Great News! The Era of the Sales Pitch is over!

Buyers and sellers alike are breathing a sigh of relief as the era of the sales pitch comes to a end. Evidence of the decline can be seen in the growing preference for conversations over presentations as sales people seek to truly engage with potential customers.

Don't Pitch Unless Your Customer is Ready!

The sales pitch has been diminishing in effectiveness as a sales technique for a long time.

As a result the sales person can no longer assume that the prospect will be hypnotized by a combination of smooth charm and carefully rehearsed benefits and features messages.

The problem is that while the salesperson is pitching, the prospect ain't batting.

The reality is that most buyers are not interested in the salesperson’s product, or company. They are only interested in themselves and their own company, specifically the opportunities and challenges being faced. Clever salespeople realise this and have traded in their old sales pitch for a new more effective and engaging approach (as shown in the table below).

Old Way		New Way
Sales person Sells to: Prequalified company (with a need and a budget)	Who?	Expert, or Trusted Advisor Sells to: Company with latent or hidden needs, as well as those with a budget
Sales Pitch Sales Presentation Features & benefits Points of pain	What Is the focus?	Discussion, Dialogue, or Conversion on Business impact & results Problems, Opportunities, Strategies, etc.
Middle & Lower Management	Where in the organisation?	Senior Management
When need & budget in place Once off	When does it happen?	Uncover Need May not be aware of need Ongoing
Tell and Sell Presentation Convince One way Seller claims Unilateral Proposal Sell to close	How to do it?	Engage / collaborate Insights & Conversations Discover Two way Customer stories Bilateral proposal Serve to sell
Sell Close	Why do it?	Generate demand Inspire Build Relationship

Never Start with A Sales Pitch, Even if the Buyer Wants One!

Now, buyers like salespeople have been conditioned to the old ways for a long time. That means they need a little help changing. For example, the prospect may walk into the room expecting a powerpoint slide show, or a verbal diatribe, that does not mean you should comply. Let’s take an example – what do you do when the prospect asks you to start the meeting by telling us about your company?

Well some books recommend that you reply with something like the following ‘I would love to and there are lots of interesting things to tell, but in order for me to understand what areas I should focus on, I would like to learn a little about your company first.’

Now, the principle makes sense, but you also have to be careful not to kick to touch too early. The prospect does have a genuine reason for asking, and by starting off with a little introduction you give him, or her a little more comfort, as well as a chance to focus on what the meeting is about.

This is important because you cannot assume that the prospect has done any preparation in advance of the meeting, or perhaps even though about it since you arranged the appointment on the phone several days, or weeks ago.

The Sales Pitch That is Not A Sales Pitch

So we recommend having a 3 or 4 sentence overview of your company that will grab attention and set a direction for the conversation. For example something like this:

‘’We have helped other companies in your industry, acme 1 and acme 2 for example, cut the cost of complying with regulatory compliance by up to 35% by providing new technology to make reporting simpler…

…In the process we have noticed some interesting trends with respect to the processes and technologies being deployed and in particular where additional savings can be gained…

..I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss this with you for 45 minutes….

…– I would be delighted to explain a little about ourselves at the end if you like and leave you with some material…

… I don’t know if there is anything that you would like to focus on in particular? Is 45 minutes ok?... ’’

Now, isn't that a lot better than a long winded about us, or product pitch. It indicates to the buyer than you are have some useful information to share, that you are not just there to sell to him and that you are no ordinary salesperson.

By mentioning the names of other companies you add to the credibility of your message, you have also confirmed the topic and the time available, which is again manages expectations and demonstrates that you respect his, or her time.

In short this approach is more more effective than the traditional sales pitch.

From Selling Products to Selling Ideas

Ideas, beliefs and causes are more compelling than products, or services. In an age of increased choice, competition and commoditization, features and benefits are not enough to really connect with your customers. So how can you link what you are selling with a cause, idea, or concern that your customers are passionate about? Or how can you get passionate about the problems or opportunities your solutions address for customers?

How to Really Connect with Your Customers
So, if ideas are the real currency of the age, why are you still selling products and services? Find a cause that is inimical to your product, or service - one that really matters to your customers, as well as their own customers. Don’t settle for being a sales person, identify with, join and build a tribe (we will let Seth Godwin explain this term later) around the causes, values and passions shared by you, your company and your customers.

