What Is Your Vision [For Your Client]

I am not asking about your Corporate Vision, but instead I am asking a crucial question for your Sales teams. What is your Vision for your Clients? You may be asking why you care about having a Vision for your client. Let me give you a couple of reasons to think about.

The first concept relates back to the Status Quo and the underlying thing we sell, which is CHANGE. When we show up, I am suggesting you need a Vision for the client or they will stay in the in the Status Quo. They view it as the easiest, safest place to be. The second concept relates to the benefit of having a Vision that aligns the client and is leading them to make Change. If you created the Vision, your chances of winning the business are 75%.

When I use the term Vision in this context, what I am referencing is the business problem and priority area that you are helping your client with in an attempt to make them better. If you ask one of your Sales Reps this question, it is very natural they will think about themselves first versus their client. “What is your vision for XYZ Corp.?” “I would like to sell them ABC Product for $100,000 by the end of September.” In an attempt to get our clients thinking differently about the current state or their status quo, I would suggest this starts with us thinking different as a starting point. A different answer to the question that focuses on the customer and aligns to what is important to them may sound like this. “We would like to help them reduce their Time-To-Market for new product launches by 30%.”

This is very different mindset for us and it forces us to think critically about the Commercial conversations we want to have with them. We need to Think Different if we are going to “Lead Them” to a different place or way of thinking about their current state.

Research on this topic would suggest that if you do not have a least 1 influential resource inside the client organization who is aligned to your Vision and can help lead a change initiative, then your opportunity is going no where. If we are going to align that 1 person to our Vision, then we need to have a Vision as an obvious starting point.

As more people show up in the Buying or Decision Making Process, our job will get more complex. The fact that we created the Vision and did the early education with the client, give us a short-term lead. How you manage your Sales Strategy from this point will have a material impact on the number of “No Decisions” and your cost of sale.

Having a Vision when you show up will help create some differentiation in how you think, sound and behave in front of the client. It will also shape how you think about your strategy for your clients and it will impact how you coach your team.