A Quick Tip On Presenting Internally

Sales people often say, correctly, that their toughest sale is not the one to the customer – but the one that happens inside their company.

In my coaching practice I work with a young lady who is the VP Business Development. She had an occasion to pitch her owner a re-branding initiative that was to cost in the tens of thousands of dollars. But, it was much-needed.

Since I know this President well, I told her I didn’t think he’d go for it, especially if she expressed the costs as she was expressing them to me. He needed something more.

This is where most people make their mistake. They load the proposal up with all of the details of the deliverable. But, that’s not what your executive wants to hear. They want to hear three things:

1. What problem does this solve?

Make sure that when you’re pitching a solution that costs money, you begin with the problem(s) the solution solves. A solution should never be in search of a problem. It should appear as the result of the problem. Keep the focus on the pain/problem that you’re solving.

2. What is the back end?

If we purchased this solution, how much will we save or earn directly because of it? Don’t be too aggressive here. Don’t promise the world. Be realistic, but moreover, walk him/her through the numbers. Your President will always ask the question (to himself), “Do the numbers work?”

3. Step By Step Implementation

I read a stat once that suggested over 70% of implementations fail due to poor planning. He knows this. You know this. The rule is that it always takes 30% longer and costs 30% more than budgeted. Consequently, you had better be specific about EXACTLY how this will be implemented to assure/guarantee success.

Finally, the internal sale must be no different than I would recommend to a client. Be honest. Be authentic. Recognize there are many options your owner/constituent has for where they invest their resources. Therefore, don’t be ‘pitchy’ when making the pitch.