The most powerful way to build your business is to stop selling, moving beyond features and benefits, as well as from points of pain and problem identification to igniting purpose, passion and imagination. That means focusing on a cause that is inimical to your product, or service and that really matters to your customers, or their own customers. It is to become an advocate, champion and thought leader.

The Most Effective Way to Connect With Your CustomersListen to what matters to your customers. What issues are they concerned about? What is at the core of success in their industry? What are they passionate about? To what values do they aspire? What ideas engage, or have the potential to engage them?

People want to identify with values, causes and ideals. They want to connect with others who share them too. In this way building momentum behind a cause is not a one man job, it involves connecting with others who share the same passion and the building of communities around it. That is its power as regards sales.

Salespeople can blur the traditional customer – seller distinction, by being part of a movement, network, or community. In this internet age, everybody has an opportunity to find and the air their voice and to connect to others worldwide for whom it resonates, no matter much in the minority they might be.

What is your cause?

So what is the cause you can lend your voice to? What cause can you champion? For example, the salesperson selling warehouse management systems might focus on a particular cause relating to warehouse performance, sharing their ideas and becoming a thought leader, promoting or championing new ideals, connecting with potential customers who share the same concerns, etc.

Now, of course you cannot champion a cause just because you think it will help you sell more. To carry it off you will need to have a genuine conviction and commitment regarding the issues concerned. You will also need to have something to say, a strong voice, a unique perspective, or value to add.

Sharing passions, purpose and ideals means standing for something larger than just a product, or a commercial transaction. It requires not just following, but challenging the status quo. It often requires breaking new ground and being on the edge, whether that is Michael O Leary and the purpose of low fare travel, or Al Gore and the environment.

What are the new tools for selling ideas?
How this happens has been propelled by means of the web, with blogging, online forums, social networking, etc. the viral means of selling ideas and connecting with others. Indeed, the web gives everybody, salesperson, or not, the means of finding, developing and airing their voice.

Again taking the example of the warehouse management system sales organisation that wants to connect with its customer and prospects in a new way. It begins by members of the organisations sales or marketing team:
- Setting up RSS feeds to read relevant news, articles and views from cyberspace. That means tracking those issues that are topical, what others are saying, who is influencing opinions, etc.
- Joining forums and groups relating to the topic of interest, including those on linked-in, facebook, etc.
- Setting up a blog to air views, share useful information with others and build a following. The fact that this has a positive effect on google search ranking should not be forgotten about.
- Commenting on other blogs and feeding the conversation.
- Writing whitepapers, delivering webinars, pod casting, hosting presentations, webinars, online, etc.

From Salesperson to Tribal Leader
Tribes according to Seth Godwin are what matter most and leading them is how you can really affect changes in society, economies and business. See his video on TED below.

Buyers want to talk about results and little else

Bye bye value proposition, hello compelling reason to buy.

Notice the vacant look on your prospects face as you talk about your value proposition and unique selling points.  As you move from the 'About Us' slide to the list of features and benefits the result is a yawn.  

What today's buyers are looking for is nothing short of a compelling reason to buy and in the present climate they are increasingly impatient and disinterested in anything else.  That means you have to ‘cut to the chase’ and explain how your solutions can improve the performance of the prospect’s business.  Once more you have to back this up with real stories about how other companies have benefited and then ask them if that is something that is relevant to their business.

The focus is on results not value.

As salespeople from around the world are telling us 'the only value buyers are interested in is immediate, quantifiable and business priority focused'. The only value that matters for today’s cash strapped buyers is measured in terms of the key metrics of their business and ultimately in terms of costs and revenues.  Value has been superseded by business impact and the need to credibly demonstrate quantifiable business results.

In today’s turbulent market conditions, the sellers who get straight to the point – and the point is the impact their solutions will have on the prospects business – are leaving their marketing slogan led counterparts in the shade.  They clearly demonstrate a compelling reason to buy.

There are no nice to have’s and intangible benefits (such as status, or emotional value) don’t count for as much anymore.  Solutions competing for scare funds, must directly address key business metrics, problems and priorities that are fundamentally different from  6, 10, or 12 months ago.  

That means they must impact on the business in terms of cutting costs, increasing efficiencies, and managing cash, as well as a leaner and more efficient approach to business all round.

