Just Give Me the Numbers!

As a young consultant, I was presenting the key findings of a market study to a major telecom equipment manufacturer. This was in a big meeting room filled with top executives from several departments. My talk contained a lot of data about the market size and our forecast for it, and I was trying to explain how the client should apply the data to develop effective marketing and sales strategies. I guess I was taking too long because the Sales VP jumped up and cut me off, shouting, "Just give me the damn numbers!!" So, I gave him the numbers, and the meeting broke up. I was never told how the client used the numbers, but some time later, the company filed for bankruptcy.

The lesson here is that the numbers alone do not make for successful sales results. Had the company applied our strategic recommendations, I'm confident that its chances of success would have been greatly enhanced.

Consider today's telecom market. No question, network investment is down from last year. Our latest numbers show an aggregate 2009 capital expenditure outlook for the 50 top U.S. wireline and wireless carriers at $57 billion, down -9% from $63 billion in 2008. Telecom equipment suppliers are reporting slow order input with not much forward sales visibility.

But the bottom has not fallen out of the telecom business. On the contrary, through a slow 1Q09, carriers have maintained full-year capex guidance, mainly because demand for telecom services, especially data and increasingly, video, has not slowed even as access line losses continue to escalate. So, carriers continue to invest their capital in network expansion and modernization.

Understand, though, that aggregate capex consists of many moving parts with some segments increasing, while others are in decline. Where, when and how much capex carriers will actually invest is hard to predict. The question is: What side of the capex curve are you on? And how do you sustain your business amid such turbulent market conditions?

In this environment, what is important is not what new bells or whistles you can add to your product, but rather how you position your company and products with the carriers to help them through their own trying period. This means, more than ever, you must understand their plans and actions, their needs and wants, then help them to make their numbers.

So having the market numbers alone will not help. Understanding the market dynamics and influences on customer decisions will. Instead of using market data to drive your sales plans, start with a clear understanding of what your customers really are trying to accomplish, then back up.

After years of hard-earned experience, we have formalized a 6-step approach that works pretty well. Here is how it works: (1) Market: Who are the customers? (2) Applications: What do they need? (3) Product: Do we have it? (4) Positioning: Can we win? (5) Strategy: What must we do to win? (6) Plan: How do we do it?

Too simplistic? It's easy to ask the questions. Coming up with the answers is not so easy for a lot of telecom suppliers. The point in adopting a fundamental step-by-step approach to customers is that, by answering these questions, you position your company, your products and services into your customer's priorities. Restated, start with the customer's issues, then back up. Make your customer's priorities, your priorities. Many suppliers simply jump to Step 3 and sell products. You do so at your own peril. Short term gains do not make for long-term business relationships.

Knowing the market numbers is important to size the potential sales opportunities. But achieving your sales goals really depends on a critical understanding of your customers' needs and wants, then showing them how to apply your products and services to make them successful and competitive.

John M. Celentano is President, Skyline Marketing Group, a Baltimore, MD-based telecom market analysis and strategy consulting firm. He can be reached at john@skylinemarketing.com