The Art of the Mega Deal
Geoffrey Moore
Author, speaker, advisor, best known for Crossing the Chasm, Zone to Win and The Infinite Staircase. Board Member of nLight, WorkFusion, and Phaidra. Chairman Emeritus Chasm Group & Chasm Institute.
You hear about them from time to time. Sometimes it’s a joint venture. Sometimes it’s M&A. Sometimes it is just a whopping big commitment to a digital transformation. The question is: how in the world do these things get sold?
Most follow what we have called the Early Market playbook. This is the one where you target a visionary executive sponsor who believes what you believe, and as a result, is willing to make a big bet on your proposal. So, what exactly does this person have to believe to do so?
Here’s my cut at it:
1. Trapped Value. The customer has to share your view that there is enormous trapped value in the status quo. This can be due to one of three things:
- Incredibly underutilized infrastructure—think what VMware did for compute realization or Airbnb did for hospitality.
- Seriously ineffective operating model—think what Uber did for taxi transportation or what Zoom is doing for business meetings.
- Highly desirable but currently unachievable business outcomes—think what Amazon Prime did for home shopping or telemedicine is doing for primary health care.
2. Game-changing Technology. The customer has to believe that your technology provides the missing link to unlocking the trapped value. It is too soon for there to be reliable data to prove this point—that’s why the Early Market approach is required—so instead you must substitute a compelling and coherent narrative. This includes:
- Identifying the “10X” factor that differentiates your technology from the status quo—think the original iPhone’s touch interface or the community of collaboration that allowed Wikipedia to supplant every other encyclopedia in less than a decade.
- Showing how that factor unlocks the targeted trapped value in a previously unachievable way—think of how a Space X booster rocket coming back to land itself saves on space travel or how Docusign streamlines getting agreements approved.
3. A Credible Project Plan. The customer has to believe you have a credible plan backed by a credible team who will apply the technology to the trapped value opportunity and commit to delivering a game-changing outcome. This would include:
- Technical experts to deliver the enabling system
- Business process experts to reengineer the process to take advantage of the new system
- Change management experts to transition the organization from its current state to the desired future state
- A program management office to govern the project end to end
- A contracted commitment to meet or exceed agreed-upon business value realization metrics
- A personal commitment from the vendor CEO to see this project all the way through to its completion.
These are the cornerstones of a mega-deal. Everything else is decoration.
That’s what I think. What do you think?
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Geoffrey Moore | Zone to Win | Geoffrey Moore Twitter | Geoffrey Moore YouTube
VP of Global Solutions Engineering
3 年Jamal Reimer Did you see this? What's your take?
Leader and team builder focused on taking partnerships to market.
4 年Nash Cook Joanna Davis, PMP Maggie Rogers good read and very usable
Driving AI disruption - Educated at Microsoft, eBay, Symantec and startups across US/India/Saudi Arabia
4 年Geoff, you are the Master of Simplicity. Do you think though that 'dreaming' falls into trapped value as I find 'trapped value' limiting? The world never desired an automated way of sharing a ride and the thought of having a stranger share my home (AirBnB) was unthinkable. However 'dreaming' created value that was not even realized possible. Thanks!
Co-Founder and CEO @ Blend | Breaking Business Silos, Unlocking Cognitive Diversity for Enterprise Leaders
4 年Thanks Geoffrey Moore really insightful and would broadly agree. The only element that if feel is missing here is the Human element - Leadership and People - who is leading that deal, are they the right person to position the value, introduce the Tech and deliver the plan? In all the examples you mention the leaders/leaderships teams hold the three cornerstones in their hands and the right individual/s will make or break that big deal.
You hit it on the head. While most sales and marketing lead with their chin, you essentially say, discover what the end customer wants, what are they dissatisfied with, interpret the trapped value, and provide a believable opportunity and walk them through to the end.?