Why now?
Everyone in B2B hates this question. I hate this question.
Because we were doing so well. We just finished connecting our features, which we love to talk about, to their needs, which they love to talk about.
If only we could end on that! Right?
But that’s not real life.
“Why Now?” is the hardest question in every B2B presentation.
In B2C, we have lots of ways to answer “Why Now?”. We can use time limits, scarcity, discounts, all kinds of things.
But in B2B, things move slower. And the customers know that the discount, the opportunity, the end of quarter, the end of year, your interest in doing the deal. NONE of those things matter.
In some ways, the smaller you are, the easier this is to deal with. It’s legitimate to say something like, “because of our size, we only have enough capacity to do 9 projects like this a year. So we’re almost done with adding new projects”.
If you’re part of a huge company, it’s different. You need to focus their attention outward, on their market and their competitors. Or internally on their costs. So, market-wise, their competitors are moving now, which will translate into an advantage. Because they’re going to get the first crack at the customers. Or, if you’re focusing them inward, the longer it takes to make a decision, the more money is being wasted doing it the old way.
Either way, “Why Now” is always tough. Not just for you, for everyone. But spend time on it. If you skip it, you end up with zombie sales deals that never seem to close, and that’s a waste of YOUR time and money.