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How do prospects decide from which company to ultimately buy? If
you examine most companies' marketing materials, you'd conclude
that they believe prospects make buying decisions based on a
company's:
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Reputation
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Experience
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Customer endorsements
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Competitive pricing
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Utilization of latest technologies
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Capacity to accurately identify and
analyze problems
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Ability to provide flexible,
adaptable, and multifaceted solutions
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Commitment to superior customer
service - before and after the sale
It could be any one of these
reasons. Likely, it's a combination of reasons - different
reasons for different prospects. But, NOT ALL OF THEM!
What's the point?
When prospecting for new business, many salespeople make the
mistake of painting too broad a picture of their company's
capabilities by attempting to include as many of the above
elements as possible. Here's an example:
XYZ Engineering
is the oldest and most experienced provider of process
engineering consulting. We utilize proprietary award-winning
technologies endorsed by SAMPE. Our multidimensional analysis
process enables us to isolate and analyze the critical aspects
of performance and provide our clients with a validated solution
for generating the greatest improvement in the shortest period
of time, thereby maximizing their return on investment.
Until prospects recognize a need for
a company's product or service, they really don't care about the
company's reputation, expertise, processes, or how many awards
they've won.
For you, that means ...
That one size does not fit all. Target your prospecting message
toward a specific market segment and a specific problem or set
of problems for which your company has a particularly effective
solution. (Some research may be necessary - don't skip it.)
Then, focus on a well-defined
outcome. Your message must answer the "What's in it for me?"
question. What will the targeted prospects obtain, how will
things change, and what will they be left with if they buy your
product or service? Let's rework the former example using the
problem, solution, outcome formula:
Production
bottlenecks caused the typical XYZ Engineering client to operate
between 78% and 81% efficiency. Performing a comprehensive
production flow analysis, then developing and implementing
documented process improvement plans have increased average
production throughput for our clients by 23%, reduced scrap and
waste by about 11%, and increased average revenue by $4.2
million.
Reread the first example and try to
answer the "What's in it for me?" question. Difficult, isn't it?
No problem, however, with the second example.
Focus your message ...
When crafting your marketing and prospecting messages, first
focus on your prospects' problems, challenges, and goals. Then,
tie in the solutions you provide and the outcomes the prospects
will obtain. All the rest - company history, proprietary
processes, awards, client testimonials - can wait. When you
sharpen your focus and streamline your message, you'll identify
prospects more quickly and ultimately close more sales.
© Sandler Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
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