposals, scheduling, adjustments and billing). From there we discussed the company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) and how his Situation Analysis, Unique Selling Proposition and Value Proposition would differ and ideally improve with this new solution.
By taking a goal-centric approach to vetting new technology, rather than solely focusing on the bells and whistles of the particular product, our discussion shed a whole new light on the potential impact of this technology on the owner’s business. Try it!
By Bob Dodge
