COGNITIVE SKILLS SPOTLIGHT 2: Ability to identify opportunities

The word Opportunity has an interesting root. According to etymology, it is derived from Latin phrase, “ob portum veniens” which means "coming toward a port." So, we can think of an opportunity as something a good wind has blown or sent our way

Strategies to become an opportunity magnet 

How can we acquire the cognitive skill to make opportunities come to us? Can we turn ourselves into a “opportunity magnet” as individuals and sales professionals? 

Increase “Surface Area” for individual growth 

One sure way of identifying opportunities to grow as individuals is to enlarge the surface area. Luck and opportunities ae known to increase super-linearly with more surface area. Surface area can be increased by: 

(1) Meeting more people (2) Connecting ideas to find new approaches (3) Stretching the time horizon (4) Developing access to mentors and experts (6) Picking up patterns missed by others 

3 Easy and Quick Ways to Identify opportunities in business 

When it comes to business, 3 easy and quick ways to identify opportunities are: 

  • Find out pain points of Customers that you can resolve 
  • Research the market by speaking to users and observing how your product is actually used 
  • Question your processes to check for potential improvements in cost, efficiency, quality and speed 

Tools and Frameworks Helpful in Opportunity Identification 

Opportunity identification may look like an art that is the gift available to only to a fortunate few. But there are tools and frameworks we could use to systematically spot or even create opportunities. 

Examples include – (1) White spaces (2) Adjacencies (3) Smart prospecting (4) Aligning products, Customers and markets (5) Buyer journey model (based on Harvard research) (6) Firmographics (7) Innovation 

To understand how these tools and frameworks work, we can take a look at Adjacencies applied to sales. 

Looking for adjacencies opens up new opportunities by leveraging your business’s existing capabilities, competencies, and strengths in adjacent markets. It can be described as using your core competencies to create new value with new customers

Example: A retail outlet primarily selling smartphones may think of expanding into the smartwatch market, which is closely related to the core business

Opportunities are like butterflies. The secret is not to chase them but to build a garden that attracts them 

“The most serious mistakes are not being made as a result of wrong answers. The true dangerous thing is asking the wrong question”

– Peter Drucker

Welcome to the 'New Mercuri Mail'..  The India Journal of Mercuri International!

This is the 'Go To Place Sales Newsletter and Journal' of the discerning Sales Community! Continuing its 35 year long tradition of sharing knowledge curated from the best of sales and management literature, here come interesting new features, all with an unwavering focus on making a difference!

Happy reading  and reflecting!

Team Mercuri India