Transcript Keynote Title - Microsoft Dynamics

Stop Getting Lost in the Translation:
Managing Discovery Sessions
Ken Farmer| xRM3
Session Objectives
• Re-think your Discovery Sessions
– Have you adjusted to the new sales cycle?
• It’s not “Sales” and “Consulting” anymore
– Do you still have Island fever?
• Setting Prospect and Client Expectations
– What do they remember?
A Typical Process…
• Sales is still an island
• No qualified pushback
during Sales Discovery
• Consultant rarely gets
involved in prospect
conversations/discovery
• First implementation
meeting - KABLOOEY
The Power of Why
• Use carefully early in the process
– Set the expectation that we are here to collaborate
• Any Partner can “Do”
– We are hired to do it right for your situation
• “Interesting, have you ever thought of…”
– “…why are you doing it that way?”
Paint the Big Crayon Picture
©
• You want them to remember early conversations
– Hear same thing from Sales and Consulting – GASP!
• Work with your team, identify 2 or 3 key pieces
– What do you struggle with in projects
• Use distinct phrases over and over
– “Our job is to ask why so we can help with the how”
– “Starts with your process, not our functionality”
Big Crayon Picture example
• Think of your data as a
three-legged stool
• Who enters the data
• Who maintains the data
• Who consumes the data
• Getting and keeping your
data clean and efficient is
hard – lose either leg…
Always Include Consulting in
Your Sales Process
• Helps to align corporate objectives
• Brings your team closer together, speaking the
same language
• Consistency in message
• Facilitates better knowledge transfer
• Ongoing education for both “sides”
Questions, Comments, Affirming Rambling
Statements?
THANK YOU
Ken Farmer
President, Principal Consultant
xRM3, Inc. – Carlsbad, CA
www.xrmcubed.com
[email protected]
@kfarmer4444 @xrm3 @CRMassist
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