How can we help you reach your goals?

Pamela and Mike have their laptops open, typing. Jerome is texting. Last week, this small group, along with Janice, a VP of Business Development, presented to GXI Incorporated, a big potential client. Mike continues to type, "Hi Donovan." 

Donovan sits down. "Hey, I guess we'll find out if we got the GXI deal?" 

"If?" Jerome puts his phone down. "Do you have any doubts?"

Pamela looks across the table. "You know your stuff too, Donovan. You impressed them with our technology solution."

Mike agrees, "You knocked it out of the park. Don't worry, we got this one. We had so much momentum going in to the finalist presentation." 

Jerome starts texting again. "Yeah, Janice met with the CFO several times before this meeting. We definitely have the edge on this one." 

Donovan starts to say something, when Janice walks into the conference room. "Hi everyone, I apologize for being late." Everyone greets her. Janice places her laptop on the conference table and walks over to the whiteboard. She picks up a marker and turns to face her team. "Let's talk about the GXI pitch." 

Donovan looks around the room. Pamela speaks up, "We were just talking about it. I think it went really well." Mike and Jerome nod. 

"Okay," Janice asks flatly, "What went well?"

Jerome starts, "You did an amazing opener, Janice. Confirmed their pain points and introduced us. I think we got started off on the right foot." 

Janice turns around and writes on the whiteboard, "Confirm pain points."

Pamela leans forward in her chair, "Yeah, and the pass-off to Mike was great. His overview of our products was comprehensive…and the slides were detailed, really nice!" Janice writes on the whiteboard again, "Give overview of our products. Detailed slides." Pamela nods. Janice turns back to face the team. "What else?"

Mike leans back in his chair, "Jerome's presentation on the efficiency of our services was a knock-out, as always." Janice writes on the board again, "Our services." Mike shakes his head. "Janice, what are you getting at? We all know what we presented." 

Janice nods at Mike. "I'll get there Mike. What else?" Jerome gestures toward Pamela. "I thought Mike's services piece flowed nicely into Pamela's part on the support we provide." 

Mike adds, "Yeah, she even talked about our new chat bot, which was a nice touch." Janice writes on the board, "Our support." 

Jerome continues, "And that was a nice transition to our technology solutions." He glances at Donovan. Janice writes "Our technology" on the board. 

Donovan hesitates, "Um…I think our technology is impressive, but I wouldn't say they were impressed." 

Janice raises her eyebrows. "Why is that, Donovan?" 

Donovan is not sure he should say what he's thinking. He looks up at Janice. She walks toward the table and nods, encouraging. "Well…I don't think they were listening by the time I started presenting." 

Mike laughs, "You've got to be kidding! They were eating it up!" 

Pamela asks, "What makes you think they weren't listening?"

Donovan shrugs. "I don't know. I just wasn't connecting with them. It felt like they had checked out."

Janice spins around and writes on the bottom of the board. As she writes, Jerome looks at Donovan, "Don't be so hard on yourself, man, you did a great job!"

Donovan turns up his palms, "It's just…I don't know, that's how I felt." 

Pamela chimes in, "Look, I've come out of meetings feeling the same way and the deal came through. Don't worry!" 

Mike agrees, "It's not about feelings. It's just making sure you give them accurate information so they can make the best decision," he chuckles, "Which is choosing us, of course!" Pamela and Jerome laugh. 

Jerome asks, "Uh…are you talking about…"

Janice finishes his thought, "GXI chose our competitor."

Pamela can't believe it. "What!?...But…"

Mike is shocked, "You're kidding!"

Janice puts down the marker. 

Jerome shakes his head, "But we had so much momentum going in to this."

Pamela asks, "When did you find out?" 

Janice answers Pamela first. "I received an email from the CFO ten minutes ago." 

Mike says, "Didn't you have a good relationship with him? I mean…I thought we had some inroads there."

"Yes, to Jerome's point, we had a lot of momentum going in to this presentation. We should have been on top. But we failed to do something important."

"Okay," Mike leans forward. "What is it?"

Janice steps aside and gestures toward the whiteboard. "What do you think it is?"

The team looks at the whiteboard. 

• Confirm pain points.
• Give overview of our products.
• Detailed slides.
• Our services.
• Our support.
• Our technology. 

Mike holds his hands up. "That's our presentation. I mean, this is what we do. It works!"

Janice questions, "Does it? How many wins have we made this month?"

Pamela moves in her seat, "Not many, but we always go through cycles. I mean, this is normal, right?" 

Jerome is cautious. "Well, it's not exactly normal. We have had a very long dip in sales recently. Actually, we've been on a downward trend for several years. But, I really wasn't expecting to lose GXI."

Mike shakes his head. "Me either! I think our formula is pretty solid. We have a good rapport with our clients. We practice before we present and give each other feedback. What else can we do?"

"What are you talking about, Donovan?" Pamela asks. "I mean, it's all about them. That's why we're there!"

"Well, besides confirming the challenges they are facing at the very beginning of the pitch, everything about our presentation is about us, not the client."

Pamela disagrees. "We are giving them the solution to their problem! That's what they want to hear!"

Donovan presses on. "Maybe. But if that's what they wanted, it seems like they would have been engaged with us…you know, interested."

"Dude, they were engaged!" Mike insists.

Jerome is curious, "Janice, what feedback did the CFO give you in the email?"

Janice takes out her phone and reads the email to her team. "Janice, thank you for your team's presentation last Tuesday. The committee decided to go with Thayer instead. Their comments are attached. On a personal note, I felt confident going into this that your team would deliver. I believe you have what it takes to solve our challenges, but the team just didn't make a connection with the committee. I'm sorry it didn't work out."

Pamela looks down and shakes her head. Jerome turns to Donovan. "I guess you were right."

Janice circles a sentence written on the bottom of the whiteboard: 

Mike admits, "Yeah, I guess they checked out. But…Janice, what are we doing wrong? I mean, how do we do that? Connect?"

Janice walks back to the conference table. "Honestly, I'm not sure. But we can't afford not to figure it out."

...doesn't have to be painful. Download the Story Design Process for Sales and book an engagement your sales team will look back on 5 years from now and say, "That's when everything changed for us."