May 11, 2021 | Communication, Customers, Marketing, Sales
The old cliché that a picture is worth 1,000 words is disproved again and again, by all the pretty websites and dumb marketing collateral material out there, that is useless.
While pictures have a valuable role in grabbing attention, the real commercial value is delivered by the words that express the value proposition and call to action to the potential customers who turn up.
We are in a competition to gain and keep attention, then to move the reader to a decision. That decision may be that your product deserves a place on the ‘maybe’ list, or to the next point in the sales process. A successful sales process is always moving the potential customer towards the transaction.
Human beings scan their environment, instinctively leveraging their mental frameworks to filter out the stuff that does not matter. Our subconscious organises and filters information, leaving cognitive capacity to deal with the threats and opportunities that emerge. We do not see anything that does not have to do with survival, love, relationships, doing better, some sort of challenge, danger, unless for some reason, it is specifically relevant to us at that moment.
When someone sees our website or collateral material, their brain on autopilot filters out the stuff that is not directly relevant. Somehow, we need to cut through those automatic barriers that exist.
Story is the best way of doing so.
They are the evolved format that can deliver the information that reflects ambition, challenges, a plan to conquer the challenges, unexpected hurdles, and last-minute success. This is the standard format of every story, if you do not use it, or some derivation, the reader will skim over your site and not take in anything at all, effectively not ‘seeing’ it.
Formulas are the assembly of best practise; we use them because they work.
That is why stories work, it is the formula that feeds into the cognitive patterns used by our brains.
The key to a story is clarity. Who is the hero, what he/she must do to win, what happens if he/she does not win, what happens when they do?
What problem do they have, what does the outcome look like when the problem is solved?
Noise kills, the noise from inside and outside our business.
From inside, the clutter we spray around, the ambiguity of what we are saying confuses what others hear.
We need to clarify the message.
How many potential customers go elsewhere because they do not understand how you can help them?
When you need someone to help cut through your clutter, give me a call. It will be a worthwhile investment in clarity.
Apr 26, 2021 | Customers, Sales
Our sales efforts are often focussed on what we perceive to be customer pain points. Solve a problem for them, remove the pain, and you have a sale. So, the logic goes, and as far as it goes, it is pretty good.
However, an analytical look at the pain points of customers rather than just making broad assumptions can pay dividends. Such an analysis is a part of every useful key account planning session I have ever constructed.
As with most examinations, a frame of reference adds to the value of the discussion. It usually evolves that pain falls into a few categories.
Financial pain points. The most obvious and common. You can save them money, either by offering cheaper alternatives, or by increasing the productivity of the option they are already using. The latter strategy is always better, as ‘cheaper’ can quickly become a slippery slope. I would never use the term ‘cheaper’, always ‘better value’
Process pain points. You can help them build their productivity by helping optimise their processes, to get more out of the same investment, Always a welcome outcome.
Sales pain points. When you can assist a customer of yours to increase their sales, they will be forever grateful, and reward you with their ongoing business.
Strategic pain points. The most severe pain is often not self-inflicted, it comes from outside, from things that cannot be controlled. The best that can be done is to anticipate and plan your response. Assisting a customer to survive and prosper by helping them identify and consider their response to emerging pain points, always works well as a sales strategy.
The key is to put yourself in a position so that you can identify their pain points. This can take a considerable amount of research into the company, and their competitive and strategic domain. By this means you can add value to their efforts by application of the solution to the problems that emerge. This applies equally to existing customers, as well as key potential new customers, although emphasis on ensuring existing customers remain in the tent is almost always more productive..
In my experience, this customer research pays great dividends, tactically and strategically.
Apr 21, 2021 | Management, Sales
The best word in sales is ‘Free’, it will close more often than any other, by a long stretch. However, being free also implies there is no value to the ‘buyer’ and in any event, it is not really a sale. Only when there is an exchange of some sort can it be termed a ‘sale’
At best a ‘freebie’ is a ‘bait’ of some sort that may lead to a sale.