For most buyers attention has turned to the tactical as opposed to strategic, with a focus on short term paybacks, the immediate resolution of problems and quantifiable results.  That does not mean that some are not concerned with driving revenue numbers, or launching new products, but clearly there has been a shift in emphasis for the greater majority of customers.

The need for a compelling reason to buy.

In this present climate it is time to turn the sales proposition inside out and start talking about a compelling reason to buy.  Having a compelling reason to buy is a stronger test than simply having a value proposition.  Ultimately it revolves around the 3 killer questions that every buyer is going to ask, specifically: 

• Why should I buy? 

• Why should I buy now (as opposed to delaying it till next quarter, or after the slowdown)?

• Why should I buy from you (as opposed to your competitors)?

It starts with a compelling reason to enquire.

Of course, a compelling reason to buy is the ultimate aim of your sales process.  However, it evolves logically across the sales cycle, or buying process.  Click on the diagram below to expand. 

The starting point is a compelling reason to click on a web page link, to talk to a cold calling salesperson, or ring with an enquiry.    All going well, the next level is a compelling reason to listen, or to meet.  At that stage the buyer needs a compelling reason to meet again, or to explore buying the solution.  

Then bingo, securing the order requires that the customer has a compelling reason to buy (buy now and buy from you).  But it does not end there.  After the order, that compelling reason has to survive intact so as to justify the purchase decision and achieve a repeat order and a customer referral.  The value proposition of a supplier must evolve if the vaulted position and ultimate goal of becoming a strategic partner is to be achieved.

A potted history of the sales pitch.

I have studied philosophy, but I have never seen questions around the meaning of life, produce the same vacant response as questions around the  value proposition.  I have had the pleasure of working with eminent physicist and chemists, for whom Nobel Prize winning theories makes sense, but who struggle with the issue of why customers should buy from them and not their competitors.  In some ways that has not been helped by the tools that marketers have provided.

Marketers under the influence of mass marketing in the 1960s came up with the term positioning to describe how suppliers must stand for something in the customer’s mind, a decade later that gave way to the notion of a unique selling proposition when the focus turned to how that position needed to distinguish one company from its competitors.  

Then selling proposition gave way to value proposition in the past decade, with the notion that value must be the basis on which companies compete for buyers.  Now, that is the ladybird summary for those that are interested.  But along the way thousands of managers and customers too got lost.  The fundamental problem has been that the focus has been on the seller, not the buyer.   Thanks to the slowdown that has all changed and the task is a lot clearer for both buyer and seller - to present a compelling reason to buy.

 

Is the economic storm blowing you off course, or helping you set a new direction?

Some people see an upside to the downturn, can you?

I had a conversation yesterday with a director in one of Europe's most successful professional services companies. It is clear that in spite of the present sales related challenges being faced, the company’s management team can see an upside to the downturn.

There is a precedent, with the director pointing to a previous setback, that in hindsight propelled their business forward. The company clearly expects that this downturn will, in the fullness of time, represent another important turning point for its business.

A crisis can be a strategic turning point.

Like many companies, this client of ours has had day rates cut by 10-15% percent. However such is the state of the domestic market for its engineering related services that contracts can now only be won if they are discounted heavily, with many companies in the industry being prepared to price at a loss to stay in business. Much less so our client, which has a diverse international profile of clients – the result of internationalization drive that was fuelled by a previous shock. The director explains:

‘We lost a major contract a number of years ago, but that turned out to be as much a blessing as a curse. The contract was so large that it would have kept our entire organization busy for more than 3 years and would have kept us completely focused on delivery with no time for business development. In the end the project never happened, but its loss, in hindsight, was both a blessing and a curse. That is because it accelerated our search for new business internationally. Today we are in a much stronger position as a result.

Setbacks can propel you forward.

I can see this present setback as potentially having the same effect, in other words causing short term pain, but ultimately benefiting our organization. I do believe that most companies will be in a stronger position at the end of the present economic turmoil, that is if they can respond to the challenge and stay alive amidst the turmoil.

Pointing to a multi-million project just won in the Middle East and a full domestic order book for the next quarter, the director emphasized the downturn is causing pain but will benefit his business in the longer term. ‘It will accelerate our strategy for the future of our business – a global focus on higher value more profitable work and the use of strategic partners for the rest’.

