Analyzing 10Ks and Developing a Benefits Dependency Network: A Conversation with Industry Veterans

On a fine afternoon, Jamal Malik, joined by his esteemed friends and co-hosts Eddie Clark and Gordon Foltz, embarked on a discussion centered around a topic close to his heart - the analysis of 10Ks and the development of a Benefits Dependency Network.

Jamal, Sales Advantage's founder and managing partner, started the conversation with a warm welcome and a brief introduction. With 20 years of experience in the technology business, Jamal had spearheaded significant global sales culture change initiatives and developed the Microsoft MSP sales process before establishing Sales Advantage.

Following Jamal, Eddie Clark, a 35-year veteran of the IT world, shared his journey. As a partner and Azure practice lead for IBM in the distribution space, Eddie focuses on retail and consumer goods, travel, transportation, and consumer packaged goods. Having spent 15 years at Microsoft and beginning his career at Allstate Insurance, Eddie looked forward to the discussion.

Last, Gordon Foltz, Vice President of Sales for an SAP partner, introduced himself. With over two decades of experience in IT sales and delivery, Gordon's primary aim when interacting with clients was to provide meaningful value by simplifying complex processes into consumable frameworks that offer tangible benefits.

As the introductions concluded, Jamal narrated the fascinating story of their interconnected journey. Years ago, while pursuing an architecture certification, Jamal was introduced to Eddie, the expert in business strategy analysis. Eddie, in his humble wisdom, had acquainted Jamal with the Benefits Dependency Network developed by Cranefield. This interaction not only significantly impacted Jamal's career but also indirectly influenced Gordon's when Jamal later introduced him to the same concept.

Before delving deeper into the discussion, Jamal highlighted the vision and objectives of his business, Sales Advantage. The primary aim was to elevate relationships with business decision-makers by providing deep, business-level insights using machine learning and AI. Sales Advantage strived to foster a shared understanding of customer priorities amongst sales, marketing, services, and support teams. The company's key objectives also included building rapid credibility with BDMs, accelerating new customer acquisition, expanding reach into existing customers, and reducing churn while increasing product adoption.

Taking a backseat, Jamal invited Gordon and Eddie to share their perspectives on the target audience for their discussion. According to Gordon, their dialogue would resonate most with business professionals, who?needed conversations tailored to their unique business language and culture despite dealing in IT services and solutions. Furthermore, Gordon emphasized that the Benefits Dependency Network was a valuable tool for framing conversations to highlight the value brought to the table for immediate needs and objectives set for three to five years into the future.

Adding to Gordon's point, they also acknowledged the value of this conversation for customer success teams, who aim to drive product adoption by fulfilling customer needs, just like sales teams. This comprehensive discussion is an insightful exploration for all professionals seeking to understand and leverage the Benefits Dependency Network.

Adding to their conversation, Jamal took a moment to mention other professional groups that would also benefit from this discussion, albeit they would only delve so deeply into it. This group includes product and industry marketing teams, as this level of research is vital to their roles. When undertaken for multiple accounts or customers within a sub-vertical, it enables the identification of trends which can then be leveraged to create white papers, conduct webinars, create ads, and devise their content messaging.

Turning his attention back to Gordon, Jamal asked him to elaborate on why he thinks a seller must read an annual report and develop a Benefits Dependency Network. With his background in accounting and finance, Gordon?offered a unique perspective. When a seller sits down with a client without prior knowledge of the client's business drivers, the conversation will often meander without purpose. Like a blind man attempting to describe an elephant to another blind man, the narratives won't align. Having the perspective of what the executives of a company are communicating to Wall Street, the market, or their customers allows a seller to align themselves with their client's objectives and can quickly capture their attention.

Jamal then addressed the frequent reluctance among sellers to invest time in reading a customer's annual report. Many sellers argue that their time is precious, and when managing multiple accounts, it becomes challenging to dive deeply into any single one. However, with a thorough understanding of the critical goals of a company and its impact on its employees, industry, and end customers, the seller can offer a narrow approach. A profound understanding enables sellers to hold meaningful conversations with executives and suggest solutions that genuinely assist them.

Reflecting on this, Gordon agreed that sellers must approach clients with intention and understanding rather than simply throwing out ideas and seeing what sticks. He recounted his experiences as a junior account executive when clients expressed frustration with his lack of business knowledge, often shutting him out. This reminded sellers that they must do their homework and research. Like a doctor diagnosing a patient, they must understand the symptoms and prescribe the proper treatment.

Adding to the conversation, Eddie compared sellers to doctors with good bedside manners. When approaching a client to sell them a solution, the seller must demonstrate that they understand the client's business and the Benefits Dependency Network can facilitate this. He emphasized that the technology doesn't matter; what is essential is the business alignment and the outcomes that the client is looking for.

Further elaborating on the topic, Jamal introduced the Benefits Dependency Network, which originates from the School of Management in Cranfield, England. The concept was developed to understand the difference between projects that deliver value to the customer and those that do not. The Benefits Dependency Network breaks down an organization's business strategy, focusing on the benefit and linking it with IT projects. It is a snapshot of what's happening in the organization at a specific moment, reflecting the constant changes in priorities, project completions, and realized benefits. To stay updated, it should be revisited at least quarterly.