As a freelancer, I am tempted often to give away a lot of time and advice for free, partly to demonstrate expertise, which may lead to a sale, and partly because I am asked, and am able to do so to help. It is also partly because I find it difficult to just say a flat ‘No’
Recently I had some assistance from a professional to address a problem. It was someone I knew quite well, and have helped a bit in the past, pro bono. As I turned up for the appointment, I was asked if I had some time afterwards so the professional could, as it was stated, ‘pick your brain‘ in a specific area where I have deep expertise. As it happened, I did have the time, so said it was OK.
The upshot is that I gave away an hour delivering expert advice, while paying full tote odds for the appointment and professional advice I had gone there to obtain.
Stupid me.
I should have used the second most powerful word in Sales.
‘No’
It is hard for us to say ‘No’.
We all like to be liked, we like to be asked, and to be seen as an expert, and we do not like to be seen as ungenerous, or even a jerk.
However, is my time and expertise of any less value than the professional I was talking to?
As humans, we also want what we cannot have. Wanting something just out of reach is a driver of behaviour. Saying ‘No’ moves the opportunity to learn something or get something that is just out of reach further away, making it more attractive, and adding to the perceived value of that something.
Watch what happens at contested auctions, as the price goes up, those remaining in the bidding become more desperate to win.
There are many ways to say ‘No’, but the essential element is that it must be clear.
If you apologise, say ‘Sorry’, the door remains open, and you feel a little guilty, when there is no need for you to apologise.
If you say ‘I can’t’, does that mean you cannot now, but might at another time?
If you offer a range of excuses, the ‘No’ remains ambiguous, and everyone is confused.
Remembering that ‘No’ makes you more attractive, you do have options.
- Just be firm and say, ‘No’ I do not do that.
- ‘No’ I do not do that, but here is someone you could ask.
- Redirect back to you. Again, several sub options:
- ‘No. However, email me a few simple questions, and I will try to answer them quickly’
- ‘No, but I do offer calls up to 60 minutes for $XXXX fee.
- ‘That is a complex question, usually only answerable after a detailed examination, for which my project fee is $XXXX.
Use one of these, and the chances of some sort of conversion are real.
Unfortunately, in this case I did not follow my own advice, and so know that the hour I spent outlining the solution to the problem will not be valued and implemented, so we will have both wasted our time.
At least, I got a blog post out of it, so maybe there was some value after all?
Nov 30, 2020 | Customers, Sales
We all use mental models, it is how we get through life without overloading our cognitive capacity all the time. Mental models are evolutions way of enabling us to respond automatically, without a lot of thought, over, and over again, as we come up against similar situations.
They are a bit like driving to a destination. The first time, you need a map, but as you do it a few times, the route becomes automatic, you are responding rather than thinking.
How good would it to be to be able to build a mental model of your customers minds as it relates to the product or service you provide, to enable them to just go there almost automatically?
First step. Distil down how they see your offering to its essential core. To do this you need to understand the how, what, where, when, and why of your ideal customers potential use of your product.
How it is used, what they do with it, where or what context it is used in, when it is used, and why they should source it from you.
With work, you can arrive at a sentence, sometimes two, that describes in a customers words these elements that add up to create the value they derive from your product.
Second step. Recognise this is an iterative process, one that can take some time, and benefits hugely from talking with customers. Therefore, once you have what you think are the distilled words, test them, understand the reasons you get the responses you got, and adjust your proposition if necessary. Use a process to enhance and eliminate items from the list with customers. For example:
IF .. Summary description that captures the mental model you are creating
BY… Removing, adding, changing, tests the variables that influence behaviour
WILL.. Improve performance. Summarises the expected impact
BECAUSE…. Understanding the reason this resonates more than others in your customers mind.
