There are more and more SMEs and start-ups with a certain business history that offer innovative, agile and economical solutions to “old” problems. Sometimes these companies (with high technology expertise and willing to try and create customized action-oriented solutions) collide with traditional purchasing processes, prolonged decisions, interlocutors who are unfamiliar with technology and a certain aversion to change.

At Infinita Growth we have been fortunate to collaborate with some of these innovative agile companies offering surprising solutions and a desire to do things right. One of the main challenges lies in how to break the unwritten rules of the traditional purchasing process. This is especially critical in the case of public administration being the buyer or main purchasing decision maker.

Here are some brief tips to avoid the difficulties of such purchasing processes, reduce decision lead-time and create door openers to get the sale or a pre-sale test:

• Build commercial partnerships with established, proven and reliable players in the customer’s environment. Ideal for those companies willing to sacrifice marginality in exchange for savings in commercial effort and greater focus on developing their expertise and adapting their product.
• Change the customer’s perception of the product/service to avoid pigeonholing it in a predetermined purchasing process. For example, this was the case of a company dedicated to the conception and implementation of high-tech urban children’s playgrounds. In short, approaching the city councils from the perspective of public works was a titanic commercial task in terms of time and resources invested. When the expert founders of this company have been able to directly interact with the public administration from the perspective of open innovation technology leisure oriented to the development of children, the mindset of the public entity has changed radically.
• Be very clear about the different roles involved in the purchase decision and detect their potential pain points, even if they are not directly linked to the product in question. This could be the case, for example, of a company offering a technological solution to improve urban mobility. Offering benefits linked to the project that solve other pain points for the public administration (reduction of pollution emissions, commercial revitalization, support to specific business sectors, public image, etc.) can be a door-opener to start testing the product.
• A good extended product proposal can facilitate the generation of important and recurrent income throughout the duration of the agreement (technical service, maintenance, reporting, training, communication campaign, etc.). In this line, an attractive, economic and easy entry offer can facilitate the green light for the initial purchase, while the project generates profitability throughout the duration of the contract.
• Test the product/service on customers from less regulated, more direct or smaller sectors or countries, where it is easier to generate business cases and ambassadors to entry the main target segment later. Sometimes a lot of time and resources are invested in trying to reach the “ideal” customer, losing other valuable opportunities to learn and move forward.

This is a very brief brushstroke of possible ways to speed up commercial effectiveness and business generation. If your company is involved in a similar environment and you need support, from Infinita Growth we are at your disposal.