In a coaching session with one of my CEO clients yesterday, a wonderful thing happened. Something bubbled up that can make life easier.
We reviewed a new high-potential opportunity he’s pursuing. As we inventoried the factors involved, it became clear that his company is the logical supplier of the services required. Moreover, since he already has strong relationships with decision makers at the client company, communication channels are wide open. It was apparent that the client was operating inside their strong suit as well. In fact they were re-selling the finished product to a prime end user who is willing to pay a premium price because it’s a great fit for their needs.
In other words, he’d found the sweet spot in the value chain, and this is something we can all benefit from clarifying and pursuing. Whenever we find opportunities where the fit is natural — in complete alignment with our core abilities, the customer understands our value and timing works within our resources, selling becomes very easy. In fact it is nearly effortless because the usual strategies — getting in front of decision makers, choosing a coach, finding pain, making the right proposal following up to close become unnecessary. The fit is evident to everyone and the deal gets done. We move on to execution.
What if the majority of your revenue came from transactions where you were in exactly the sweet spot in the value chain? Business would be much easier and the battles many executives need to fight to defend margins would diminish. Life in the sweet spot is, well, sweeter.
Maybe the expanding economy is causing you to choose your customers more carefully due to limited capacity. Perhaps you just want to see higher ROI from your sales process. Any way you slice it, finding your sweet spot is important to you. I suggest you begin today to evaluate each opportunity to assure that you enter at the sweet spot in the value chain and make your life easier!
Here are five conditions you will find when you are at your optimum point, the sweet spot in the value chain.
- The goods and services you are supplying are within your core.
- Your customer is playing within their own core competencies.
- Every party to the transaction is getting a good deal.
- Everything is in place. No major “ifs” can stop the deal.
- It all works with your resources and timeframe.
It’s also possible to practice “sweet spot” selling pro-actively, to make it second-nature to seek out high-potential deals.
Here are some steps you might take to clarify and define the sweet spot in the value chain:
- Examine your business history and identify common factors that were present in your smoothest closings and most profitable transactions.
- Define your core competencies and prioritize selling them.
- Identify prospects whose core compliments your own.
