This post is about slaying giants, the secrets of selling new disruptive entrepreneurial products, solutions and services to the enterprise. Salesforce.com went up against the greatest leviathans of the business 2 business enterprise software world. It is a brave company that takes on the likes of Siebel and SAP, but they did, and are winning.

1. SELLING DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY TO THE ENTERPRISE
@deltapreneur.com
www.deltapreneur.com

2. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
Know your competition
Understand the
motivation of ideal
customer
Avoid window dressersKnow your buyer
Challenge the status quo Change the playing fieldIt’s all about you Share the risk

3. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
1. KNOW THE COMPETITION
Big brands are order takers, their salespeople walk into a meeting with
the giant protective blanket of their company’s brand behind them. The
discussion is really based around how many the prospect wants and
how much they want to pay. This mentality makes them vulnerable.
• Understand how your product is differentiated from the traditional
competition
• Understand how to express this in ways that deliver value to the
prospect
• Understand the fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) the traditional
competition will use against your product
• Tailor the pitch to address the FUD

4. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
2. KNOW YOUR BUYER
Buying an innovative solution is about taking a risk, and many buyers
just won’t take a risk. Many buyers are motivated by self-protection,
otherwise known as “desk defending”. You can spot them a mile off,
they are usually cautious (even sceptical), they may have been with the
same company for 10 years (or more) and have always used the same
suppliers. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO BUY FROM YOU.
• Don’t waste your time on the risk adverse
• If they have been with the same supplier for 10 years, why are
they going to change
• Understand where they are in their career
• What is their personal motivation
• What makes them successful

5. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
3. AVOID WINDOW DRESSERS
Many decision makers include a new technology in their evaluation
process to show how forward thinking and innovative they are. This is
window dressing, they are never going to innovate but conversely
“cover” themselves by saying: “I am insightful enough to look at new
technology, but it’s just not there yet – maybe next time.”
• You need to understand why the prospect is interested
• If you are in an RFP, what is the decision making criteria
• Are they just looking to buy on the same traditional criteria they
have always bought
• Do they REALLY understand and value your product brings
• Get the prospect to explicitly agree what unique product features
really add value and why

6. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
4. UNDERSTAND THE MOTIVATION OF THE IDEAL CUSTOMER
There are individuals and companies that want to innovate. They
understand and embody the idea that there are huge benefits in finding
a better way to do something, and they are prepared to evaluate and
manage the risk. The decision makers in these companies will have form
in this respect, explore when, where, why and how they have innovated
before.
• Find the innovators
• If they have deployed disruptive technology then why
• Discover how their business innovates and why
• Discover if the decision makers innovate how & why
• Explore how they evaluate and manage the risk of innovation

7. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
5. CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO
Innovation is risk, but if we don’t risk we will never move on. CALL IT
OUT. If you are asked to respond to a tender, submit a proposal or
have a meeting, ask why have you been asked? Why wouldn’t the
buyer just do what they have always done and buy the brand? How
often have innovative proposals been there until the end and lost at
the 11th hour? The fact is you were never going to win, you were the
token “innovation”.
• Ask the decision maker on day one, why are they prepared to take
the risk?
• What is the true differentiator they see your product
• What risks do they perceive
• If they can’t answer, walk away

8. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
6. ITS ALL ABOUT YOU
If your solution and/or company does not have a trusted brand then
YOU are the brand. Brand is often about trust, certainty, predictability,
safety. If your solution doesn’t have that yet then you have to embody
those values. Be hyper-responsive and remember sales is not about
telling and talking, it’s about asking and listening. Asking considered,
insightful and relevant questions can quickly create a huge amount of
trust and understanding.
• You have to embody – Trust, Certainty, Predictability, Safety
• Be hyper responsive
• Exceed their expectations
• Under promise / Over deliver
• Understand their business, ask questions that show you do

9. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
7. CHANGE THE PLAYING FIELD
If you are selling an innovative solution then you should sell it in an
innovative way. Too often we fall into the trap of selling the same way
as the “bricks and mortar” traditional big brand competitors have sold.
STOP IT, they are better at it than you, if you present and sell your
solution in the same way that they do you will lose, CHANGE IT.
• Don’t pitch the same way as your traditional competition
• Change the rules of the game
• Create a different voice
• Create a different value proposition
• Directly challenge the weaknesses of the traditional competition

10. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
8. SHARE THE RISK
The ultimate goal of the whole sales process is to prove that the utility
and benefit of taking your company’s solution far outweighs the
perceived risk. Once the decision maker has crossed over and decided
that the benefit outweighs the risk then the sale will happen, and
what’s more, the quality and value of the deal is directly related to
how much risk you are prepared to share.
• Be honest about the risks
• Get them on the table day one
• “What will your boss think about buying something he has never
heard off?”
• Agree how they can be mitigated / addressed
• Be creative

11. 8 Principles of selling disruptive technology
1. KNOW YOUR COMPETITION
Big brands are order takers, their salespeople walk into a meeting with
the giant protective blanket of their company’s brand behind them.
The discussion is really based around how many the prospect wants
and how much they want to pay. This mentality makes them
vulnerable.
• Be honest about the risks
• Get it on the table day one
• “What will your boss think about buying something he has never
heard off?”
• Agree how they can be mitigated / addressed
• Be creative – consider trials / customer references / our high value
marketing assets

12. SELLING DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY TO THE ENTERPRISE
@deltapreneur.com
www.deltapreneur.com