One tool that we have used in a number of opportunities is a sales clinic. It is a workshop which is conducted early on during an opportunity and will give answers on the current status of the opportunity, it’s win probability, and gives a challenge to the opportunity team, forcing them to think through their win strategy. It will answer some key questions needed to properly qualify an opportunity:
- is this the right deal to pursue?
- is the value proposition of the deal in line with the corporate strategy? how will competitors likely pursue this deal?
Ideally, the sales clinic is conducted as a physical meeting, time needed is about 2-3 hours, depending on the maturity of the opportunity and how familiar the participants are with the concept of a sales clinic.
The agenda for such a workshop is as shown in the picture below:
First, the Opportunity lead gives a short introduction on the client, the overall situation, and also – if needed, the sales clinic concept.
Then, the bid team presents the participants the opportunity – what does the client want to achieve, requirements, boundaries, etc. This should not cover a solution, but focus on the scope and the various stakeholders. After the presentation the participants have the opportunity for a Q&A session.
During the next phase, the participants are divided into 3 teams which analyse the opportunity from a specific angle:
- Competitors assess how the key competitors will likely approach this opportunity. Depending on the knowledge of the deal team, it can be specific competitors, or generic terms like Indian Pure Plays, or Local players, etc. They should also focus on creating a SWOT model of the individual competitors with respect to this opportunity.
- Account / Delivery will analyse the deal from the perspective of the internal delivery team – what will be key challenges, what will work which requirements will be difficult to implement. Target here is a realistic SWOT picture as well as a first indication for the solution.
- The Management Team will look at this deal from a senior management perspective – is this opportunity in line with the overall strategy, or can it actually be something that will develop a certain part of the practise? Further, the management team should look after likely issues during the upcoming qualification and approval process in order to identify stops so early that the deal team can work on alternatives of solutions.
In each of those 3 parallel sessions, a member of the deal team should participate, ensuring that the discussion is based on the currently available knowledge about the opportunity.
After the breakout sessions, the team reassembles and each work stream gives a quick overview on their findings, focussing on challenges and potential solutions.
The outcome should be a clear guidance to the bid team on what to focus on during the qualification and solution phase, as well as a first draft of a win strategy.
From the description of the sales clinic, it is clear that the right persons need to participate:
- the deal team – all key persons involved in the opportunity. Ideally at least the account manager, the solution architect, and the bid manager.
- persons who know the competitors, either because they just encountered those competitors during a similar bid, or because they have had another exposure with competition.
- Delivery management – ideally both the account delivery lead as well as someone who is managing a similar engagement for another customer
- Senior Management – ideally some of the persons who will have to give approvals later on, together with managers who will not be directly involved, but who can provide an “Inside out view”
Getting all those persons together for a meeting is an investment, but the outcome will be worth the effort. Ideally, a new opportunity is a large step further in the qualification process, and the bid team has a clear guidance and direction towards solution and bid strategy.
Therefore we recommend this tool for all deals where qualification or solution is not straight forward.