Dylan Winbourn - Sales, Software, Strategy
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Dylan Winbourn - Sales, Software, Strategy
  • Portfolio
    • Pre-Recorded Pitch, Presentation & Demo
    • SaaS Sales Playbook
  • Resume
  • Blog
    • Sales
    • Strategy
    • Sectors
      • Infrastructure
      • Energy
      • Sustainability
  • Contact
Sales, Software & Data, Strategy

Stop Building and Start Selling!

You need to listen to the industry you’re selling into. But you don’t need to change much until you have a groundswell of solid feedback from a number of key prospects.

Your Go To Market Product Strategy

It’s very understandable that you’ll encounter some prospects that want XYZ feature that you don’t have yet. And guess what? It’s impossible you’ll have everything a customer wants before you build an established platform. And you won’t win all of that business…YET.

The best thing you can do is capture as much feedback as possible and put that into your product roadmap. Sales is absolutely critical for this as they are the front lines with the customer. Keep in mind the following when a prospect tells you “NO” for the first time:

    • You’ve just built a relationship/rapport with that prospect. It’s not NO, it’s not right now
    • If they don’t buy from you then, they will buy down the road if you deliver on some added features
    • But you can STILL obtain a number of clients that really like the service as it is today. It’s all a numbers game! Which is why Lead Gen is your biggest secret weapon
    • It’s really important not to overbuild right now. You sure as hell don’t want to try and build something that only a couple of prospects want. You need a groundswell from the market to tell you a feature or module is valuable to their sector

How Sales Can Make You Successful With A Less Than Complete Product

As I stated above, it’s all a numbers game! And the way to put numbers to your advantage is to build a robust lead gen strategy to cover as much ground as possible.

  • Lead Gen- THE MOST IMPORTANT SUCCESS FACTOR! Here are some things to keep in mind:
    • Your top sales person should be focused purely on demo, relationships, and closing. Not lead gen!
    • Internal lead gen resources are usually more effective as they are versatile and can work on a lot of different project. However, they are way more expensive
    • If you do need to outsource your lead gen, there are TONS of options available
    • Target the largest companies first. These companies will tell you right off the bat if you’ve hit the mark. If you haven’t you’ve at least built rapport and a relationship with them, which you can sell to them once you add features they need
    • Building a huge pipeline is a must. It’s purely a numbers game. If you have 100 prospects in your pipeline, and close 10, great! If you have ten and hope to close 10, but end up closing 1, you’re in a bad position
    • The timeline for a pipeline that is solid takes about 9 months to a year. Start now!
  • Selling
    • In order to cut your costs, avoid having to do any travel to close these deals. Run everything as an inside sales team, with remote demos. For big accounts you could travel to build the relationship, but I’d keep that limited and only for the right opportunities
    • Once the meeting is set up, all your top sales person needs to do is demo, get commitment, and get a signature

If you have a good pipeline and can build momentum, you’ll close enough deals to be profitable, build your product our more, and conquer your market!

 

Software & Data

How Are Your Enterprise Software Modules Connected?

Often times enterprise software systems come in “modules” that offer functionality to serve multiple business groups, departments, or processes. Examples include:

  • Requirements
  • Contracts
  • Safety
  • Objectives
  • Risk
  • Procurement

Often times in the sales process, multiple modules will be offered together in a package deal, to increase value and bring more users into the best practices provided by an enterprise software system.

Makes sense, right?

Of course! Only buy the modules that you need. And expand into different modules once you’re ready (and once the department, group, or business function it serves is ready).

But a very prudent question to ask is how are these modules connected? How is data shared between Contracts and Risk? How can we roll data up across all of our modules to support our corporate goals and objective tracking?

It’s a pretty logical to assume that it would be straight forward and easy to make modules talk to each other. However, often times modules don’t talk to each other at all, and require quite a bit of work to connect- even though they are from the same platform, company, and system.

If you’re looking into an enterprise system with multiple modules, consider these questions:

  1. Do the modules share a single database– if yes, this should make it easier for the modules to “talk” to each other and share data
  2. Are there any integrations required to share data between modules– if so, there could be additional software costs (adapters, servers, etc) and service costs (technical consulting to install the modules)
  3. If an integration is required, how is it set up- are there any pre-built adapters to make the integration easier? Is data shared through XML/batch files or is the integration real time? What data fields can be exposed?

Asking these questions can save you a lot of time, money, and headaches.

