Ellie Barbe
Account manager with Merkur for over 3 years, Ellie Barbe is distinguished by her extensive 10 years’ experience in B2B sales and marketing team management. Having worked in various sectors such as telecommunications, wastewater treatment and digital signage, Ellie’s diversified expertise enables her to meet the varied needs of her clients in the industry.
Do you see opportunities for innovation and improvement that could benefit your company? Do you have a project in mind that you’d like to present?
Make the most of the summer to get ready!
Often a quieter time of year, it’s the ideal opportunity to prepare for the new school year, by anticipating new industrial projects to be presented. As you know as well as we do, September and October are particularly busy months in the manufacturing sector, so we advise you to get a head start!
However, to turn your ideas into reality, you’ll need to involve your colleagues, management and/or board of directors. With your company’s material, financial and human resources often limited, how will you manage to persuade stakeholders of the quality of your idea?
Here’s how to sell your project in 3 easy steps.
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Step 1: Understand decision-making levers so you can adapt your sales pitch!
Above all, it’s vital that your project is in line with your company’s strategies, objectives and current context. A project will never see the light of day if it doesn’t correspond to your company’s mission, vision or values.
If your proposal is perfectly aligned with the master plan or strategic plan, you’ll earn points!
It’s time to get your game face on! We want to ensure that the project is endorsed by other influential stakeholders. They will be a source of information during preparation and planning, and a source of support during the final presentation. In this regard, it’s essential to understand your company’s decision-making levers. For example, the concerns and objectives of the HR manager will differ from those of the engineering leader, won’t they? To sell your idea properly, you need to adapt your speech to your audience. You’re bound to talk numbers with someone who’s analytical, but you’ll insist on your competitive positioning with someone who’s more emotional.
Finally, this first step serves to inform decision-makers in advance, so as not to take them by surprise when you make your presentation. They’ll feel informed, considered and able to comment on your idea. You’ll kill two birds with one stone by mobilizing decision-making power and getting expert feedback.
Step 2: Be strategic in the way you present your project!
Now is the time to be heard and to present your project. To increase your chances of success, Merkur suggests building your sales pitch around these 4 points:
1. Illustrate the purpose of your project
Remember that a solution that doesn’t solve a problem or doesn’t fit in with the company’s strategy is useless. The aim here is to demonstrate the nature of the problem, its causes and effects. The clearer and defined this stage is, the more likely your listeners will be mobilized.
2. Quantify the impact of the issue
Here, the art lies in your ability to quantify the impact of the problem in terms of time, financial impact and opportunity costs. These quantitative arguments, if presented at the right time and to the right people, will lend credibility to your approach. Avoid the trap of trying to talk technical. It’s time to talk business!
3. Identity opportunities for improvement
This is an important point. Its subtlety lies in your ability not to go into the details of the methodology, but to come up with possible, realistic scenarios for solving the problem. Be concrete and, above all, show your contacts that you have considered all possible solutions!
4. Present the benefits of the chosen solution!
Now it’s time to present the chosen solution and talk benefits and return on investment!
Present the benefits of your solution for each of the parties involved, and how it will have a positive impact on their daily lives. This is where you present the action plan for implementing your innovative idea. Your action plan should contain milestones so that you can “eat the elephant one bite at a time” and go in search of “quick wins” that will make change management easier.
All the methodology, approach, budget and details will be revealed.
If you keep to these 4 points, your project presentation will be all the more successful.
Take a collaborative approach and invite your colleagues to give you their impressions throughout the presentation, the aim being to involve your audience from the outset so that they become an integral part of the project and take ownership of it.
Step 3: Make your project sustainable and profitable!
For your project to be a success, it needs to be sustained over time, and all the key players must continue to see daily benefits. Measure the success of your project by setting KPIs, and track important milestones. Stay in listening mode, be transparent and open-minded. Projects never go according to plan, so you have to listen to your team and remain flexible!
In conclusion, by following these 3 steps, you will maximize your chances of seeing your ideas come to fruition! Just remember that before embarking on a major project, you need to know your environment, your company’s business context, the decision-makers and the internal decision-making structure. In this way, you’ll be able to adapt your pitch and increase the chances of your project becoming a reality!
At Merkur, our experts will help you identify and demonstrate the benefits of your project, and then support you through to completion! Don’t hesitate to contact us!
In the meantime, happy vacations to all!
