TABLE OF CONTENTS Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Understand how sales-people add value in the discovery process.
Identify and understand the steps in the generic discovery process.
Be able to customize the generic discovery process to your product or solution.
Performing an accurate needs assessment and analysis is one of the greatest opportunities for the SE to add value during the sales cycle. At this stage, you will be defining the business problem that will be resolved in your proposal, and you will begin to identify ways to differentiate the solution you offer. This is also your first opportunity to build a relationship with the customer project team.
During the needs analysis stage you have three goals: (1) increase your personal credibility with the customer, (2) build your relationship and rapport with the customer team, and (3) develop an understanding of the problems faced by the customer. Other chapters in this book provide general recommendations on enhancing your credibility and relationship building. This chapter is devoted to the third goal, unearthing and understanding why the customer needs your solution. It is important to impose a process on the discovery phase because many things need to happen in a short amount of time. By reading this chapter and customizing the process we provide, you can improve the effectiveness and consistency of your needs analysis.
Some SEs underestimate just how important the discovery process is to the...
