The Loose Thread

The business world and life in general appears to be more volatile than ever.

Geopolitical and economic pressures, increased legislation, competition from new and unexpected sources, internal company restructuring and downsizing all play on the mind of decision makers.

These decision makers are doing more of their own research and coming away with an incomplete, inaccurate and biased impression, making decisions by committee, which take longer and are more conservative, resulting in longer sales cycles for smaller deal sizes.

You’re waiting a lot longer and making less money.

Where It Pulls

Having spent almost 30 years working with heads of strategy in ICT and high-tech organisations throughout numerous boom and bust cycles, I can give you a solution that works.

You need to stack the risk–reward equation for your clients.

No one makes good decisions when they’re operating from a position of fear, and this is where you can really benefit your clients, through sharing your previous success.

By showing your most conservative and risk-averse clients real clients whose industry, position, responsibilities and challenges they relate to, through multiple compelling successes, it will build their trust and confidence in your organisation.

But you’re probably thinking a bunch of stories, no matter how compelling, aren’t going to be enough to remove the fear your client is feeling — and you’d be right.

Remember, your client decided to take a risk on you. They got a winning result. Their reward is they became a hero.

Hellen was someone in this situation.

Follow the Thread

Hellen is the director of field marketing for a B2B technology company that specialised in large-scale application integration.

Her organisation had been through radical changes, having recently spun out of an even larger global tech brand and now owned by a private equity firm.

Having experienced so many changes in a short space of time, there was an overwhelming feeling of fatigue, stress, and a reluctance to do anything considered risky.

When It Clicked

After a brief chat, Hellen realised the marketing collateral her team were sharing with their clients was out of step with their frame of mind.

What they needed were stories of successful outcomes from people and organisations they could identify with — stories to build confidence.

Instead, they had been sharing a report card that read: problem, intervention, solution delivered by products and services.

Hellen set to work on pivoting her team’s approach.

What Moved

In a short space of time, the newly energised and excited team created a small library of compelling stories — with their courageous contacts as the lead actors in the role of the hero, who felt the fear and did it anyway.

The library has since grown considerably and is now the go-to resource for departments across the organisation looking for a story that truly conveys the outcomes they deliver.

Where Is Yours?

In a climate of fear and volatility, are you presenting proof…
or are you building belief?

Are you showing product…
or stacking the risk–reward equation so your clients can see themselves as the hero?