Simplicity
Sunday 7th July 10.18am
We live in a complex world with all of the attendant benefits and disadvantages. Leonardo de Vinci said Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, I am pretty sure he had a few good ideas. It is a lesson I try to adopt so I would like to share how I apply it in my world of sales.
I think we can all agree that the technology that forms part of the current revolution is complex. An important requirement for adoption is an ability to communicate this complexity to the wider public. Simplification, at its best, is not dumbing down, it is clarification, quantification and fundamentally logical.
Often when we try to get a deal done explaining the benefits is not the problem. When we lose how often is it because a competitor beats us and how often because, for various reasons, the prospect can’t get it done? Simplicity can also be described as seeing the whole and being able to identify, and focus, on the important.
The people I work with hate a few things about me but if they had to pick their favourite, I am pretty it would be what I say, my go to clichés. The one that springs to mind is – Everything is connected to everything else. This is not my position on IOT or Blockchain, more my desperate scream, much like, that it is bloody complicated and over-simplification is always a risk.
A recent, but often repeated example, is budget challenges. For me this becomes the problem to solve, an area to focus on. There are many occasions when the person you are speaking to agrees with you, is sold if you like. They then inevitably have to persuade someone else.
Looking from the individual’s, and the organisation’s perspective is essential in any sales campaign. Solve the problems that exist, not the ones that you would like to exist or the ones that you think you are best suited to address.
Another of my greatest hits that the team would vote for is – What is the question? This normally comes up when people want my input or opinion. They speak for a while, I politely listen, then I ask. I accept it is typical of my pedantic approach, however, I think the right question at least gives us a fighting chance at a good answer.
Simplicity is the unattainable grail. As Leo might venture, sophistication is ultimately a holy quest that requires faith more than knowledge. What I am trying to say is that is a mindset. Believe there is a right answer, build a case, test the theory and repeat.
Perhaps the most common starting point is – what is the objective? I feel that if you can decide what this is in 2 minutes flat you are just not trying. Simplicity does not preclude imagination. A child is simple and imaginative, tapping into this the ultimate sophistication.
Martyn Richards works for Wishful Thinking Fundamentals Ltd and is Sales Mentor to a range of technology clients