Technical win doesn't exist

"A technical win doesn't matter and doesn't exist, only getting the purchase order and having the customer deploy your solution matters" someone I know told me recently.

Does technical win exist or not? Keep reading and you might find what you're looking for.

In today's post, I'll discuss:

1. Is there a way to define technical win?
2. Does technical win exist?
3. Does technical win equal deal win?
4. What do you do after you get a technical win?

What's a technical win?

For me, a technical win includes a few criteria

• The technical win means that the technical buyer believes that your solution is the right solution for their environment to solve the problem they are trying to solve. The technical buyer believe and also maybe saw during the POV that it will work in their environment and they are ready to recommend your solution to the economic buyer. In addition, you received at least verbal approval that your solution was chosen.
• Technical resources were used efficiently in the selection process. Typically, if you weren't involved in the purchase process and the customer didn't evaluate your solution, it is not considered a technical win.
• If your prospect did not narrow you down to one contract, for example considering another vendor for evaluation or review, you did not achieve technical win.

Does technical win exists?

Yes, in my opinion.

Solution consultants (sales engineers, solution architects, etc.) are critical to the success of every deal, they show the technical value of the product, they help the customer navigate the technical terms and complexity in an easy way, once the customer confirms they will choose your solution (see above how technical win is defined) we can call it technical win.

Note - there are some companies that don't track technical wins or don't have a stage in their POV process called technical win.

Does technical win == deal won?

No.

It is possible to have a technical win, but not get the contract or purchase order from the customer, and there are many reasons why the deal will fail.

There are many reasons why this could happen. Negotiations fall apart, pricing misalignment, budget cuts, your champion or key decision maker leaves.

What do you do after a technical win?

Most of the time, nothing. Stop demoing and stop leaving an opening for pandora to slip out of the box.

Having said that, if you have a way to show more value that will justify the pricing, do it, just be careful.

You should let your Account Executive take care of the rest of the process. It is possible to kill a deal by overselling.

There are some AE's who push very hard, trying to show more features, explain more about the solution, break down processes and send more materials just in case the customer has a question etc. Doing so can introduce risk for your deal and might drag the conversation in the wrong direction (technical instead of business), push back.

How do you feel about technical win? Leave your comment.

Till next time,

Menachem.