 

Energy

Leveraging Disposal Data to Develop a Better Strategic Plan in the Permian

Although the oil and gas industry is still recovering from one of the biggest declines in decades, there’s rising optimism and excitement about the potential for the Permian Basin to become the largest producing oil region in the world. Already the most dominant region in the United States, the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that the Permian will increase production by 515,000 b/d (up to 2.9 million b/d by the end of 2018), helping total U.S. output rise to 9.9 million b/d by 2019, the highest recorded output since 1970. To underscore these staggering numbers, Exxon Mobil has taken a heavy position in the region, as they plan to triple their own Permian production to 600,000 b/d by 2019.

However, the expansion of each energy producing region presents new and unique challenges, with produced water as the potential limiting factor for operators in the Permian.  With every set of challenges, lie a distinct set of opportunities, particularly around utilization of salt water disposal wells to manage produced water. What was previously seen as a cost center for fluid waste, has become big business for operators and energy service providers alike. Several leading operators in the Permian are investigating how to commercialize their own salt water disposal assets, while energy service companies see produced water management as their strategic angle in a crowded energy service sector.

Commercialization of Salt Water Disposal Assets

Historically, produced water has been viewed by operators as an ancillary function of oil and gas production. The use of injection and disposal wells to manage produced water was either necessary to enhance energy recovery, or a minor but sizeable external cost to handle the amount of water produced from tight shale energy extraction. Several factors have led larger operators to believe produced water disposal will be the most critical and costly element of water management in the Permian. These factors include the large volumes of produced water, high costs of recycling, greater scrutiny on seismicity, and the decreasing number of new disposal permits agencies are issuing in certain regions (such as the Oil Conservation Division of New Mexico). With this in mind, it makes sense for operators to seize the market opportunity to expand their salt water disposal capacity. Larger operators have the existing infrastructure, manpower, capital, and expertise to rapidly commercialize their salt water disposal assets, assisting smaller or newer operators that lack a produced water management strategy.

How can operators determine if commercializing disposal assets is feasible? There are several elements to consider that vary by company; overall corporate strategy, operational expertise, existing infrastructure, and cashflow (among others). However, the first step to develop a strategic plan is accessing and understanding complex disposal data and leverage that data for confident, timely, and accurate decision-making. This data includes reviewing injection volumes and pressure constraints, visualizing locations of the competition’s existing commercial wells, learning about injection intervals and formations, and leveraging data to identify market opportunities across the Permian. As platforms like B3 deliver data in groundbreaking ways, expect forward thinking operators to expand and commercialize their salt water disposal assets as regional capacity becomes constricted.

The Growth of Water Midstream Companies in Oil and Gas

On the other end of the spectrum, a new phenomenon is growing in Texas for private third parties to serve the expanding water management needs of operators in the Permian. Dubbed “Water Midstream” companies, these organizations are seeing water as a new and evolving market opportunity in the energy service sector. Examples of these groups include Layne Water Midstream, H2O Midstream, Goodnight Midstream, and a number of other companies that have made water management the main element of their strategic plan moving forward.

At its core, midstream is defined as transporting fluids from point A to point B. Traditionally it involves crude or refined oil and gas products, but why not water? Water is a complicated logistical issue, adds to the cost of production, and expands the risk profile of a project or operating plan. Midstream companies provide a streamlined solution, through the development of water infrastructure, and by expanding their teams to include expertise on produced water management. Human capital and expertise is becoming especially important as water spans multiple dimensions, is highly regulated, and involves complex data to understand the market for disposal. Without a grasp on the data, companies looking to enter the water midstream space could make costly mistakes, such as providing clients with high risk disposal solutions, increased costs, lowered confidence in their services, and missed opportunities as they lack visibility and foresight into the disposal market.

Look for more on this topic from B3 as we create a series of posts that showcase the trends we’re observing in the salt water disposal and produced water space. In this series, we will also explore seismicity risks and how all types of organizations are leveraging data to support business development and overall market intelligence.

Software & Data

Are Your Data Structures Robust and Flexible?

As a solution consultant and sales engineer within the enterprise software space, I am constantly asked by clients one key question:

  • Can I create [XYZ] report?

This is such a rational, legitimate question! After all, what’s the point of an enterprise software platform that collects and aggregates data if you can’t generate the reports you need?

