Insider Tips on Selling Technology to Banks: Action 5
Partner with Banking Industry Experts
One factor that links all the previous articles is the critical need to understand the banking industry and your specific domain. This isn’t just a matter of general knowledge; It means understanding industry trends and priorities.
You must know bank culture and organization, decision-making criteria, and vendor selection processes.
When I was selecting technology for financial institutions, I expected (but usually didn’t get):
Enough knowledge of my business that I didn’t have to educate my potential partner on general banking principles
An ability to quickly grasp the business problem we were trying to solve. And the ability to clearly relate the proposed solution to the problem.
Insights that I didn’t already know, relating particularly to the domain in which I was purchasing
An understanding of what I would need to make and sell an internal business case for selection. This is key – most technology buyers are not particularly skilled at selling, even though they would have to sell hard to get funding approval for their purchases. As a selection team lead, I only rarely had budget authority to buy. Sometimes I faced an uphill battle to sell a particular solution. This was especially true if the provider was not an established incumbent. So, I looked to the technology provider to help me build the business case.
Insight and guidance on integration, testing, deployment, and support of the solution
The most successful vendors had hired or partnered with deeply experienced banking generalists and complementary business or technology service providers. These were people and organizations that knew their technology, but also knew the banking industry and the business domain in which they operated.
Conclusion: Technology Firms Can Sell to Banks, If …
Sometimes it seems like you’ll never break through to the right people. If you do, you may struggle to convince them that your solution is the best for their problem, even if you know it is.
But if you are patient, take the right approach, do your homework, and engage the right partners, you can do it. Try following the tips presented in this series of articles and see how it impacts your performance.
The good news is that when you have built a partnership and sold your first solution, more will follow. Bankers like to work with companies they trust, who have proven they can deliver. Good luck!