Issue #87

You Are the Product

In enterprise sales, the product is often invisible - a vision, a plan, a few process charts and some operational targets.

You're not selling something customers can easily touch or test in a demo environment. You're selling a transformation - a new supply chain, a reengineered IT backbone, a system that won't exist until you build it.

So what do buyers use to judge your offer?

They look at you.

You become the product - at least until a pilot can be done.

They ask themselves:

• Do I trust this person to deliver?
• Do they understand me, my business, my company politics?
• Will they make me look good?
• Are they the kind of person I can depend on for the next 6 to 24 months?
• When the product is invisible, you are the only visible proxy for quality, value, and risk.

The 2x2 matrix shows the key variables in the customer's mind of whether they can trust you and whether you know what you're on about.

Big contracts are closed by trusted advisors.

That means your behavior is the pitch.

The way you manage the sales process, your attention to detail, your financial fluency, your calmness under pressure, these are the signs they will use to judge whether your company can execute the project.

Here’s a simple five-part framework to keep you anchored in the buyer's reality:

1. Show the Path

Lead with clarity. Explain what their future will look like and how you’ll get them there. Make it real. Use metaphors, roadmaps, and milestones. Draw the picture they can’t yet see.

Best practice: Use visual storytelling in presentations. Top consultants at firms like McKinsey and BCG always illustrate the journey, not just the destination.

Example: In a recent pitch, one of my clients sketched a phased rollout plan on the whiteboard that showed when each department would go live. It instantly lowered anxiety in the room and made the project suddenly real for them.

2. Be the Trusted Expert

Know your product. Know their world. Speak their language. You have to be credible both technically and commercially.

Best practice: Study your client's annual reports, stakeholder org charts, recent announcements. Anticipate the business impact of your proposal at every level.

Example: A logistics services rep I know, opened a client call by referencing how a recent acquisition would affect warehouse capacity in Q3.

It created instant credibility - they saw how clued into their business he was.

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3. Serve Through the Sale

The sale is a prototype for the project. If you’re slow, vague, or inflexible during negotiation, they assume that’s what implementation will be like.

Best practice: Always follow through. Keep agendas tight. Pre-empt objections. Document next steps clearly.

Example: During any complex deals I have done, I send recap emails after every meeting summarizing concerns, decisions, and upcoming tasks. The clients start to treat you like a project manager before the deal is even closed.

4. Read the Room

Politics matter. Emotions matter. Social status matters. Be sensitive to who’s in the room, what they need to win, and how your deal affects them.

Best practice: Map stakeholders. Use influence mapping. Note who interrupts who, who gets deferred to, who resists change.

Example: In a stakeholder alignment session, a client noticed the CFO deferring to the Ops lead. She redirected her proposal to reflect Ops’ concerns, winning buy-in from both.

5. Be Easy to Work With

You don’t have to be everyone's best friend, but you must be the person they can rely on. Professional. Calm. Creative. Responsive.

Best practice: Establish response SLAs internally and externally. Build pre-configured team workflows for deals.

Example: Most teams I have worked in created a shared deal "war room" online with client-facing and internal channels. Response times typically halved and cross-functional issues got resolved in hours, not days.

Here's a summary diagram of the whole framework:

In enterprise selling, the buyer never gets a test drive. They buy belief.

So be the most trustworthy, useful, knowledgeable person in the room.

Because you are the product.

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