Selling ideas internally

Seth Godin wrote a great post recently about selling ideas to big companies from an external perspective. What about selling ideas to companies of any size from an internal perspective?

Selling ideas internally is more difficult because you are selling into your corporate culture. All of the politics, legends, norms and other factors that created the corporate culture at your company weigh on you when selling internally. 

Key to successfully selling your ideas internally is how you show that your idea will either make money or save time (which makes money through increased productivity). Showing how your ideas make money or save time is easier if your idea is a strategy that relates to a specific company objective instead of only a tactical action (issue a news release, sponsor a sports team in an operating community, submit reports in PDF only, etc.). 

For example, if your company sets an objective of increasing positive media coverage by 20% in the next 12 months compared to the previous 12 months, you will have greater success selling an idea that directly relates to that objective (like increasing support for local not-for-profits) than an idea that indirectly relates to that objective (like increasing internal recycling).

A caveat before you get the idea that directly linking your ideas to company objectives will mean easy sales. Remember that you won't be the only individual in your company coming up with ideas to meet your company's objectives. Your idea may be the best idea to meet a specific objective; however, unless you successfully sold the specific individual who has the power to choose your idea, you will fail to close your sale. 

Successfully selling your ideas internally comes down to understanding your company's objectives, choosing a specific objective, creating a strategic idea that directly relates to the success of your chosen objective, understanding which individual will chose ideas related to your chosen objective, listening to that individual's needs and demonstrating how your idea meets those needs and contributes to the success of your chosen objective.