When it comes to the Customer Does the Shoe Fit?
It’s important to understand who you want your Customer to be. To truly understand who your customer should be, you’ll need to start with a profile of the Perfect Customer. Is it a one time sale you’re looking for, or someone with whom you can build a long time relationship? Is it a large corporation or a smaller, growing “mom and pop shop”?
Does the shoe fit is not just a question the customer has to answer but one you need to answer for yourself as well. Are they the right type of client for you. Do they have realistic and attainable objectives and expectations? Listen to what they say, then make sure you understand not every prospect is a good fit for you and a sale to the wrong kind of client can not only throw your selling life into a black hole but also your reputation in the market place.
Do you know what your ideal customer looks like, in size and structure, in how they use your products and services? There can be more than one answer to this but you need to understand the places you play well if not you run the risk of burning a lot of time on the wrong kind of clients rather than a laser targeted approach to the right type of clients. What parts of an organization does your product touch… sales, marketing, research, manufacturing, operations, or accounting? Keep in mind that if they pay for it then it always involves the bean counters at a company.
How will they use what you sell. It is not always what your sales literature says but how it really gets used.
What is the real benefit to them? Is it tangible and if so can you use calculations like Return on Investment (ROI), Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) or ROE (Return on Equity)
Advertisers know and use demographic trends to get the most out of their dollars, you need to do the same out of you investment in time. For example if someone’s retail product hits a 24 and under crowd they aren’t going to spend time reaching people in the late thirties. Like wise if your typical customer is 50-500 employees why are you prospecting into companies with 20 employees. Maybe it is an underserved market or maybe you’re spending time in the wrong place. Going upstream can be the same thing also, are you big game hunting with a pellet gun. If your offer doesn’t fit well into a particular organization’s size or focus no matter how big the win would be you have to make sure that there is a reasonable chance to walk with a deal.
If the shoe fits, have you determined where to poke holes in the other guy’s armor? It can’t be mud slinging or disparaging them in any way but that said it doesn’t mean that it has to be a level playing field. Turn every advantage you can get into them running up hill laboriously at the customer and you running down hill with great ease and even greater speed. How you ask. Lets say you work for a manufacture and your in the deal directly with the client knowing that you’ll direct it to a partner later in the process. Your competition is another manufacturer but their partner is at the dance with out them. Looks like a who really loves who situation, after all is the clients business so unimportant that they can’t spend a little time with the customer. Another way is brand one and brand two are competing and while brand 2, you win against more than your fair share of the time (keeping in mind that there is never a level playing field) but when their partner gets involved you lose more than average what do you do to win. Keep it a manufacturer’s level conversation on business strategy that you can help drive from the very top levels of the prospects organization rather than letting the people who love the competition drive the sale.
Anyone who has been in sales has most likely heard the term FUD Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. So prepare and preemptive strike where the competition usually targets you allowing you to drive home those strengths and then add your unique value to the equation and deal in a little bit of fear about choosing someone else over your solution and you have the start of the formula. Think of FUD in terms of helping your Customer securing their network for example. For anyone who has ever been hit by a computer virus, this is truly a buying motive. Or perhaps you’re selling a product or service and your Customer’s aren’t yet clear on the benefits of it. Clearly define your solution by helping your Customer understand what your solution can do for them and how they will utilize it in the future.
FUD – fear, uncertainty, doubt, will most certainly come into play if your products aren’t perceived as the industry leader. You will need to spend more time showing the merits of your products positively against your competition.
Understand your competition! Compare your products against them. Know exactly where your products stand up again their competitors. Above all, present your comparison in a positive manner. You’ll find that most competitors sling mud rather than presenting themselves on their merits….be bold enough to speak in positives and you will win.
TIP: Have a customer “profile” ready. Understand the profile of your customer and target only those prospects that fit the profile. Bear in mind that this customer profile will most likely change as market conditions change, so it’s important to stay current.
