Selling Transformation
Digital Transformations are complex and fragile. The person leading the transformation is the SME (subject matter expert) and in order to be successful needs strong executive support. When you look at your exec team, it is made up of diverse backgrounds, like marketing, product, sales, legal, finance, HR. This powerful team is focused on driving business results and, you’re in luck, most of them see tech as an enabler although their technical language will vary and so must your selling tactics. Lets go over how to sell transformation
Before we embark on the journey of convincing/influencing leaders to lean-in, start with the following questions
1. Is it an org/business-unit/company level goal?
2. Is the org ready for this change?
3. Will it be damaging if we don’t do it?
4. Is it time sensitive? Why cant it be done next year?
If any of the above question is a “NO” then you have some ground level work to do. Before you approach an Exec, ensure that you have a very strong story/datapoint to convince the audience and that you can sell it in a way that appeals to their own goals and concerns.
Start with the problem statement (What)
This is a no brainer, but you will be surprised how many of us fall in this trap. I am guilty of this as well. At times, I just get too excited about the solution and spend all my time showcasing the solution. You are the expert and you can handle it but the question is “What are we solving?” Change for the sake of change often becomes the root cause of a failed transformation. Identify the fuel for your change, where is the need and what are the key results.
Eg: “60% of the support calls ask for assistance with the UI. It is complex and unintuitive. We will simplify the UI in 6 months and bring down the call volume by 40% by the end of this year.”
When an exec hears the above statement they know you have identified the issue, a solution and a plan. Now that is confidence inspiring.
It is a Journey … long one
Transformation is a journey, it will have milestones, potholes, tolls and rest areas. Take your audience on that journey, make them part of it. Tell them where we are and what the journey through the end goal will look like. Address the issues you think we could potentially face, talk about the outcome but don’t get too into the details. It is not about how you solve it, but what you are solving.
Impact on the business (Why)
Talk about your guiding principles, talk about the OKR (objectives and key results) that you are tracking. Is it worth the investment? What is the ROI? How is it beneficial for the business. You don’t need a list of reasons but one big reason to change/evolve.
Also, when appropriate, be sure to set the expectation of timing. In many cases, changes don’t pay off right away and might even slow you down in the short term before they propel you towards the goal. Having that clearly established with execs will help avoid FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) while the change is in flight. It’s not uncommon for transformations to be terminated early because senior leaders’ expectations were not set accurately. An initial dip in performance (which was expected by the SME) may be determined a failure by leaders because it was too soon for the changes can really take effect.
eg:
higher cost with cloud transformation : Cloud journey once completed (implemented and optimized )can yield cost benefits but usually you will see your infra cost almost double during implementation and about 1.5x post implementation until you kick off optimization.
lower productivity with ownership transformation: As we embrace more and more of microservices, the old service ownership model of having ops and support as an entity gets very expensive and yields subpar engineering excellence. The ownership transformation to SRE/Devops model with better results but the productivity could take a hit initially when the orgs are getting used to the new self serving platform/capabilities that will help them move faster.
And how will you do it?
Once you have established your bold vision, inevitably, you will be asked, “How will you do it?” Now is the right time to talk about your strategy. Always remember you are the SME and understand this inside out, your audience might not. Lay out your strategy in the most simplistic way, break it down it into pieces and have a risk mitigation strategy for each of the steps. Keep the focus on execution versus detailed solution. The execution plan will entail details on people, process and tech. Make sure you touch on the following:
1. Are your processes compatible with the proposed changes?
2. Does your workforce have the right skillset?
3. Are the peripheral technologies champions/detractors of the proposed changes?
A few things to keep in mind
1. What is in it for them : Every leader has set goals that they have signed up for. If your transformation doesn’t help them meet or beat their goals then it will be a hard sell.
2. Risk mitigation strategy : Your strategy to combat headwinds. Publish your risk mitigation strategy so everyone knows what levers you will execute in case you hit a road block.
3. Back up plan : Irrespective of how certain the outcome is always have a plan-B. It is essential for leaders to know that, if things go south, there is a way out.
4. There are no right answers : All solutions are time bound, they get stale eventually have to be replaced.
5. Proof of concepts are a powerful tool : The only thing that beats data is action. If you can showcase that the proposed changes in a controlled/smaller environment yield the expected results, then your job for selling the solution becomes that much easier.
To summarize, have your strategy very clear and always start from the customers. Your first customer is the exec team that needs to lean in. Ensure that you solve it from their point of view. Lead with data, keep opinions out of the conversation, make the conversation data driven.
Inspired from : https://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/1591846447