Hopefully the answer to this question is “Yes.” Well developed, well thought out systems can facilitate the aggregation, roll ups, and slices and dices of data in multiple ways with ease. Want to compare how department A is performing against department B? How about instead of comparing department A, we compare Program 1 to Program 2? What about rolling up transactional data in more than one vertical across the company?

The possibilities really are endless in the way clients want to report on their data. And they have every right to! However it can put some enterprise software systems in a bind if their data structures aren’t carefully designed.

This is a result of using excel spreadsheets before the implementation of a enterprise system, where data structures aren’t enforced. Referencing cells in formulas is quite a manual process, however it provides users with a lot of flexibility to facilitate aggregations and calculations. However this can get pretty complicated for many enterprise systems to replicate. It becomes almost impossible for a system with poor data structures.

Here are some questions to ask when investigating data structures of enterprise software systems: 

Are reports configurable or do they require custom development?

As discussed in my previous post, you want a tool that is configurable, not customizable. This will save buckets of money on development costs and allow non-technical users to operate and administer your system. If reports aren’t configurable and require custom development, reporting will be a nightmare.

Does the vendor have a reporting team? 

There will always be some reporting requirements that stretch any system. However if the vendor has an entire reporting team dedicated to running SQL scripts to pull client reports, that may be an indication that reporting may not be as simple and straight forward as previously thought.

Does the system have multiple types of database objects? Can they be related?

Well designed enterprise software systems have multiple database objects at varying levels of detail. These systems will also allow users to associate multiple object types together. Sometimes reports will require associating object A with object C, while others will require associations of object B with object C. If an enterprise software has only a couple of data objects that don’t talk to each other, creating reports could be impossible with a custom SQL script.

Can transactional data be tagged with multiple categories?

Tagging transactional data with multiple categories allows users to tell the system where they want the data to go. If an enterprise software system does not allow you to tag data with more than one transaction, roll ups across departments, programs, regions, and more will be extremely difficult.

Software & Data

Enterprise Software- Configuration vs. Customization

After working with numerous enterprise softwares over the years, I am commonly asked by clients to distinguish the difference between software configuration and customization. Both have their challenges and benefits:

Configuration means an end user (someone who is not a developer) can build, alter, and to an extent customize an enterprise software to match a client’s needs and business processes. Enterprise softwares that allow for configuration usually have a somewhat easy to use back end interface that an administrator, consultant or designer can access to alter settings as needed. Most modern enterprise softwares are built to be completely configurable. Some might argue that configuration limits a customer’s options during an implementation. For some software platforms this is true- however if the software has a solid, well developed architecture the system can be configured to match any client’s needs.

Customization usually involves developers that implement or build code for an enterprise software. Customization can be expensive as it requires constant maintenance and hiring highly skilled workers. However, sometimes customization allows a client to implement a system that fits their requirements exactly as needed.

Software & Data, Sustainability

Why Good Life Cycle Assessment Data is Important (and Where to Find it)

In the sustainability space, I am sure many of you have heard quite a bit of chatter about Life Cycle Assessment, also known as the practice of modeling a product’s environmental impacts across it’s entire life span.

This practice is important for a number of reasons- reducing environmental impacts, trimming down the size of your Scope 3 carbon portfolio, etc. However, at the end of the day, it all comes down to product marketing.

Corporations are catching on to this highly technical, highly advanced practice because when conducted correctly, LCA’s are the basis for EPD’s- also known as Environmental Product Declarations. I won’t go into a ton of detail (please contact me if you have additional questions), but EPD’s allow you to make environmental marketing claims about your product compared to another.

If an EPD of a smartphone was created, reviewed, and accepted by a verification body, it could allow Apple to say that their iPhone is more green that a certain Android phone, and visa versa.

Along with the branding, nutritional facts, labeling, and (especially) pricing, sustainability metrics will be another way for a consumer to choose between products. And EPD’s, supported by Life Cycle Assessment, and Life Cycle Assessment software tools and data, will be the catalyst for these sustainability metrics. But as I described above, practicing LCA with the correct approach can be challenging.

Additionally, making marketing claims against a competitor can be risky for any brand. Claims needs to have substantial evidence and be validated with extensive data and research. Nobody likes a lawsuit!

This is why having reliable, accurate, and updated data is absolutely crucial when conducting LCA studies with the objective of making a marketing claim.

And in terms of LCA data- the data that powers these studies- there is a lot of questionable data!

