Problem: long decision making process and postponing of urgent/important projects
When projects are vitally important or urgent but the client is hesitant, doesn't make a decision or simply ignores the facts, then they do not see the value that you do.
Your goal is to demonstrate this value, make the decision easy and instill a sense of urgency to move forward.
Because this is a crucial conversation, structured meeting tools can help to:
Use visuals to align the client with the problemGenerate a high level perspectiveMake the deliverables tangibleRationalize the decision with an ROI Calculator.
1. Use visuals to align the client with the problem
The first goal is to make sure that the client sees the problem. You'll find they often understand the problem logically (risk of downtime, cost of unproductivity, aging network) but they don't appreciate the gravity of the situation.
For this we can use a content widget and embed rich media such as:
- YouTube video explaining the problem more vividly
- Calculator to explore the problems
- Stories, quotes and testimonials of clients
In this example we used a downtime calculator to make the IT downtimes more of a tangible loss for the client.
2. Generate a high level perspective
The second goal after getting aligned with the problem is to offer a broader and holistic perspective on the solution in an interactive way. It's one thing is to understand the problem but another challenge to get them to believe in a solution.
You don't want to throw a complete list of technical solutions at the executive. You'll just create confusion and probably lessen the chance of project approval.
Interactively build the solution with the client together so they can follow the steps and understand from building blocks up to and including a high level perspective.
In this example we added a few pre-packaged projects to a project roadmap widget and created two new projects on the fly. Our goal was to be able to keep things simple but compelling enough for the executive to make decisions.
3. Make the deliverables tangible
The third goal is to get into the details of the deliverables to make sure the client understands the required effort and technology recommendations. While the client is not a technology expert we need to offer some insight into what we'll do.
First, the client executive has to rationalize the decision after the meeting too. They need to know what they're buying is a well-designed and ideal solution. Secondly, they may need to convince others or at least rationalize the spending for the management team. We want to make sure they're equipped to do that.
In this example we use the Project Scope Widget simple project descriptions, pictures and videos to deliver a better experience.
4. Rationalize with an ROI calculator
The last goal of the meeting is to make a decision or at least make the decision-making process clear. Let's remove all speed bumps in their journey to making this essential decision.
An ROI calculator can be handy in making the decision financially easy. Collecting the costs of the current situation and the benefits of opportunities will make the current issues tangible. Quickly estimating the one-time investment and potential monthly additional expenses will make the investment clear.
In this example we used the ROI calculator widget to explain the 1 year and 3 years return with the gauges and the financial value of the project.
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