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The Perfect Storm
QUOTE
“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.”
Arthur C. Clarke
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 Pressure Builds for Custom Solutions
Our recent newsletters have examined various effects of the Perfect Storm brewing in today’s economy. They offered useful perspectives and strategies for surviving, adapting, and growing in this turbulent business environment. In this month’s newsletter we will address Segmentation (the shift to custom solutions) and how most organizations must make this transition in order to maintain and grow their businesses. Specifically, we will answer four critical questions:
- What is behind the drive for custom solutions?
- What are the organizational implications of developing and selling custom solutions?
- How can you get around the obstacles?
- How do you incorporate the customer into your solutions?
What is behind the drive for custom solutions?
The need for custom solutions is driven by a knowledge-rich and constantly changing business environment. Our customers’ needs are dynamic, their challenges are unique to their circumstances, and effective solutions are becoming increasingly complex.
- Products Fall Short: Standardized products and services are seldom enough. Out-of-the-box solutions can be viewed as too broad or narrow in scope, or too rigid in detail to benefit individual customers. The service component wrapped around products is often the strongest differentiator in the market.
- Solutions Satisfy: Comprehensive custom solutions are increasingly what customers want and demand. Like it or not, our custom solutions must be as dynamic as our client organizations in order for us to attract, satisfy, and retain customers in the Perfect Storm.
What are the organizational implications of developing and selling custom solutions?
Companies can no longer rely on individual sales professionals to sell their solutions. Likewise, no one person can develop a custom solution. The reason is that both of these endeavors have become too complex, requiring greater knowledge than single individuals can acquire and retain. For custom solutions, organizations must tap resources across departmental lines.
Cross-functional teams bring the breadth and depth of knowledge required. However, moving from a one-man band to a well orchestrated team can have its challenges. For example:
- Sales Paradigm Shift: This shift can lead to control issues for sales professionals who are used to “owning” the entire sales process. While the sales professional should maintain control of the overall sale and internally represent the voice of the customer, they must let go of doing everything and work with a team. Control and decision-making must now be shared with the team because it is the team that will likely be responsible for implementing the new solution once it is sold.
- Teams Need Appropriate Control: Organizations must come to grips with the fact that they cannot hold a team accountable for implementing a solution if the team had nothing to do with designing and planning the solution. Therefore, teams need control of custom solution design, planning, and development.
- Teams Should Also Be Accountable: On the other hand, when we tell sales professionals that their success in selling is dependent on the support they get from teams, the teams need to be “getting it done” with a strong focus on the customer and the lead sales professional (who becomes an internal customer). As we discussed in our last newsletter, making teams work well across functional lines can be quite challenging. But companies do not have a choice in this – they must take the organizational steps necessary to support and nurture high-performing teams.
How can you get around the obstacles?
Whenever you go from one person doing something to multiple people doing it, you need a commonly understood process and defined roles within that process.
- Integrated Process: The processes for selling and developing custom solutions must become a single integrated process.
- Defined and Aligned Roles: The roles and responsibilities of sales people, team leaders, team members, and senior managers must be defined within the process in a way that promotes teamwork and aligns control and accountability for each role.
- Team Skills: For cross-functional teams to perform efficiently team members need skills and tools that will help them collaborate, communicate, and build trust. When team members have these skills they can work effectively as partners on their team and with their clients. (See our May 2006 newsletter.)
How do you incorporate the customer into your solutions?
The traditional product development process is often hidden and disconnected from the customer. Making the shift to custom solutions requires that we sell and develop our products and services much differently.
- Customer Focus: The customer is an essential element of custom solution sales and development. Strong customer focus must be maintained throughout the process.
- Value Proposition: Developing the value proposition is no longer a step in the process – it permeates the entire process!
- Alignment and Motivation: Everyone involved in the process should be qualified, motivated, and preferably incented, to perform their role with skill and an ongoing focus on the customer.
At Advance Consulting, we have helped many organizations make the shift to developing and selling custom solutions. Our own custom solutions can assist you in building the business infrastructure and competencies needed to partner with your clients and work effectively in teams. For more information, please contact us at info@advanceconsulting.com or call us at (831) 372-9444.
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