The downturn illuminates where the value is.

‘We want to focus on where we have a unique competence, where we can add most value and where the money is to be made. That is the high level project scoping, conceptual work and overall project leadership'.

'What today is the bulk of our business – the day to day delivery and implementation and labour intensive, but less profitable elements of major projects will be delivered through strategic partners in the future’ he explained. That will require a shift in our focus, as well as our skills and perhaps in our team’ he concluded, but will represent the foundation for the next phase of our growth'.

Setting direction, or simply being blown off course?

Clearly some people see an upside to the downturn, can you? Could the global slowdown represent a strategic turning point for your business, pointing you on a new course that ultimately will ensure greater long term success?

Is the slowdown illuminating where your organization can add greatest value to its customers, or highlighting those most profitable and weatherproof areas of opportunity for your business?

Maybe the present economic storm is not blowing you off course, but helping you to set direction. In this respect the ancient saying holds true ‘tempests and storms make for great pilots’.

The Swiss Army Knife Paradox and it’s implications for your sales proposition

Lessons from rich and retired entrepreneurs
A client of ours turned for advice to some rich and retired entrepreneurs who had recently sold their business to one of the big vendors. How did they do it? What advice did they have for others? How to build a business that a vendor would ultimately want to buy? These were just some of the questions.

The Swiss Army Knife paradox
Now, the conversation threw out many nuggets of information, but there is one that I wanted to highlight in particular. It is called the Swiss Army Knife paradox – a clear way of explaining something that we have long held to be true. Let me explain.

A Swiss Army Knife has many uses –screwdriver, nail file, scissors and much more besides. If you are a MacGyver type who is struck in the wilderness the Swiss Army Knife is the ultimate penknife, combining 20 plus tools in one.

Now, the temptation for every company is to continually develop its product, or solution, in a similar fashion to the Swiss Army Knife – adding new functionality in an effort to make it do everything and serve everyone. That our rich and retired entrepreneurs emphasize is not a good idea. It will result in a product that is harder to sell to customers. Paradoxically the more your product does the less attractive, or certainly the more confusing it may be.

I will let them explain: ‘If your product does everything then that is just plain confusing – people like to pigeon-hole your company and your solution – clearly defining what it does and does not do. If you tell them it does everything for everyone you run the risk that they may not believe it, and in particular that they will continue to search for a specialized solution that is specific to what they see as their own special needs. ‘ When it comes to selling your company the same applies they explain.

'It does everything' is not a selling point.
From our point of view we continually hear buyers complain that salespeople stretch credibility because of their reluctance to say no to any question about product functionality, or scope. Does it do this ‘’yes’’ does it do that ‘’yes’’, oh and it is ‘full integrated’, ‘feature rich’ and does it incorporate ‘full reporting functionality’? Saying yes all the time may be one yes or one promise too many to convince the buyer that your solution does everything that you say.

Buyers want to hear what it will not do.
Buyers tell us they would prefer if salespeople would come clean and say what their solution does and does not do. They would much rather, for example, hear the salesperson say ‘our solution does not provide reporting, most of our customers prefer to use their existing reporting tools, what our solution focuses on doing better than others is on gathering the data in a way that is faster, more accurate and less bandwidth intensive…’

The Swiss Army Knife Sales Proposition.
Back to the Swiss army knife, if you need to tackle a screw then it cannot compete with a screwdriver, that is, if you have access to one. So the sales proposition and real value of the king of pocket knives is not that it contains 21 tools in one, but that it fits in the pocket and is great for situations where you don’t know what you may need, but like a good scout you want to be prepared for. Just like your solution, when you think about it, the knife cannot legitimately claim to do everything, unless off course there is no full toolbox in sight.

So avoid the Swiss Army Knife Paradox. Being explicitly clear on the unique value of your solution is key and putting limits on your claims as well as your product’s functionality makes sense.

14 Trends Eroding the Effectiveness of Your Sales Message and What Do About Them

Why Many Customers Have Stopped Listening.

Nothing switches a customer off quicker than the traditional sales blurb and marketing speak. Today’s buyers have heard it all before – promises of superior quality, technical sophistication and service excellence. 

