Supercharging Your Mutual Action Plans: Integrating SPICED™ and Command of the Message

In the world of B2B sales, Mutual Action Plans (MAPs) have emerged as a powerful tool for aligning buyers and sellers, accelerating deals, and improving win rates. But what if we could make MAPs even more effective? By integrating proven sales methodologies like Winning by Design’s SPICED™ framework and Force Management’s Command of the Message into your MAPs, you can create a supercharged sales process that not only guides your deals but also ensures they’re properly qualified and strategically managed. Let’s explore how to embed these methodologies into your MAPs for maximum impact.

Understanding SPICED™ and Command of the Message

Before we dive into integration, let’s quickly review these methodologies:

SPICED™ from Winning by Design stands for Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical Event, Decision, Stakeholders (with some variations adding Economic Buyer and Decision Criteria). It’s a framework for understanding and qualifying opportunities.

Force Management’s Command of the Message is a methodology that focuses on aligning your sales conversations with the buyer’s business problems and your differentiated solution. It emphasizes understanding the buyer’s Required Capabilities, Positive Business Outcomes, and Metrics.

Embedding SPICED™ in Your MAP

Let’s look at how each element of SPICED™ can be woven into your Mutual Action Plan:

• Situation: Your MAP should start with a clear description of the client’s current situation. Include a step like “Document and confirm current business situation with client.”
• Pain: Identify and document the specific pains the client is experiencing. A MAP item could be “Quantify impact of current pain points on business operations.”
• Impact: Clearly outline the impact of the pain on the client’s business. Include a step such as “Present analysis of financial impact of current challenges.”
• Critical Event: Identify any time-sensitive events driving the purchase. Your MAP might include “Confirm critical implementation deadline and implications.”
• Decision: Map out the client’s decision-making process. Include steps like “Identify all required approvals” and “Document decision criteria.”
• Stakeholders: Ensure your MAP includes engagement points for all key stakeholders. For example, “Conduct solution demonstration for end-users” or “Present ROI analysis to financial decision-makers.”

By embedding these SPICED™ elements into your MAP, you create a document that not only guides the sales process but also ensures you’re addressing all key aspects of a well-qualified opportunity.

Incorporating Command of the Message

Force Management’s Command of the Message can be integrated into your MAP to ensure your sales conversations are consistently value-focused:

• Required Capabilities: Include steps in your MAP to clearly define and confirm the client’s required capabilities. For example, “Document client’s top 3 required capabilities” and “Map our solution features to required capabilities.”
• Positive Business Outcomes: Ensure your MAP includes activities that tie your solution to the client’s desired business outcomes. A step might be “Present case studies demonstrating achieved business outcomes in similar organizations.”
• Metrics: Incorporate steps to define and track relevant metrics. For instance, “Agree on key success metrics for the project” and “Establish baseline measurements for agreed metrics.”
• Differentiation: Include activities that highlight your unique value. A MAP item could be “Conduct competitive differentiation workshop with client stakeholders.”

Aligning Your MAP with These Methodologies

To fully leverage these methodologies in your MAP, consider the following approach:

1. Structure Your MAP Around SPICED™: Use the SPICED™ framework as the backbone of your MAP. Each section of your MAP could correspond to a SPICED™ element, ensuring you’re addressing all crucial aspects of the opportunity.
2. Incorporate Command of the Message Throughout: Weave elements of Command of the Message into each section of your SPICED™-based MAP. This ensures that every interaction is focused on value and differentiation.
3. Use Value-Based Milestones: Instead of generic milestones, use ones that reflect the value focus of these methodologies. For example, rather than “Complete product demo,” use “Demonstrate how solution addresses top 3 required capabilities.”
4. Include Discovery and Confirmation Steps: Both methodologies emphasize thorough discovery and confirmation. Include specific steps for these activities, such as “Conduct detailed discovery session on current situation and pain points” and “Confirm understanding of decision-making process and criteria.”
5. Focus on Metrics and Outcomes: Both SPICED™ and Command of the Message emphasize the importance of measurable outcomes. Ensure your MAP includes clear steps for defining, tracking, and achieving these outcomes.

Making Your Methodology-Driven MAP a Strategic Asset

With these methodologies embedded in your MAP, you now have a powerful strategic tool. Here’s how to leverage it:

1. Use it for Continuous Qualification: As you progress through the MAP, you’re also continually qualifying the deal based on the SPICED™ criteria and the client’s required capabilities.
2. Guide Your Discovery: Let your methodology-infused MAP guide your discovery process, ensuring you uncover all necessary information about the client’s situation, pain, impact, and desired outcomes.
3. Improve Forecast Accuracy: A MAP that incorporates these frameworks provides a more realistic view of deal health and progression, leading to more accurate forecasts.
4. Enhance Team Communication: When your whole team understands the methodology behind your MAP, it facilitates clearer communication about deal status and next steps.
5. Provide Value to the Client: A well-structured MAP demonstrates your professionalism and thoroughness to the client, differentiating you from competitors.

Implementing Your Supercharged MAP

Introducing a methodology-driven MAP may require some adjustment from both your team and your clients. Here are some tips for smooth implementation:

1. Educate Your Team: Ensure your sales team understands SPICED™ and Command of the Message and how they’re reflected in the MAP.
2. Start Small: Begin by incorporating a few key elements of these methodologies into your MAP. As you and your team become comfortable, you can add more.
3. Be Flexible: Remember, while your MAP is now more robust, it should still be adaptable to each client’s unique situation.
4. Explain the Value: Help your clients understand how this structured approach will lead to better outcomes for them.
5. Continuously Refine: Regularly review and refine your methodology-driven MAP based on what’s working best in your deals.

Conclusion: Elevating Your Sales Game

By integrating SPICED™ Framework and Command of the Message into your Mutual Action Plans, you’re not just creating a roadmap for your deals – you’re building a comprehensive strategy for sales success. This approach ensures that every step in your sales process is purposeful, value-focused, and designed to move the deal forward in a qualified manner.

Remember, the goal isn’t to complicate your MAP, but to make it more effective. When done right, this integration should feel natural and valuable to both you and your client. It transforms your MAP from a simple checklist into a dynamic tool that guides strategy, qualifies opportunities, and drives deals to successful closure.

Recapped is a deal execution platform purpose-built to streamline your sales processes and methodologies. Our users have seen success in integrating their methodologies for better adherence with sales reps. The more processes are adhered to, the more confident sales leaders can be in their forecasts.

Request a demo of Recapped today to see how you can supercharge your MAPs with these proven methodologies and watch as your sales process becomes more strategic, your pipeline becomes more qualified, and your win rates soar. Happy selling!