At Being Guided we help organisations who engage in a high-value, high-touch sell to increase sales effectiveness by combining four things: Design Thinking⁸, Value Engineering⁹, Vibe Coding¹ and AI Sales Coaching²¹.

Design Thinking, applied.

Design Thinking maximises stakeholder engagement by fostering empathy and collaboration across the buying and selling cycle, whilst Value Engineering builds robust business cases using ROI models to defend value and quantify costs.

Inspired by the Stanford d.school our Design Thinking is delivered as six iterative stages: Empathize; Define; Ideate; Prototype; Test; and, Implement. This offers a structured yet flexible framework to better understand and challenge assumptions and redefine problems.

01. Empathize
The first and most important stage in Design Thinking is Empathize. This where you are creating receptivity and rapport among a broad set of decision-makers and influencers as stakeholders in innovation, leads to trust. In turn, this generates the truth required to move to the Define stage.

02. Define
Clearly articulating the problem to be solved. After gathering insights, define the core problem in a human-centered manner. This stage is about synthesising observations and articulating the problem in a way that guides the creation of a compelling argument for a solution.

03. Ideate
Generating a range of creative ideas to solve the defined problem. This phase involves brainstorming and exploring potential solutions, encouraging out-of-the-box thinking. It's essential for innovation, as it embraces creativity in the discovery of effective outcomes.

04. Prototype
Turning ideas into tangible products. Prototyping means a hands-on approach to the rapid transformation of Current State, generating a simpler, more effective Future State with the right solution. Prototyping is crucial for visualising how the solution will work.

05. Test
Gathering feedback and refining the Prototype. Testing includes feedback collection on reactions to the solution offered. This helps in understanding the prospect's experience, identifying issues, and validating the effectiveness of what has been proposed.

06. Implement
Finalising the solution and closing the deal. The final stage involves finalising the solution design based on feedback, completing the development, and launching the product or service in question. This ensures that the solution is fully understood and ready for everyday use.

Experimentation works.

Consistent with the Design Thinking inspired by Stanford d.school⁸ I believe that it is vital that business and technical stakeholders fully embrace Experimentation as a state of mind that governs the Vibe Coding journey.

Simply put, the best place to start is with five steps that govern the Vibe Coding, which also flesh-out the Design Thinking and Value Engineering that drives a positive engagement:

Framing the Testable Idea.
Defining Evidence.
Selecting The Test.
Building the Prototype.
Executing, Analysing, Testing.

With this approach to Experimentation, underpinned by Design Thinking and Value Engineering, a Vibe Coding process can be incorporated in an Experimentation app: reinforcing best practices by creating a solution that embraces the following Entities (Objects):

Models
From generating high levels of engagement among all key stakeholders throufh Design Thinking, the Value Engineering process creates Return On Investment Models (ROI) Models for the seller's offer, where a solid business case for the buyer,. This defends value over price.

Projects
With a clear ROI Model in place, a Compelling Value Proposition is translated into a Project Plan. This includes setting out a hierarchy of Milestones, Tasks, Deliverables and Costs, mapped against the ROI Model created to generate a strong business case for the buyer.

Tasks
Project Tasks are assigned to Users where many Tasks can make up the Milestones and Complete Projects related to the Project Plan. Project Tasks utilise Activities for Tasks, Emails and Calls in Salesforce or Google AppSheet.

Resources
Human and Digital Resources are assigned to Project Tasks, defining named Users, fully supported by AI Augmentation or AI Automation options. Resources include customisable Record layout options for Skills plus Custom Objects (Entities or Tables) for eLearning and Certifications.

Storyboards
Alongside Snapshots, Storyboards are continuously updated via a Web Form and CRM app record, defining and iterating Problems and Challenges expressed in terms of both urgency, importance - and also, how they are mapped to Models.

Decisions
In moving from the what-if Projections of a ROI Model for a Compelling Value Proposition, the buyer and seler agree and continuously refine Value Engineering calculations for Purchasing against Economic Basis of Decision and Emotional Basis of Decision scoring.

Solutions
Over time, the Compelling Value Proposition emerges from a Mutual Value Discovery between buyer and seller. This is where progressively clearer Solutions are developed and documented, underpinned by a convincing Value Engineering and ROI Model outcome.

Checklists
The Checklist Module allows for customised Checklists to be used at each stage of a buying and selling cycle. One or more Checklists can be included in Tracking, where this can measure the change of status for each Checklist Item over time.

Objections
Combining in-depth human experience with an AI Assistant to work through predicted abd actual objerction handling situations. Example: "The customer says our price is too high compared to the competition. How should I respond?"

Calculations
Using Models to generate what-if Return On Investment (ROI) Calculations that results in a Clear comparison between Current State and Future State. This feeds into a progressive Mutual Value Discovery to result in a solid Value Engineering outcome for buyside and sellside.

Guidance
Again, combining human experience with AI Assistant to ask questions informing the right actions at key stages of say, a buying and selling cycle. Example: "We're in the negotiation stage of the deal. What are the most important things to focus on to close the deal successfully?"

Summary. Design Thinking

At Being Guided we bring four things together in pursuit of improving the high-value, high-touch sell: Design Thinking⁸, Value Engineering⁹, Vibe Coding¹ and AI Sales Coaching²¹. The common thread in all of this is design.

Design Thinking is a great way to engage the broadest, deepest number of stakeholders on bothe the buyside and sellside of any high-value sales motion. Value Engineering ensures that the business case for a Value proposition is fully quantified and justified by the buyside.

As a design first business, at Being Guided we embrace simplicity as our underlying principle that governs everything we do. You can ready more this design principle in my Journal post Simplify, where Steve Jobs and his work from over forty years ago still resonates²².

References

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