Doug DavidoffHow much time do you spend within your company talking about what the world looks through your customer’s eyes? Do you spend more time talking about the products or services you peddle than you do trying to discover what your customers worry about? And by worry, I don’t mean what they complain about. I mean what they worry about most. What wakes them up in the middle of the night? Remember, most of the things your customers truly worry about have little to nothing [to do with your offering]. Your job is to connect what you have to offer – legitimately -- to what it is that your prospects are actually worried about. This is value creation.
I have written (here and here) many times about how difficult it is to get people’s attention. I believe it is the single biggest challenge facing every sales force today. How can we create value for people who will not even listen to what we have to say? How do you get a prospect’s attention?value
I’ve ranted in the past against ‘solution selling.’ It’s important to remember that your ‘solution’ is a commodity. There are more choices and alternatives out there than a buyer can handle that will ‘solve’ whatever the problem your offering claims to solve. The sad reality is that the vast majority of ‘solutions’ have far more to do with the seller’s world then the buyer’s.
Frankly, buyers are tired of listening to sellers babble about their solutions anyway. As more and more messages claim great benefits (that never seem to appear), buyers have shut down. ‘Thank you,’ they say to themselves, ‘I’ll figure out what I need without you.’ There are companies, however, that realized that this is not the life most buyers want. It’s just that most buyers feel as though they have no choice.
If, instead of bantering about what it is that you do, you demonstrate you understand what it is your clients worry about, you''ll get their attention and demonstrate your abilities - all at the same time.