Gordon and Eddie agreed on the importance of this network. Eddie shared how he learned about the Benefits Dependency Network years ago from?Martin Sykes. This network, he said, is like a cause-and-effect diagram, providing insights into the why, what, who, and how of an organization's strategy. It can help sellers connect with their business decision-makers and their business journey.

Ultimately, the discussion provided essential insights into how a Benefits Dependency Network can be effectively utilized in sales and service delivery roles. Gordon and Eddie emphasized the importance of understanding clients' businesses, the value of targeted conversations, and the benefits of the Benefits Dependency Network in achieving these goals.

Navigating and decoding the business landscape can be daunting, given the complex nature of business drivers, investments, and desired outcomes. A Business Dependency Network (BDN), rooted in the Createfield model, provides an excellent framework to distill this complexity into a coherent narrative.

First and foremost, obtaining buy-in from business executives is critical to the success of any BDN project. These executives are the key decision-makers in removing potential obstacles and setting the path forward. Their perspective and priorities should be considered as they often have specific business objectives tied to their compensation plans.

The purpose of a BDN is to help customers see a clear path to their desired results. It aligns business objectives to the necessary technology stacks, ensuring the investments achieve the desired business outcomes. This becomes particularly crucial when dealing with changes in the business environment, whether internal or external.

For example, the COVID-19 pandemic is an external factor that caused businesses to rethink their operations and make new investments, like shifting to a remote work model. Meanwhile, an internal driver could be a goal to move into a new market or to reduce non-performing assets.

When exploring these drivers, remember they can have a one-to-many relationship with investments and outcomes. For example, a single business goal may lead to multiple assets, and these investments may result in several products.

Moreover, it's important to remember that benefits can be more than just financial. They can also include observable, measurable, and quantifiable improvements, such as increasing brand awareness or fostering collaboration within the organization.

Lastly, the benefit can only be achieved by initiating change. Businesses must either start doing something new, stop doing something unproductive, or improve their existing processes. Understanding this concept is critical for sellers, as it underlines why customers should choose to do business with them.

To create a BDN, you would typically start by reviewing the company's 10K report, an annual filing that provides a comprehensive overview of a company's financial health. Other supplementary documents like the 10Q (quarterly report), 8K (Report of unscheduled material events or corporate changes), and Proxy statements can provide additional insights.

A BDN thus becomes a blueprint, capturing the intricate dynamics of business strategy, whether in complex organizations or more specific settings. By analyzing these details and creating a BDN, you can deeply understand the organization's landscape, including its goals, strategies, and potential obstacles. This insight can be leveraged to engage more effectively with stakeholders, fostering meaningful and productive business relationships.

Navigating and decoding the business landscape can be a daunting task for any individual, given the complex nature of business drivers, investments, and desired outcomes. The Business Dependency Network (BDN) provides a central repository for all the necessary artifacts, making it easy for any practitioner, particularly an enterprise architect, to prepare for customer engagements. This has been a challenging process, and it has often taken weeks, if not months, to qualify. However, with the BDN, this preparation time is significantly reduced, an accomplishment that must be applauded.

One of the most significant obstacles in this process has been the sheer investment of time it requires. Wading through extensive documents like 10Ks and 10Qs can be painstaking and unappealing in an age where most salespeople thrive on speed. The team has developed a real-time tool to analyze these documents, leveraging machine learning to solve this.

The tool called the Account Value Mapping Platform, connects to the SEC database and has access to every public filing from publicly traded companies for the last 16 years. It can analyze any company, public or private, extracting crucial business goals, investment objectives, and other vital details. These insights can then be imported into a map, which can be connected to the company's offerings using the tool, thus effectively articulating the value the organization can create for the customer.

The tool dramatically reduces the barrier of entry and effort involved in this type of work. It has been designed to streamline the process, putting it on 'rails' for even the most novice seller to use. It is a testament to a long journey of trying every permutation to create a tool that eases the work involved in this business strategy analysis.

As they move forward, the team plans to include a value proposition generator that can concisely describe the organization's goals, investments, and value they are creating. They hope this tool?and their efforts to build a community around business strategy analysis will democratize the process and put customer priorities first.

This Account Value Mapping Platform is in closed beta, with a new version set to release soon.

The tool has the potential to be a great asset to any seller looking to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. It promises to be a unique approach that prioritizes customer needs meaningfully and effectively. And as more sellers use this tool, it's hoped that this will become a more collaborative and customer-focused industry.

Gordon and Eddie, esteemed gentlemen who've been part of this journey, believe that this tool can cut through the minutia of the sales cycle. By helping sellers quickly identify key business drivers, the device can help validate customers' emotional motivations and give them logical reasons?to make decisions. It removes some of the emotional aspects of decision-making. It provides a sound rationale that can help move things forward, even when faced with executives paralyzed by analysis.

Ultimately, putting the customer's priorities first always leads to good things. Tools like the Account Value Mapping Platform help do just that, and that's something worth looking forward to.