◎he Fourth in the Series-IV of ‘The 7 Mavens of SOPs’)
By Dinesh P. Bhrushundi @ dbknowledgey©
Profound Gratitudes, yet again from ᵭᵱᵬ’the मितवा’ for Great Response to Series-I, II & III, and a warm welcome to Series-IV of ‘The 7 Mavens of SOPs’.
As you know by now, ‘ᵭᵱᵬ’ is my initial and ‘मितवा’ (Mi-Ta-Wa), a Marathi acronym for Friend (मित्र-Mi ), Philosopher (तत्वज्ञ-Ta) and Guide (वाटाड्या- Wa), my humble role to ‘Sit Back and Give Back’, after 4 decades of career.
Series Title: ‘7 Mavens of SOPs’ is expression for instilling some of my learning as “seven propositions in sets of seven SOPs (norms)”, befitting the human mental capacity and attention span.
A friend called a few days ago, asking for some tips to make an effective pitch with one of the organizations I worked before. He was making presentation later in the same week. I told him that I will give some CUES instead. I requested him to talk about the USPs. I also said that he must mention about Cost. The Ease of usage should be part of the pitch. And of course, he cannot forget about the safety and security features. It will be a good idea to begin with the subject statement and build the solution proposal. And the last but not the least, the point of customer-friendliness to be brought in appropriately.
Next day morning, I was recalling the discussion with him and the different words I used during. Strangely the initial letters of those words formed an array which is in the above figure. I thought to myself, if you are looking at its SUCCESS, these are the 7 Suggesters Of a Pitch.
●Statement Of Problem, mention of subject line or the narration of issue is one of the essential features for the good beginning of the pitch. It should be crisp, clear, and comprehensible. Initiating from the background of the problem, it should navigate itself into the next important aspect as follows:
● Solution Proposal essentially means a short pointer, or a brief pre-view of the solution being proposed. Detail solution will of course have to follow at an appropriate stage. However, the sneak peep does the trick mostly to give a taste and feel of what is being offered.
●Ease Of Usage has three connotations: First and foremost is ease of Interpretation: The entire pitch is required to be made in a way that even a 7th grader could understand, technicalities apart. Even with the technicalities, the pitch should be thought of, keeping the audience in mind. The next one is the ease of Initiation and Implementation ( Pilot2Populate). Last but not the least is the ease of Integration with the hardware, software or human-ware already existing with the client.
●Cost is always a core consideration everywhere every time. Thus, the cost aspect should be projected from a value proposition standpoint (the VFM or Value For Money) . Even if it is a premium proposition, it needs substantial justification to ride through. In crux Cost/VFM is the final factor which decides the winner of the game.
●Customer-Friendliness needs no explanation, but for a few quick points. Just think of the ease of usage. It primarily deals with one’s client. Now think about the client’s customer-trio: the internal customers, the intermediate customers and the intended customers or end users. The pitch should ensure that their ease, from interpreting to implementing through integrating are touched upon.
USP is another easy to understand difficult to underline phrasal word. It simply means (one’s) Unique Selling Feature. In overenthusiasm one goes on listing best features and not unique features.
Even if unique features are listed, one or all the ‘abcd’ often missed: the advantages, benchmarks, comparisons, and differentiators.
●Safety, Security and Service aspects are fundamental to any pitch or proposition. Safety is the prime to everything else, also mostly a statutory specification. In today’s context of digitization, the pitch should highlight this aspect if applicable.
There is always a curiosity and concern on client’s mind. It is a good idea to use ALARM approach : Anticipate-List-Alleviate-Risks-Methodically.
Service is about the support through the lifecycle of the product for its operational wellbeing. On a lighter note, those who offer the obituary service for their product after its life will have an advantage.
I am sure most of the readers are doing most of it already, this write up is an attempt to put forth a simple safe solution to problem of making a pitch.
The pneumonic SUCCESS can be the one to serve as an aide memoire. It can be used in full or parts as the situation may be both formally and informally.
And finally, a disclaimer: it no way replaces the communication/presentation skills and preparation/ practice.
Bestest!
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