Courted by an increasing array of suppliers, today’s buyer can be hard to reach and difficult to persuade. They are more cynical and sceptical too, capable of quickly consigning your marketing literature to the bin and your sales presentation to history.  Increasingly they are switching off and tuning out.

14 Trends You Need to Be Aware Of.

There are 14 trends that are making most sales messages and marketing material less effective. These trends have fundamental implications for the way you sell. Those who adapt will get closer to their customers and farther away from their competitors. Those that don’t, well they just won’t be heard. These trends relate to the audience, the message and the medium.



A. AUDIENCE related trends

1. From Mass Market to Customer and Segment Specific.

The advertising age is over, especially if you are in B2B sales. So, if you want to get a message to your customer contact him, or her directly. You’ve got the name, or can find it out, so send an email, make a phone call or better still secure a referral.


2. One message does not fit all.

Busy buyers are increasingly selective about what they read and who they will see. They are more adept at screening your emails and calls. So, how to get your message through? Well, make it specific to the particular interests of the customer.

If it’s a bank you are contacting, then tell how your solution has played a role in the success of other banks, quoting sources that they trust and using the language to which bankers can relate. Make your message specific and relevant to each different type of customer you are targeting, according to their size, industry, location, etc.

Don’t try to be everything to everyone. If you do the appeal of what you are offering will be universally diminished and you run the risk of being an ''also ran'' in the market place. Chances are you are going to have to alienate some customers if you want to appeal to those of most relevance to your company.


B. MESSAGE related trends

3. From Products to Solutions.

The era of products and services is drawing to a close. Customers have stopped looking for products and services, and are looking for solutions instead. So, forget about lists of features and specifications and start thinking solutions. What do your customers want to achieve and how can you help them to achieve it? Focus on the benefits your products will deliver to the customer and on how it will help them to solve problems and/or exploit opportunities. Talk to the customer in terms of the impact on his/her business.

For example, forget about selling your high volume document imaging solution, unless you can demonstrate how it is going to help the customer achieve quantifiable efficiencies and savings in administration. Similarly, don’t focus on the fact that your solution is SOA based, until you have first demonstrated how it will impact on the key metrics of the customers business, such as accelerating time to market for new products.


4. From Sales Proposition to Reason to Buy .
Want to put the buyer to sleep? Then talk endlessly about your company, drone on about when it was established, how many people it employs, where it is located and what equipment it has got. See how the buyers eyes have glazed over?

Saying it is about the buyer, not the seller, may sound like a statement of the obvious, but this point so often gets overlooked. That is why 7 out of 10 sales presentations start with opening slide labelled ‘about us’. Talk about getting off on the wrong foot! Most sales people waste the valuable time they have in front of customers by talking instead of listening.

The focus has to be on the buyer and helping him to buy, as opposed to on the seller and what it wants to sell. This is a slight change in wording, but a major change in mindset – one that has a major impact on the effectiveness of any salesperson. Do not spend your time search out your sales proposition, find instead a compelling reason for the customer to buy.


5. From marketing fluff to useful information.

If the buyer is going to give a salesperson 45 minutes of his precious time for an appointment, or invest 5 minutes in reading an email, brochure, or letter, then you had better reward him for it. That means telling him something useful that he either did not know, or needed to be reminded of.

We are increasingly bombarded with information, from an increasing variety of sources. In an attempt to be heard, marketers are continually vying for our limited attention by generating more ads, more emails, etc. But who is listening?

Busy managers are increasingly selective about what sales and marketing messages they will read, listen to or watch. It is going to get their attention it has to be relevant, interesting and new. You are going to have to tell them something that they did not know, or at least that they wanted to be reminded of.


6. Long Lists of Vague Benefits Give Way to Quantifiable Impact.

Buyers are tired of adjectives, they yawn when they hear terms such as big, major or significant used to describe the savings, or other benefits promised by yet another salesperson. The lesson is vague benefits and promises no longer have an impact.

The longest list of benefits does not win. If you want to get attention you have to tangabilise the benefits of your solution. That means quantifying the impact of your solution on key metrics of relevance to the customer (costs, revenues, etc.)

What is the most effective way to communicate the benefits of your solution? Well, it is to tell stories of how other similar companies have benefited from your solutions. There is no more powerful marketing than the tale of a satisfied customer.

So gather your case studies and customer references and share them with your customers at every opportunity. Replace your benefits lists and technical specification documents with customer recounting how they have benefited from your solution.


