LW 58 Up-Selling Your Ideas

MEMORABLE PRESENTERS remember that they have to be sure their audience is ready to listen.
Not only must you have a powerful opening in order to pull them into your world, but up-front you should tell the audience that there will be a few key points from the presentation.
It is not “here are the 10 things for you to remember” … People will switch off after two or three.
A MEMORABLE PRESENTER remembers that there must be a WIIFM for the audience,
and only two or three action points.

And now on to Leading Ways …..   Up-Selling your Ideas
                                                            The fast-track to success

You have a fantastic idea to make your organization more successful, and you are keen to introduce it.

• You have spent time deciding on the best way to implement it.
• You have planned how it will be put in place.
• You have worked out when it will be introduced.
• You are really enthusiastic, and can visualise exactly how successful this will be.
• You are now ready to sell it...
• You write an upbeat presentation selling the benefits.

The presentation goes really well, and then it starts….
”That's all well and good, but it won't work here"
“It can't be done"
“What’s the point? It won't change anything"
“More work for us to do. When are we supposed to find the time?"
___________________________________________________________________
Are you like me, occasionally having difficulty getting upper management to either listen to or accept your ideas? Well, you are certainly not alone, and it is an all too common refrain.
Selling an idea to an organization requires that you understand :: the WIIFMs for the person you are presenting your idea to; how decision-makers operate; funding sources for your idea; and the power of the informal organization.

Selling ideas is primarily a problem-solving activity, although VITOs [Very Important Top Officers] have other factors which may influence their decision to take up your idea. These factors include ::

• Raising Revenues
• Increasing Efficiency
• Attracting New Customers
• Increasing Market Share
• Business Expansion – existing customers
• Higher ROI or EPS
• Keeping shareholders happy
• Lowering the cost of sales
• Lowering expenses
• And not surprisingly, enhancing their career

Shell & Moussa, in their book “The Art of Woo” [Win Others Over], describe up-selling your ideas as “the ability to win others over to your ideas without coercion, by using relationship-based emotionally intelligent persuasion.”
They, among others in the field, go on to describe the most common obstacles that can sink your ideas. Identified factors include::

• Preconceived ideas or bias.
• Conflicting interests.
• A lack of relationships (people do things with those they like and trust).
• Lack of personal credibility within the organization.
• A lack of persuasive communication.
• Focusing on yourself, instead of your audience.
• Forgetting about office politics, and
• Not following a systematic process as you move to persuade people to accept and implement your idea.

My goal is to outline a process which will ensure that more of your ideas get implemented. In this exercise you will find that persistence is paramount, as is your ability to respond to objections, such as “It won’t work, we tried it last year.”

A good starting point is to understand the power of the informal organization.
Centres of Influence [the informal organization] include:

Social Class (material wealth can equal power); Personal or group charisma; Ascribed power (acting on perceived or assumed abilities); Expertise (ability, skills); Persuasion (direct, indirect, or subliminal); Knowledge (granted or withheld, shared or kept secret); Money (financial influence, control of labor, control through ownership, etc); Force (violence, military might, coercion); Moral persuasion (including religion); Group dynamics (such as public relations); Social influence -- tradition (i.e. ascribed power); and Relationship -- domination/submissiveness.
Too many to remember, and so I have narrowed the list to what I believe are the most important centers of influence. These include:

• Those with Influence & Communication though perceived Charisma.
• Those with strong existing internal networks – social networks are powerful
• The CFO or those with control over resources – people, equipment or finance, and
• Customer-acquirers or BDs

What are you doing to build this network and credibility, before you attempt to present your ideas?

Remember, selling ideas is not like selling products. With a product, customers can see what they are buying, test the quality and weigh up the cost/benefits amongst competing products.
                                  With an idea, all they see and hear is you and your words.

It is all about trust. Using the ‘Rule of 7,’ it will take 6 or 7 face-to-face contacts before someone potentially likes and trusts you.
Only then, will they commit to working with you by following through to ensure a fair hearing. This may ultimately result in the implementation of your idea.
Note also that there may be direct ‘influencers’ at work in relation to your idea.

• The end user. How will he/she benefit from your idea?
• Technical screening - the person responsible for reporting on the feasibility of your idea.
• Financial – the person making the financial decision around your idea regarding whether or not to provide funding, and
• The ultimate decision-maker.

                How developed are your relationships with those people?

Idea-buyers typically ask themselves three questions:

1. How competent is the idea-presenter, based on past performance? Reflecting on my past experience with this person, is this idea likely to work? To allay any fears, perhaps present “success stories” from your other adopted ideas.
2. Is this person being open and honest, or handing me some ‘b.s.’?
3. Does this person care more about themselves and their idea than me, my issues and reputation?

Buying your idea is an emotional decision, just like buying a house or a car.

