Winning Over the Reluctant Sponsor
When I was at HP there was a world of difference when you were presenting a new product or innovation to either Carly Fiorina or Mark Hurd. Carly would want to talk about the vision, and where this might be headed, the design and the emotional connection with customers. Not Mark. He would zero in on the spreadsheet numbers. Pragmatists tend to be strong individuals motivated by achievement, with a strong sense that they are correct, and that they are responsible for the business unit's success. What do you do when the person who has the authority to approve, fund, or block your innovation is a full-on pragmatic skeptic? Here are 10 ways you can help win them over.
1. Be prepared going into meetings! Do you know what this sponsor usually looks for? Which proposals have been successful? Which have been shot down? Can you learn from these? Try to pick apart your own arguments about why someone would not support your idea. Acknowledge the concern but have a concrete answer to the objection whenever possible.
2. Welcome the skepticism. If your product idea or new business model has holes in it, then you want to find out before it goes to market, rather than see it crash and burn.
3. Be direct and get to the point quickly. Pragmatists hate going over old ground or talking about the things that do not move the agenda along. Speaking of which...
4. Have a clear objective and outcome for the meeting. What do you want the sponsor to do? What specific decision will be made by the end of the meeting. Any next steps?
5. Do not try to dominate the discussion. You will not outshout, out-glare, or throw more stinging sarcasm than this person. You need their support. You do not need to prove them wrong.
6. Provide alternatives. What if you can't get full funding? Can you get it to the next phase?
7. Disagree only on facts. If your sponsor has a different perception of why your market is behaving as it is, then don't go head to head with them on this perception, unless you have the facts to back up your viewpoint. Likewise, if market acceptance of your innovation is built only on a set of untested assumptions, your proposal will fall like a house of cards.
8. Have your facts and numbers straight. Nothing irks a pragmatist more than wrong or missing figures. You can bet that they either know what your figures should be, or they'll have a trusted financial analyst in the room with them.
9. Be specific. What will your proposal specifically cost over what period of time? What will it bring in specifically? If you do not have specific numbers, then adopt a common way to say that you expect to improve market share or ROI by x%.
10. Relax. Even though you may have a different style than the pragmatist, you are on the same team. You both have a common objective to see your business win. It's even OK to joke a little (but not at their expense).