This is a simple process that uses the pretty standard continuous improvement cycle, Plan, Do, Check, Act, in a slightly different context.
The other thing to remember is that copy sells, you need clarity in your copy.
Third step. Live test with customers, this is in effect a minimum viable product of your value proposition.
Fourth step. Roll out the final proposition. Adjust as necessary based on feedback and factors in the market that influence behaviour over time
This is a challenging process, way too easy to take a short cut which will erode the impact of the end result. It is a process that evolves over time, so you need to be constantly looking critically at your offering through your customers eyes to understand the manner in which you can add value to their lives, in return for their money, and referrals.
Nov 9, 2020 | Analytics, Sales
Getting people to change their minds is tough.
Just look at the divisions in the US over the last months in the lead up to the presidential (have you ever seen anything less presidential?) election.
Most set out to change somebody’s mind by telling them they are wrong, here is the right answer.
This rarely works well, as the natural reaction is pushback as people defend their existing position.
Instead, you have to find the things that they want that are consistent with the position you hold, and deliver those to them.
A former client had been successful for a long time selling the manufacture of large capital items to its natural Australian customer base. Over time, their market share had diminished as lower priced overseas competitors ate away at their base. Their focus was on price, and they cut corners in all sorts of little ways in an attempt to remain competitive, and the erosion continued. The turnaround came when they moved their focus from the procurement functions to engineering, giving the engineering staff of their customers the ammunition to argue the case that in fact, the more expensive invoice cost of their gear was better value than the ‘cheaper’ items sourced offshore. They created what they called ‘the TLC index’: Total Lifetime Cost. This was a calculation based on data and case studies over a considerable period that included scheduled maintenance and replacement parts, reliability data, the costs of downtime caused by offshore supply chain delays, ease of access to those who did the design and fabrication of the component parts, and several other items.
The invoice price on the purchase order was then shown in an entirely different light.
They did not tell their customers that the cheaper offshore item was an inferior product, they focussed on the things the engineering staff were concerned about, and gave them the ammunition to carry the argument based on the value of efficiency and reliability over the life of the items, rather than just focussing on the invoice price of the initial procurement.
It is easier in most cases to focus on price. However, demonstrating that price is only one part of the value equation delivers better results over time.
Dilbert again demonstrates insight: thanks to Scott Adams.
Jul 27, 2020 | Customers, Sales
Every business needs a flow of leads that can be turned into a transaction, and better still, a relationship that includes numerous transactions.
You have current customers, who are, hopefully, very happy with your service and products. What better source of more business could you ask for?
In his seminal book ‘Influence’ published 30 years ago, and updated several times since, Dr. Robert Cialdini noted one of the 6 principals of persuasion is ‘Reciprocity’. The sense of obligation created when you do something, even a really small thing, for someone else out of pure generosity.
You do something generous for them, and they will feel obligated to, at some time, do something in return.
When that something happens to be a referral to someone they know, who could use your services, and with whom they have a relationship with mutual trust as a foundation, and they refer you to them, it is like money in the bank.
I have a client who has made successful referrals a central KPI of his workforce. His service requires that his employees are in peoples homes, and so trust is a fundamental part of a successful project completion. When those happy customers refer him to someone else, the conversion rate dwarfs anything coming from other sources. It is not always immediate, people are not always ready to buy when you are ready to sell, but when that time comes around, he is always at the front of the line.
Ask yourself a very simple question, and implement the answer to double your sales at very low cost.
‘How can I engage a customer in a way that they offer to refer me to their networks’?
You will probably find there are some simple answers to the question, including doing a great job for your current clients. However, the most effective way is to do something nice for them, with no (obvious) agenda.
My client has a modest bunch of flowers delivered to the lady of the house with a personalised thank you note attached. The note includes the suggestion that they might know somebody who would benefit from his services, and he would appreciate a referral.
A simple gesture, with a profound impact.
Leads are great, genuine referrals emerging from trusting relationships are money.
