Disruption Selling Approach
The Challenge
Disruptive innovations replace existing value chains against the resistance of customers, incumbents, and their ecosystem. They are initially adopted by a small number of Early-Stage customers before they make it into the Mainstream market. Once the old value chain was destroyed a new one must be built and scaled to replace it. As a consequence, the adoption of a disruptive innovation does not follow a continuous path and a disruptor must adapt what and how they sell to fully exploit the market opportunity.
Maturity Model
The Disruption Selling Maturity Model looks at the four dimensions market, focus, offering, and organization simultaneously and in combination across five maturity levels. Every maturity level requires specific capabilities to address a market in its innovation adoption stage. Each level represents a higher, more sophisticated alignment between offering and organization capabilities with the developing customer needs as the disruptive innovation is adopted by the market.
Level 1
The offering must have Product Market Fit (PMF) for which it must address a specific market need, satisfy customer expectations resulting in repeat usage over time, have active referrals, declining Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC), a sustainable competitive advantage, and feedback-driven development.
The organization must provide Technology Management ensuring the offering aligns with the technical requirements essential for achieving desired business outcomes and seamless integration into existing environments. Sales cycles require the direct involvement of founders to meet the expectations of Early-Market customers.
Level 2
The offering must demonstrate Go-to-Market Fit (GMF) with a clear picture of the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) complemented by effective channels, ensuring that the product's positioning stands out, and pricing that resonates with customers.
The organization must establish an Account Management to effectively manage customer relationships and gain deep understanding of their requirements at scale. They must also adapt products or services to meet the specific needs of each customer and engage in communication through various channels to address concerns and ensure customer satisfaction.
Level 3
Mainstream customers require the offering to seamlessly integrate with their environment for which the organization needs partners. Financial viability within the ecosystem, along with generating value for stakeholders, becomes a focal point. Exploring partnerships and aligning with the ecosystem's culture solidifies the product's position.
The organization must implement a Partner Management to establish robust connections with external partners, understand their business models, and integrate them into the broader ecosystem. They must also identify and onboard potential partners that align with the company's objectives, empower partners with the necessary tools, resources, and training for effective promotion, and monitor partner performance.
Level 4
Solution packages offer the market a more efficient, lower risk, and cost-effective option compared to acquiring individual components separately. They are designed for standardized implementation, reducing complexity and time required for setup. Integrated support, maintenance, and training resources ensure effectiveness.
The organization must provide Delivery Management to manage the availability of implementation resources and alignment with customer expectations. They also ensure deliveries comply with legal and regulatory requisites, provide accurate and timely information regarding orders, and resolve any issues or complications that may arise during the delivery process.
Level 5
At this level, two or more parties come together in a Strategic Alliance where aligned goals and objectives are the foundation, driving collective efforts towards shared achievements. While these alliances do not entail the transfer of ownership they diffuse and mitigate risks. Partners bring complementary assets and explore new markets and customer demographics that were challenging to access independently.
The organization must manage interconnected projects via a sophisticated Program Management to ensure the program's objectives closely align with the strategic goals and priorities of the alliance. They also define and oversee the scope of the program, allocate and orchestrate resources, identify, evaluate, and mitigate risks, and engage with stakeholders at varying levels.
Execution
The Disruption Selling Maturity Self Assessment delivers goals for Offering, Organization, and Sales and Marketing to take capabilities to the next level. Achieving a higher maturity level is a major change to the organization, must be carefully planned and communicated, and takes time.
Offering goals must be translated into Value Stage Positioning, Partner Engagement Model, and Roadmap.
Organization goals drive the definition of Roles, associated Leveling Guidelines, and Recruiting plans.
In Execution goals are translated into a top level Sales and Marketing Plan and broken down across target market segments all the way to individual Account Plans.
The cycle is completed by performing a new self assessment to document progress and define new goals.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which organizations benefit from applying the Disruption Selling Maturity Model?
Companies benefitting the most from applying the Disruption Selling Maturity Model want to reach hyper-growth, are at Product Market Fit stage or later and have a Business-to-Business offering targeting Enterprises. In addition, Investors (Private Equity and Venture Capitalists) benefit from DS.
Is the Disruption Selling Maturity Model a new sales methodology?
No, the Disruption Selling Maturity Model closes the gap between strategic approaches (e.g., Crossing The Chasm, Corporate Lifecycles) and operational models (e.g., MEDDIC, Value Selling, Challenger Sales) to drive consistent, end-to-end strategy execution across the Innovation Adoption Lifecycle.
Have you done it before?
The Disruption Selling Maturity Model is based on more than 35 years of experience in organizations from Series A all the way up to large, global organizations building triple-digit annual revenues from scratch.
Do you have references?
Yes, we’re happy to share references with prospects in the final stage of their decision making.
How do I engage with you?
Disruption Selling provides advisory, consulting and interim management for transition purposes. Book a session on our website to understand DS in more detail, conduct a DS assessment to understand on which level of the DS Maturity Model you currently are and start working with DS on the most impactful areas to improve your position in the DS Maturity Model.
Will Disruption Selling provide me with leads or close deals for me?
No, we don’t believe that fishing for you (providing leads or closing deals) as a 3rd party is sustainable. Instead, we teach you how to effectively fish yourself.
What level of sales experience or understanding is required to benefit from applying the Disruption Selling Maturity Model?
All levels of experience and understanding benefit from working with the Disruption Selling Maturity Model, whether you are a founder with a tech background or an experienced, sales-savvy revenue executive.
Do you also support hiring the right candidates for executing the Disruption Selling Maturity Model?
Yes, we support hiring the right candidates by conducting interviews with qualified candidates based on a proven approach, refined in more than 1,000 interviews.
What are the typical areas customers improve by working with Disruption Selling?
Our customers gain both efficiency by shortening sales cycles and optimizing resources, and effectiveness by focusing on selected strategic deals and improving win rates.
The Total Addressable Market (TAM) of my company is >$10BN, why should I care about the Disruption Selling Maturity Model?
A large TAM is great, but without focus it will lead to waste of scarce resources and a lower growth rate.
Which roles can benefit from working with the Disruption Selling Maturity Model?
Typically Founders, CEOs, CROs, COOs, Heads of Sales/Revenue.
When is a good time to engage with DS?
Anytime is a good time to engage with DS. The sooner you work with us the faster you are able to obtain the benefits and accelerate your journey to becoming a high performance organization.