Recently, I was having a conversation with a group of sellers about ICPs and qualification. During the conversation, we were trying to refine their targeting and qualification. They were relatively sophisticated, but something wasn’t quite working as effectively as they hoped.
I introduced the idea of “Urgency Alignment.” I asked, are you and the customer aligned in the sense of urgency to achieve a shared goal? The ensuing discussion was fascinating.
The sellers had a high sense of urgency to close the deal–and to do it “this quarter.” We talked about how that was irrelevant to the customer. They are highly unlikely to care whether a seller closes a deal, if there is a deal to be done, it will be on their timeline, not the sellers.
But then we talked about urgency–and urgency alignment within the customer buying team. And the role sellers can play in helping, not only building the alignment, but increasing the urgency and commitment to do something.
There are a number of interesting perspectives around urgency alignment.
Usually, both buyers and sellers focus on problem alignment. Are we defining the problem in the same way, do we understand how it impacts everyone involved in the “problem solving” process, have we assessed the alternatives, have we assessed the risks, do we have a common understanding of the expect outcomes expected in solving the problem.
Alignment around the problem is critical, sellers can play an important role in helping customers achieve this. But alignment around urgency is the critical element.
So many times, customers have been aware of problems or challenges, but they have never been important–or urgent enough–to address. Often, customers say, “This is interesting, but we have other priorities.” Alternatively, “We’ve lived with it this long, we can wait until next year and reconsider.”
We talk about the cost of doing nothing, hoping the cost of doing nothing far exceeds the cost of the change, subsequently driving the urgency of the customer. Or, often, we talk about FOMO and FOMU, with the Fear Of Messing Up often reducing the urgency.
But the reality is, the prevailing factor may be something as simple as the “hassle factor.” Our customers are overwhelmed, and while they recognize and agree with the business case, the rational decision seldom prevails. Almost always it’s the hassle factor that prevails.
A key issue around urgency alignment, within the customer buying team, is directly addressing the hassle factor issues. Understanding all the work that has to be done to drive the change, how it impacts or interferes with all the other things they are doing, Directly addressing the hassle factor, doing everything possible to reduce it, or make it understandable is something we often miss. But it’s important and stands in the way of moving forward.
Urgency alignment is, well, urgent. Everyone on the customer buying team has to be aligned around the urgency, and we have to be aligned with the customer.
The critical issue in urgency alignment is “Why Now?”
In addressing this, alignment around the problem and impact is critical, “This is an important problem for us to focus on now.” Addressing the costs of doing nothing versus the costs of change are critical. Addressing the FOMU that accompanies all major change initiatives is critical. Then that emotional issue around hassle factor must be addressed directly.
Deals don’t stall or disappear because customers don’t understand the problem. They disappear because of lack of urgency and urgency alignment within the team. We need to begin addressing urgency and urgency alignment with our qualification process, constantly reinforcing it through the entire customer change/problem solving process.
We need the customer to address the Why Now issue at the beginning of their process. Each person involved has to be aligned around the answers to this. We have to go beyond the logic, the value proposition, the business case, addressing the emotional issues and hassle factor that gets in the way of any change initiative.
Through the entire process, we have to help keep the customer aligned around the urgency and importance of acting now. We may want to help the customer explore pulling their decision sooner–but for their own reasons based on their urgency assessment.
And we have to align our own expectations and actions with those of the customer.
Afterword: Here is another outstanding AI based discussion of this post. Enjoy!
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