Why should a potential buyer spend time talking with your company? Take a moment and jot down your answer to this question – I’ll wait.
I’ve just finished a series of presentations to some CEO groups and I’m struck by how little time and attention they spent creating an answer to this question. CEOs complain they can’t get their prospects’ attention. The truth is that too often their companies do nothing to deserve it.
I regularly ask CEOs why someone should buy from them. Here’s sample of some of the answers I get:
- We’re dependable
- We deliver on-time
- We provide quality work
- We care about you
How excited are you about talking to someone if one of the answers above is their value message? Of course not! If you’re like most (and the trend toward increased commoditization proves this), you have little or no interest in talking with them at all. Who can blame you? There are two reasons why these messages do not work:
1. They’re meaningless, vague and provide no compelling difference. There is no one in the market saying ‘Buy from me, I’m not dependable, but I’m cheap.’
2. They’re what everyone expects. If you don’t provide them (or at least don’t appear to provide them), you will not even have the chance to compete.
Instead, try this: Demonstrate, through everything you do, and I mean everything (in politics it’s called ‘staying on message’), that you will address an issue that I am worried about. Stop telling me what makes you so great. Forget about your offering. Stop being a solution in search of a problem. Show me you understand what I lose sleep over and why. That’s right -- Make me feel understood. Stop asking me what I want and start understanding what I need – even though I don’t even know I need it. Then talk to me about it -- demonstrate that understanding through conversation – both passive and active. Remember, conversation is two way – it allows give and take.