So here we are in a continuing economic slump. The good news is that companies (probably including yours) have made it through slumps before, and are learning new ways to cope every day.  The not so good news is that your organization probably needs to re-assess its sales tactics and focus on spreading new tactics throughout the sales system.

How do you ensure that room is created in your customer’s budget for your services?  It all starts with developing a provocative point of view on a critical issue, directly to a senior executive or the senior purchaser. 

Find the problems that your customer has, which your organization can address. 

What is the one issue or situation that keeps your customer up at night?  Is there an area that is being ignored or ineffectively addressed by the existing processes or systems?  Maybe you have found that sweet spot, but addressing that issue would require some retooling on the part of your company.  Now is the time to do it.  Who will survive and thrive in the current climate? Companies that are agile enough to change their products and offerings as needed, that’s who. 

Identifying a big problem that is a threat to the bottom line is what makes it worthwhile for an executive (or other decision maker) to meet with you.  The March issue of The Harvard Business Review gives a compelling argument for provocation-based selling over solution selling.  “…In a severe downturn, provocation-based selling may be the only way to move past the ‘buy nothing’ mantra emanating from customer organizations.  In sunnier economic times it can lend power and urgency to products or services that are non-disruptive or are relatively undifferentiated in their markets.”

Of course, solutions are still at the base of your company’s offerings within your market. However, there are distinct differences in these two tactics.  Let’s look at some examples of these differences:

Here is the bottom line: As the vendor, you must identify a process that is critical for customers in the current business environment, develop a compelling point of view on how it is currently broken and what that means in terms of cost.  Proceed by offering the solution to this ‘keep you up at night’ situation.  In short, the process begins with a customer’s problems rather than the solution that you are selling.  How can you shift your organization’s efforts to provocation-based selling?  It may be the key you need to get back in the door.