Challenge a Sales Opportunity during Deal Review

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We are selling the value of our solution not the price!

The Value Proposition should show in a concise and quantified way our solution provides:

• Revenue increase and/or,
• Cost reduction and/or,
• Control/compliance improvement or Risk reduction.

Great technology and features are not values, but improving the business, solving pain, ROI are!

The Value Proposition should answer:

• Why is it important to the client?
• Compared to their current solution, is it
  • Delivering better or more value?
  • Delivering value sooner?
  • Cheaper?
  • Safer/less risky?

So, when I attend a deal review, I usually start with the following questions to challenge a sales opportunity.

Is this a real opportunity?	Is there a project with an approved budget? What is the compelling event to change? Why change now vs status quo (i.e., “do nothing”)? Have we identified a champion and the economic buyer?
Are we in control of the timing?	Is there a sense of urgency? Why change now vs later? Do we understand the decision process and the administrative process? Do we have access to the decision makers and the stakeholders?
Do we have a reasonable chance to win?	Do we have a clear understanding of the link between the client’s objective and the pain or roadblocks our solution is solving? How is solution vs the competition? Why us vs a competitor? How is our solution perceived by the champion and the economic buyer?
Are we selling enough value?	Is our solution providing additional revenue, cost reduction, or risk mitigation? If not, it may not be enough… What is the ROI of our solution? Are we delivering better or more value vs competition? After how long (after implementing our solution) does the client break even? Are we delivering value sooner vs competition? Is our solution safer or less risky vs competition? Do the champion and the economic buyer share the same conclusion?
Do we have a strong close plan?	Who is in favor and against our solution? What is our plan to win the missing votes? Is our plan (from now until the implementation) shared with the client (i.e., the client and us “own” actions in this plan)?