While I won’t identify the ones to think you should avoid, here are the scientifically backed LCA databases one should consider:

  • EcoInvent
  • US LCI
  • GaBi Databases (Disclosure: I work for PE INTERNATIONAL, the providers of this data)
  • ELCD

Have questions? Feel free to contact me!

Please keep in my mind that these opinions are strictly my own!

Strategy, Sustainability

Key Skills for Anyone Working in Sustainability

Jobseekers often ask me about the key skills one needs to obtain to be successful in corporate sustainability. Throughout the years I have learned a lot about the various tricks of the trade, and I believe there are three skill sets every sustainability professional should know:

1. Understand highly technical practices such as Life Cycle Assessment from the product side, as well as the methods for quantifying corporate sustainability indicators from the operational side. Organizations can’t measure actual progress without quantitative practices such as these, and they are often overlooked and seen as overly difficult (especially within sustainability).

2. Additionally, learn the various software solutions available for sustainability management. Tools make quantifications of impacts automated and much easier to manage. Having a basic understanding of how these systems work is going to help immensely when a client or supervisor wants to implement one of these systems at your organization.

3. Understand how to design and implement higher level corporate sustainability initiatives, such as stakeholder engagements, sustainability strategy development, and sustainability management systems. These skills are immensely important for any candidate as:

  • A stakeholder assessment identifies what sustainability aspects are important to an organization, and whom it is important to (internal and external stakeholders)
  • A strategy incorporates the identified sustainability aspects into their vision and develops it into a blueprint for the organization to follow for sustainability success
  • A sustainability management system is the engine that continually drives the organization toward achieving their sustainability goals and reducing risk

To me, number 3 has been the most important. It has allowed me to provide my clients with unified, cohesive solutions that have increased brand recognition, decreased cost, increased sales, and reduced risk for their organization.

You’ll notice that there aren’t any certifications, accreditation’s, or other professional sustainability “labels” mentioned above; while I think they can somewhat beneficial, they come and go and if everyone has them, how does that differentiate you? To me, it doesn’t, and the facets I have listed above can apply to more than just sustainability.

Think about how you can apply all three of these facets to your job to help your organization succeed.

Love it? Hate it? Let me know!

Strategy, Sustainability

Making Sustainability Profitable

Today I read a great article on the Harvard Business Review about making sustainability profitable. The article highlights a study by the World Economic Forum that investigated international companies considered to be sustainability “champions” in the developing world. Some highlights from the article:

  • Companies implementing sustainability practices have “above average” growth rates and profit margins
  • Sustainability efforts have been the most successful in resource constrained economies
  • Efforts that involve more sustainable operations can require more long term investment- but those investments have payed for themselves many times over

Business benefits like these are often overlooked when sustainability initiatives are taken into consideration. When speaking with clients that are skeptical of the business value, or that need help selling the value proposition to top management, I try to emphasize the common business benefits related to sustainability (along with some estimated dollar amounts where applicable):

  • Reduced material costs- Less energy costs. Less water use. Less waste disposal costs. Less is more these days, and it is hard to deny that reducing the inputs into your product and operational systems will keep more dollars in your pocket. Easy argument to make because these are realized costs for every company.
  • Reduced risk– Managing risk can prevent compliance issues and fines. It can also stop supply chain shortages that would prevent a company from producing more of their products. This is often overlooked because it is preventative, but it is an important consideration- and a consideration most sustainability champions have already taken care of.
  • Enhanced branding- Being considered “green” is just one facet of growing a strong brand. Kraft, 3M, Toyota, Siemens, Johnson & Johnson, Honda, Volkswagen, Cisco, and HP are just a few of the high performing companies within the Fortune 500 that have deep and successful sustainability programs that have bolstered their images as top international companies. Harder to put a actual dollar amount on- unless the company is being acquired or purchased!
  • Top line revenue growth- Phillips just reported that roughly half of their revenues in 2012 were attributable to green products. $15 billion in revenue is an incredibly easy argument to make, and if companies aren’t utilizing Life Cycle Assessment, green product design standards, EPD’s or other systems that improve the environmental performance of their products, they will continue to sell less of their products to high performing competitors as consumer demand for more sustainable products increases.

These are just the business values- there are other reasons, like “doing the right thing,” or the whole preserving-the-environment-for-future-generations idea (crazy, right?!). But when we are talking about business, the reality is that we need to speak in the language of money.

These opinions are my own. Love it? Hate it? Let me know!

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