Book Description

Understanding and analyzing a competitive sales opportunity so you can properly prepare and execute your plan to win a competitive sales campaign. The book includes these areas:Understanding Your Opportunity - Examine all aspects of the creation of and expectations for your opportunity to enable you to build a solution that meets and exceeds the customer's requirements.* Understand the client's business structure and keys to business success* Understand the financial and non-financial health metrics of your opportunity* Understand why companies buy, how they make investment decisions, and budget* Determine compelling business issues and why your opportunity was created* Maximize the value of the opportunity to you and your client* Discover the client's business pains and their consequences and where you can help* Understand your objectives, strategy, and tactics for your opportunityPolitical Alignment - Examine relevant aspects of the key stakeholders that will impact or will be impacted by the opportunity and your solution.* Review the roles, areas of involvement, focus, and evaluation criteria of key stakeholders* Evaluate coverage, contact frequency, support level, and focus on key individuals* Determine key stakeholder's power, clout, and acceptance to your proposed change* Determine the keys to creating support and sponsorship* Learn to align, and gain access to executives and key stakeholders* Have effective executive conversations and build strong executive business relationships* Build sponsorship and urgency for your solution within your client's cultureDevelop Your Superior Business Value Solution - Use your information and discovery to create a solution which satisfies the client requirements and is perceived by them to be of superior business value over that of your competition.* Understand client value, perceptions of value, mutual value, and components of value* Map client's value requirements to your solution and the change you will bring to them* Frame your solution to the client's business and expand your value across organizations* Outline the resources and capabilities you can bring to this client for this opportunity* Assess your partner's involvement and integrate them if they will be involved* Create a successful business case and proposal that will get approved and not vetoed * Gain and build commitment for your solutionThe Competition - Analyze your competition and create competitive immunity and speed bumps with an effective competitive counter strategy.* Understand who your competitors are and what your competitive requirements are* Assess how your competition sells against you* Understand what their business culture and personality means to this opportunity* Identify competitive support within your client* Review competitive strategies and develop your competitive counter strategy * Learn key competitive practices and competitive considerationsPutting Together The Plan & Presentation - Take all your information and analysis from the workshop and prepare a Competitive Opportunity Management Plan for your team, specifically for this opportunity.* Review the planning structure, components, key elements, and process* Create specific objectives, strategies, and tactics from workshop exercises and actions* Learn how to test, implement, communicate, and govern the plan * Prepare and practice the delivery and presentation of your plan* Review key presentation considerations before, during, and after the plan presentation* Define your role in winning and take charge of driving the plan to success