We Passed The Business Case - Music To My Ears!

History says music has been in every major culture, originated in Africa and has been around for about 55,000 years. The English idiom "music to my ears" origin likely dates back to the 16th century and is used in boardrooms and households daily. 

As a global business leader, I’m often asked, "What keeps you up at night?" But rarely am I asked, “What is music to your ears?"  (Those of you who know me likely think I'm about to go on a rant of my favorite musicians but don't worry that isn't where I am going.)

When I have my marketing hat on, I get excited when a new lead is generated or even when we have a breakthrough in the prior pick-and-shovel work that defines lead generation.  Expert marketers spend considerable time building the universe, then segmenting it, identifying the target as well as defining and promoting your products' value propositions.  Movement from above the funnel, down into it, until "eureka" a lead has been established (and handed off to sales) is hard work. When my marketing team updates that it has happened, it is “music to my ears”.

Like sales itself, it is a constant process of sorting out those things that don't work until you find something that does.  It's an inherently negative process which draws the scorn of other business leaders who think everything is predictable just because we have good processes in place. But sorry, it doesn’t work that way. If that were the case, we would not need humans to do anything in business. 

A lead is born. 

Now starts the sales process during which Marketing will help with nurturing activities such as white papers to advance the cause and demonstrate our expertise.  Again, we whittle away at those things that don't work to find those that do, and move the deal along through the process. 

One of the things that we have found useful in enterprise software sales (which is needed and meaningful to clients and prospects alike) is an effective Business Case. A Business Case is a detailed assessment of the prospect firm’s current situation and thorough analysis of the impact our product will have on their business, revenue and/or bottom line. The Business Case becomes an essential element for decision-making for large dollar and/or strategic decisions and should be thorough and well vetted.  

Clearing the Business Case hurdle is hard to do because prospects are well trained to pick them apart.  They do this in an attempt to reduce its effect on the deal and the price that you are trying to sell your product or service for. When we do clear the Business Case hurdle in the sales process, it is again "music to my ears". It is a clear indication that we are well on our way to the process of closing.

Separately, we could have defined "music to my ears" in another way.

Try this one: Every business student should be forced to listen to Mark Knopflers song Boom Like That which chronicles the history of famous entrepreneur Ray Kroc (in all of 6 minutes) and tells the story of McDonalds and a dozen business lessons in the process. 

Or my names not Kroc

That's Kroc with a K

Like crocodile

But not spelled that way. 

It's dog eat dog

Rat eat rat

Kroc-style

My best, Chris