Working Smarter
Hoffman had some early success when he received an RFP for a very large opportunity. He used the framework, clearly identifying the current state, future state and negative consequences. “I took the pain point, tied it to a dollar amount and used the framework. I was able to demonstrate the value of our solution in a way that showed the business impact to win the opportunity.”
While it may be uncomfortable, asking probing questions to get prospects to identify the negative consequences and positive business outcomes proved to be the lynchpin for Hoffman’s success.
“I’d rather turn away a prospect that doesn’t want to tell me their positive business outcomes or negative consequence. If I’m prepared with my discovery questions and my pre-call planner, I get access to the economic buyer and am able to get higher and wider in my prospect accounts,” said Hoffman.
Another success factor was the reinforcement from his Divisional Vice President Dan Swift. “Having a manager that was holding us accountable for the repeatable use of the methodology and inspecting its use helped ensure we would be successful,” he said.
Swift drove home the simplicity of executing the framework which helped Hoffman use it in every sales conversation, no matter the buyer.
“It gives you a roadmap of how to be successful. It’s a simple structure and that’s the beauty of it. It allows you to simplify things that tend to be very complex.”
Download the PDF
