Think About It… the e-book version

by Todd Youngblood

There’s a new buzz-word making the rounds. Have you focused on the “trigger event” concept? Can you make it work for you?

The basic idea of a trigger event is pretty straightforward. It’s something that puts decision makers, decision influencers and end users in a “something’s going to change” mind set. It’s something that happens at some point prior to a decision being made to buy your (or a competitor’s) products and services. In fact, it’s a lot like the idea of “cause and effect” that we all learned about in elementary school science class.

There is always some event (or more often chain of events kicked off by some “trigger event”) that inevitably leads to a purchase decision. Here’s a three-step process for taking advantage of this phenomenon:

• Research – Go back through a bunch (at least 15) of your most recent wins. What happened inside the customer’s organization before you got involved? What happened to generate interest in and focus on your solution? What created urgency to move quickly? How was interest generated & who was it driven by? What external signals told you something had happened that would increase interest in your value proposition? Since it’s unlikely you’ll know the answer, you’ll need to make a few customer calls to find out. (As an aside, think about how much you can enhance your reputation by demonstrating such a high level of interest in how the customer does business!)

• Search – Now that you know what to look for, hunt around your prospects for similar, lurking trigger events. They’ll be there. Here’s a short laundry list of examples: merger, acquisition, new executive named, somebody promoted, new technology, new location, re-location, reorganization of any kind, downsizing, new strategic initiative, new product, unanticipated crisis, layoffs, new funding… Bottom line, search for anything that will cause “stuff to flow downhill.”

• Anticipate – I’ll always remember the first time I got the advice to “anticipate” my customers’ actions. I remember thinking, “great idea, but how do I actually do that?” The difference is research and search as described above. Those two items will arm you with a flurry of “What if…” and “How would you…” questions. What if demand for that new product really takes off? How would you be able to rapidly crank up your supply of raw materials? What if Bill ever got the production manager job? What would change around here if that happened? What if you just got started right now with making those modifications?

The whole idea behind these “anticipate” questions is to get the customer thinking; to get the customer to realize that you really are different; that you are out ahead of the pack, helping to prevent problems from happening in the first place.

Even if you can’t get out in front of every customer situation, you’ll be training your brain. You’ll be hugely alert to those critical trigger events. You’ll be positioning yourself as someone who can help customers avoid pain. You’ll be better equipped to handle whatever crazy situation presents itself.