Aligning Proposals with Strategic Initiatives: The Key to Accelerating Approvals
In an era where decision-makers lean towards frugality and strategic alignment, proposals lacking ties to strategic initiatives often fall off the priority list. No longer does simply presenting a great return on investment (ROI) secure approvals. Nowadays, proposals must resonate with and advance broader organizational goals to capture the attention and backing of executives and financial decision-makers.
Strategic initiatives, as per the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), serve as conduits for translating an organization's goals and visions into practice. They range from defensive measures safeguarding market position, offensive strategies for capturing new markets or opportunities, editing initiatives optimizing operations, and expansive ventures increasing the organization's reach.
A few common strategic initiatives include:
Aligning proposals with such strategic initiatives convincingly demonstrates the criticality of a seller's solution to a buyer's success. The question then arises - how best to achieve this alignment?
We suggest a three-pronged approach, combining Prescriptive, Research, and Discovery methods. In the Prescriptive phase, sales and marketing teams brainstorm and document how their solutions address specific strategic initiatives. Subsequently, during Research, sellers dig into industry profiles, financial reports, and news about the prospect’s organization to gain insights into the key strategic initiatives. Finally, in the Discovery phase, sellers engage with prospects, smartly uncovering the strategic initiatives that the buyer seeks to address.
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The Bottom-Line
Any effective business engagement, storytelling, and proposal must align with the strategic initiatives of prospects and customers. Failing to align risks stalling the proposal or cancelling the initiative outright. This process requires preparation, training, and enablement, but when done correctly, it accelerates decision-making, provides competitive advantages, and enhances the likelihood of winning more proposals.
Learn more
Checkout the full article here - https://geniusdrive.com/aligning-your-value-storytelling-to-your-buyers-strategic-initiatives/
See the most important strategic initiatives for CEOs / board here - https://geniusdrive.com/strategic-initiatives-what-do-buyers-really-care-about-in-2023/
See Gartner's research on impact to purchases here - https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/quest-better-faster-deals-hank-barnes