We’ve all had that cringe-worthy board room feeling. Your heart is pounding. Your palms are clammy and your mouth is dry.
It’s time to pitch your big idea, and you need the rest of the team (or at even higher stakes, a client) to get on board.
In a stagnant or competitive environment, innovative ideas are the best path to growth. Yet because these new paths are unfamiliar and untraditional, they can be perceived as being too “risky.”
To combat the inevitable haters and naysayers, I’ve listed a couple of go-to strategies to help your biggest, baddest ideas succeed.
1. PAINT A VERY CLEAR PICTURE IN YOUR AUDIENCE’S MIND.
If your goal is to land a major account with a long-term relationship, how can you help everyone else visualize that specific goal? For instance, instead of promising an improvement in growth or profits, can you spell it out more explicitly? Can you create a clear image of what the future could look like a year from now? What does the company look like? What does the staffing and customer list look like? How about showing what your sales figures might look like in the year 2025?
2. BUILD THE MOST RATIONAL POSSIBLE ARGUMENT.
The biggest mistake I see is selling an untraditional idea with intangible evidence and ephemeral claims. Abstractions like “word-of-mouth” aren’t enough by themselves. By removing as many variables as possible, and eliminating unknowns, you demonstrate control. Surround your idea with as much information as possible, including timelines, anticipated costs, potential partners. Hypothetical is okay at this stage, but be as specific as possible. “But look how cool it is” isn’t a strategy.
3. SHOW HOW YOU’VE SUCCEEDED IN A PARALLEL SITUATION.
Substantiate your ideas with case studies. Build evidence and create parallels. Ideally this validation will come from your own experience or your business.
4. PINPOINT RISKS THAT PARALLEL YOUR CUSTOMER’S BEHAVIOR.
Demonstrate how bigger trends (such as the aging of the population, or the rise of tech expenses, or increased risk in urban areas) substantiate your point. Then, demonstrate how your proposal tracks alongside these bigger trends.
5. HELP YOUR AUDIENCE “SELL UP.”
Often, the person you’re presenting to will have to get buy-in from someone else in the decision-making process. Help them do this by giving them the tools to sell it. When assembling a presentation, make sure that it can stand on its own without you, so that the person you’re selling to has the tools to defend it to other decision makers.
Today, the opposite of risk isn’t security. The opposite of risk is getting run over by a big truck filled with the shipment of status quo while you dawdle in the middle of the road hesitating on a game-winning strategy.
When does that risk start paying off? Tell us about your riskiest proposal, and how you tapped in to your Advantages to get your team on board.
Tell us about your riskiest proposal, and how you tapped in to your Triggers to get your team on board: I once worked for a company that claimed they had a values-based culture. I led the manufacturing department of a remotely located facility that did not have the same culture. I started with helping my team understand our purpose and the values that created our boundaries and order of priority for decision-making. Then, I helped them identify when incidents occurred that showed our plan (processes) were not as good as they could be. I then helped them practically apply the values-based approach to investigate root causes, find solutions, use risk assessment and change management to implement real improvements. Three years later, by sticking tenaciously to those simple strategies and encouraging the repetition of values-based decision-making processes within my team, despite many distractions and naysayers from upper management, our output increased by 341%! The interesting thing was, during this period, the trusting relationships I was able to develop with my employees grew while they deteriorated with the "old school" managers who worked at the corporate offices. This was counter-intuitive given the values-based culture the company claimed they had. It seemed they couldn't recognize the connection between how I was leading and the safety, quality and efficiency improvements we were creating at my site despite my efforts to share my approach. In hindsight, my values-based approach was causing me to pull the unwilling corporate leadership out of their personal comfort zones. The values-based culture they lived was limited to the value they perceived for themselves in a given situation. The disconnect created conflict between me and key managers. As I stuck to my values-based approach I began creating adversaries with upper management instead of advocates. I believed in what I was doing and it was reaping outstanding results within my department. The problem? Because of the adversaries I'd created, I had to be perfect to defend and sustain my position. I am not perfect. I made one mistake one day and that was all it took to end that chapter of my career. I own the mistake and accepted the consequences. However, the consequences indicated how deeply rooted the hypocrisy had become within the organization. In reality, the organization did me a favor by expelling me from the irrational circles I'd been dealing with. But, I didn't have a job, so where's the good news? This experience forced me to evaluate "who I wanted to be" and I walked away from the assessment with even more conviction than I had before to live a values-based life, personally and professionally. I knew I could help people achieve more than they'd settled for (status quo). I knew there was a practical way to help them, but I needed to take the time to refine the concepts into useful concepts and tools. The exercise helped me create "GPS Theory", a values-based model that is the backbone of the leadership and organizational development products and services I offer as the "Success Engineer" at BoomLife! Today, my creative idea is to tell people I have developed practical tools and methods for creating values-based, inspired cultures...and then prove it to them when they give me the chance! BOOM!
LOVE this: "Today, the opposite of risk isn’t security. The opposite of risk is getting run over by a big truck filled with the shipment of status quo while you dawdle in the middle of the road hesitating on a game-winning strategy." So true today.....
Very helpful article. I've got another name for selling up. I call it 'arming the advocates'. When trying to sell a complex idea—such as an expensive tech solution to a large company, or say, a new brand positioning—it's especially necessary, because many different stakeholders and committees within that company may need to offer approval for the idea to move ahead. If you're able create an advocate, they need the tools to keep selling your idea. When you think about it though, this is an effective strategy in any kind of sale. We've each got an impulsive instinct and another that requires a rationale for decision-making. A good rationale allows us to act upon our impulsive desire. The better your rationale, the more creative an idea you can sell. So, there's not only selling up within an organization, but also selling up that takes place inside the skull of each member of your audience.
These approaches also work well in the first session of training or coaching, as a way to engage participants--then as continuing reminders. Most people are more likely to focus on gaining knowledge and skills if they can picture a personally satisfying outcome. Thank you for the article and ideas.
I love this Sally!! I really see an alignment to the Fascinate triggers here with your examples. You really are showing us ways to activate a trigger based on the outcome we're desiring. From what you listed above here’s where I see a Fascinate Trigger come alive: 1) Paint a Picture = Passion; connecting to the senses, getting others to feel what end state would be like by visioning it. 2) Build Rational Possible Argument = Alarm; demonstrate how you’ve looked at it from all angles and removed unfavourable consequences. 3) Show how you’ve succeeded = Trust; show off your proven and consistent track record. You did it before and you can do it again! 4) Pinpoint risks that parallel behaviour = Combo of Alarm and Prestige; take current state, show the pitfalls and activate prestige by showing how you can make it better. 5) Help your audience “sell up” = Power; The saying usually goes something like this “Knowledge is power” when in actuality knowledge means nothing if action is not taken. Creating a place for others by giving them the tools and know-how, activates the power within them and the person sharing the knowledge.
Thank you for the tips. #1 was important for me to hear because I am looking to work with a handful of clients in 2014 on their events and PR and have been trying to figure out how to secure them long term rather than one month or one event. Great information as always!
Sally, how do you help someone "sell up" when the group they need to convince gets excited about a different argument?
We're glad you're enjoying our tips. And you're right. In a world where perception is reality, it's important that companies have that human factor.
Very good. And companies have got to sell themselves to their shareholders as well. It's not just the product or service that needs to be sold!
Sally, These are the most insightful and helpful 'tips' that I have seen in the web discourse available! Thanks!!