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This is the next Tip in a series supporting the concept of "Translation" - a process for developing more powerful business fit statements.

The process of Translation includes four steps. The first is gathering the right knowledge about the customer by asking business and solution-oriented questions, and then organizing our knowledge about the customer's business in a POSI grid. When we do this, we have to make sure that our knowledge is robust, and goes way beyond just what we can "fix". If we only include items we can address, our knowledge looks shallow, incomplete and self-serving. (For more on step one, read last month's tip here: http://bit.ly/2yD8nvn)

The second step of Translation is to take our research and identify any specific objectives we can help the customer achieve, strategies we can help them implement, and/or the issues we can help them address. When selecting these items, it is important they are business objectives, strategies and issues; if they are departmental, we are more likely to create a solution fit than a business fit. (As a note, developing a strong Solution Fit is key as well, just not for this subject). We also want to select items that are important to the decision maker we will be approaching.

Consider this example:

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In the case above, the person has developed their business POSI grid and identified 3 key items to build the business fit around. The items happen to be 1 objective, 1 strategy and 1 issue:



Supporting their customer's efforts to expand market share (objective)


Implementing safety programs (strategy)


Addressing competitive challenges (issue)



You can choose any combination of objectives, strategies and issues you want, but choose well. These items will serve as the foundation of your message while standing in front of senior-level executives and making a case for a powerful business fit.

Next month, we'll be taking on the next part in Translation - conducting financial impact research to quantify value in the customer's terms. Stay tuned!


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