How to Have a Data-Linked Discussion with Clients

As a sales professional, you may wonder, ‘How much do I really need to understand about the field of data analytics?’ Which is a fair question. The relatively new field continues to evolve rapidly. Working out what is relevant, and what may be too technical for your prospective buyers takes time. 

And yes, product and industry knowledge are important. But this isn’t your prospective buyer’s first priority. If this is where you expend most of your energy, you’ve missed the point. Which is that you should be helping your prospective buyer to solve their problems with your data-linked solution. So the first question you need to answer is: who are your buyers? 

Do they oversee the company’s IT or business side of things? Or both? Are they a small and medium customer or a large enterprise? Your pitch needs to show how your solution can benefit them. Talking to someone from the IT team about how your solution will help their marketing campaigns to reach the right customer; or highlighting how your solution integrates efficiently from an API’s perspective to someone from the marketing team isn’t going to compel them to find out more. Because you haven’t shown them how this is of value to them. Your solution may well benefit the organisation’s performance as a whole. But they’ll never find out if you don’t first show the person you’re talking to how it benefits them.

Even with enterprise sales, you need to remember that you’re making a pitch to an individual. Sure, they may represent the company’s overall values and interests but they are also people who have to answer to their boss, or other decision makers. 

Once you’ve identified who they are, think about the outcomes these individuals seek. By taking the time to do your research, you can show how your solution addresses their specific pain points when you make a pitch. 

Better still, if you have existing customers who share similar pain points or have achieved the goals your prospective buyers aspire to, show how you’ve helped. The data-linked space is so crowded. So help your prospective buyers to actually envision their possible futures. Whether it’s how seamlessly your solution will fit with current CRM software or how efficiently it can consolidate data from multiple IPs. Give them a glimpse of how things have changed for the better for others like them. All this adds up and gives you the advantage to stand out. 

And if the individual you’re pitching isn’t the final decision maker, having these examples helps them to make the case for your solution to their superiors. So help them at every step of the way to show how your solution helps them and their organisation to achieve the transformation they seek.

The outcomes your prospective buyer seeks to achieve go beyond their day-to-day work. Expand your research to learn more about their company’s future goals, the markets they operate in and who they compete with. And use this to show how your solution relates to them.

Organisational Goals

Read posts and annual reports that the company publishes, or even look up interviews with the company’s C-suite leaders. I’ve found that they tend to include a lot of interesting facts about where they currently are and where they want to be, for example, are they embarking on a digital transformation journey. Know what they want specifically: whether it’s cloud strategy or working to provide seamless interaction between their online and offline platform. I’ve been doing this for more than a decade and have found that this step, which is often overlooked, has been invaluable in crafting a successful sales pitch.

Different Markets

Despite the industry’s growth in the past several years, the real use of advanced analytics varies by markets. In addition to keeping track of how this continues to evolve, learning how different markets continue to respond to its potential applications is also key. For instance, China, Japan and South Korea have been leading the charter in operationalising new-edge technologies, like Artificial Intelligence, while countries in Southeast Asia tend to approach with more caution, focusing on research and experiments instead. How do these sentiments impact your prospective buyer?

Industry Trends

As there is a shift in manufacturing moving from China to Southeast Asia, companies are leveraging AI to improve operational efficiency and safety by bringing automation. How does your solution support these trends? For instance, as concerns around data security grow, how will your solution maintain your prospective buyer’s privacy? In a crowded space, it’s also worth noting how your competitor’s solutions respond to these trends. You can then make a case for how your solution could be more relevant to any prospective buyer’s needs. 

1 Do Customer Research

Read about market and industry trends that impact the company. Read about the company – everything from the company’s websites to annual reports and interviews with C-suites. This gives you a better sense of where the company is today and where it wants to be. The background gives you a starting point to craft your sales pitch or a simple conversation with the person who could lead you to your eventual buyer.

2 Build a Portfolio of Success Stories

Document the specific problems your solution has solved for current customers. Bonus points if you collect testimonials as well. Share this with prospective buyers who have similar struggles and help them to envision how your solution will make their lives better.  

3 Connect the Benefits

It’s tempting to push your own agenda when making a pitch. Don’t fall into this trap. Instead, really understand your prospective buyers’ pain points and show them how your product helps them to achieve the outcomes they seek.