People don’t get excited about facts. Your emotional connection and buy-in will come from your story around the idea….a story which taps into the powerful emotions of Pride, Hope, Fear or Love. If you are passionate about your idea, it will show.

So, there is a process.

1. Build the relationships.
2. Develop the idea.
3. Identify the down-side risks.
4. Have contingency plans.
5. Develop a FAQ list, together with answers.
6. Present the idea to all targeted people.
7. Embark on persistent, but low-key follow-up with all those you presented your idea to.
8. Gain internal (and sometimes external) publicity once your idea is adopted.
9. Provide a tangible gain from your idea, such an ROI or an increase in sales.

Assuming you have built and are maintaining internal networks, it is time to develop your idea. Your idea will not be implemented unless you convince others that it is feasible, profitable, or will provide an ROI.   Broadly,

• Begin by describing your idea in a dated notebook. This will protect you should someone else try to take credit for your idea.
• Discuss your idea with people you trust to maximise feedback and improvement opportunities. Don’t forget to give them credit for their contribution.
• Be sure your organization has not previously studied and rejected this idea. If this is the case, find out why that was the case as things may have changed.
• Establish a broad Project Plan. Estimate the time, effort and funding needed to develop your idea.
• Develop your verbal presentation and ‘leave piece.’ Strengthen the opening to your presentation with a "hook" - a clear statement of the business benefit in adopting your idea.
• After the presentation, deliver your one-page ‘leave piece.’ Make sure it ends with a clear Call to Action.
• Persist with all ‘influencers’ until you gain a commitment. Remember to address their WIIM early on.

What you do before you start writing is as important as what you write. Here are three further steps to take before writing up and presenting your idea.

1. Learn the language of management. 
2. Lay the groundwork through informal communication. These informal chats should focus on potential benefits in order to arouse curiosity. 
3.  Identify any relevant key management issues, and frame your idea in those terms.

Your Idea in Action -- a summary

1. Solve a problem
The person who needs to give you approval has issues of his/her own. Everyone does. Getting someone to pay attention to your ideas is a sales issue. You are selling your idea. And the only way to sell something to someone is to solve a problem for them. Perhaps make the effort to really understand the needs and motivations of the person you are trying to get approval from.

Keep in mind that if you cannot figure out how you are helping that person, then you can't really sell your idea to them.
2. Package your idea
You will get higher level people involved if your idea is aligned with the strategic purpose of the organization. In order to get upper management to buy into your idea, you have to know what matters the organization is currently focusing on. You need to show them that you are presenting a solution that will further their strategic goals.
Address weaknesses or objections to your idea head-on.

Even the boldest decision-makers want to cover themselves, so don't try to downplay potential problems and objections. Instead, anticipate them in advance and be ready with a convincing response.

1. Give a low barrier to entry. i.e. "We can run a small pilot to see how it will work for your organisation."
2. Turn weakness into strength. i.e "There's no research available as of yet, so our competition does not have the answer either. This is our potential break-through."
3. Have a "can't lose" contingency plan. i.e. "If this were to fail, our worst position is that we have to redo three days of production."

3. Understand funding processes
Each organization has a different system for funding projects. You need to find out the best way to get funding for your idea

If you rely on someone else to get funding, then you run the risk of not getting approval because that someone may not want to deal with the financial risk associated with your idea.

4. Presenting Your Idea
Managers are busy people, and you may only have only one shot to sell your idea.

Propose your ideas skilfully so management sees how the idea will benefit the business and, just as importantly, sees you as a leader of this initiative.
Distil your idea into a short, punchy presentation that gets right to the essence of what you are proposing:

• What is the problem that your idea addresses?
• How your idea will solve it, and
• Why your idea is better than both the status quo and other available alternatives.

People don't get excited about the facts behind an idea; they embrace the story that surrounds the facts.

To be effective, the narrative must be compelling, which means it should make intuitive sense to the idea-buyer according to his or her view of the world. Be prepared to drill down into your assumptions.
Likewise, it should also make the buyer feel good about the decision to adopt your idea.
5. Create momentum to keep your idea moving forward.
You've told a compelling story that the decision-maker understands, and you have addressed all the objections. Finally, summarize your idea and ask a few final questions to ensure that the idea-buyer agrees it's workable - for example:

"Does this meet your objectives?" Then stay silent for the response.
If you get agreement, you probably have the green light you need to move forward. Start by asking a next-step question such as, "When can we bring this to the CFO or budget committee?" Stay silent again [always let the other person own any silences. If you don’t, you will always get a response without gaining any commitments.]

Finally, it is perfectly acceptable to be persistent, but remember that politeness, low-key follow-through and patience are equally important.

Have a great week,

Denis Orme
027-472-8610

Looking for a speaker for your next business meeting? 
For a list of typical presentations go here
or contact denis.orme@yahoo.com