7. From Benefits to Business Impact.

Managers who have wrestled with the difference between a feature and a benefit, are now faced with an altogether new challenge. That is to go beyond the outdated features and benefits analysis to focus on what really matters - business impact. That is how their solutions impact on the key metrics and performance of the customer’s business, such as cutting costs, accelerating time to market, ensuring compliance, etc. Such a description of your solution is what is most meaningful to customers and prospects.


8. From ‘Me Too’ to A Clear Competitive Advantage.

With increased competition, standing out from the crowd is becoming increasingly difficult. Yet, there is an essential sameness to so many marketing messages, websites and brochures. Just how is a buyer to choose? Just what is it that makes you so special?

Here are some way to put a greater distance between your company and its competitors:
• Make your message specific – promising not just better service, or lower cost, but with quantified benefits.
• Tell customer success stories.
• Be a specialist catering for the specific needs of a specific industry, or vertical.
• Be an expert rather than a salesperson.

In order to avoid being an ‘also ran’ you need to clearly communicate a competitive advantage. That is some aspect of your solution, valued by customers, that is superior to competitors. But, let your customers, not your marketing people, tell you what it is.

9. From same old message to something new.
The shelf life of any marketing brochure, or the message it communicates has never been shorter. Last quarter’s message has to give way to a new more topical one, that tells new stories and reflects new priorities for customers and emerging marketplace trends. If you want to keep a channel of ongoing communication open with your customers then you need to find new and interesting things to say.


C. MEDIUM related trends


10. From Sellers Talking to Customers Talking.
Customers would rather hear what other customers think about your solutions and your company than what your sales people have to say. Now thanks to the blogosphere they can. Type in the name of one of the biggest IT vendors products into Google and yes you will find links to the company’s web site and press releases, but more prominently than that you will find links to comments posted independently by users and commentators. The web based marketing medium has been democratised and power has been placed in the hands of the customer. Get your customers to talk about you and your prospects will listen.

11. From Partisan to Verifiable Information.
Buyers have heard it all before – ‘we offer the highest quality’, ‘we are committed to service excellence’, ‘our solution is the market leader’ and so on. They have heard it so often that they don’t believe it anymore. After all, ‘what else would a salesperson say about their own product?’

The reality is that; as a sales professional you simply don’t have the credibility to claim that what you offer is the best available, because your competitor is making the same claim too. Buyers want to hear from customers and industry counterparts, not sales people. So, get your customer to speak for you and people will listen. Tell buyers what you have done for companies like theirs and they will listen.

They will also be interested in what acclaimed experts, independent studies and recognisable certifications have to say about your company and its solutions.

12. The new media age.
The age of expensive glossy brochures is over, now the Pdf and the blog is king. It is not just about putting your marketing blurb into an email attachment, its about sharing customer stories, business insights and useful information.

Communication used to be one way - from the seller to the buyer that is. In the mass media era, the seller spoke and the buyer listened. Not any more! Today’s buyers talk back and talk to each other.

Just Google any key supplier and you’ll find wikis, blog entries, etc. ahead of company web sites and company sponsored marketing messages. If you want to be heard, then shut up and let your customers and industry experts talk instead. Given them reasons to talk about your company and its solutions and watch how customers listen.

13. Don’t interrupt! From Unsolicited to Opt-in.

Another transformation taking place is that from interruption-based to permission based marketing. In other words it is better to have 10 customers who opt-in to receiving your message (advertising, email, etc.) than 1,000 or 10,000 who you send it too blindly and without their invitation, or permission. The former group are interested in hearing from you, the latter group probably isn’t.

Response rates to direct mail are abysmally low and to email marketing are even lower still. In order to make the numbers the temptation is to work with bigger lists and more regular mailings. This compounds the problem, with response rates sinking further. Turn this situation on its head with fewer mailouts, shorter lists and more useful content (generated with customers, experts and partners).

Give your customers a reason to want to hear from you and don’t take advantage of their openness by sending them anything that won’t be useful. Being a avid reader I was encouraged to sign-up for a loyalty card upon my last purchase with the promise of additional benefits if I provided an email address. Within 2 weeks I had received 10 emails from the book store chain and I quickly unsubscribed. The lesson is that you must screen your customers from unnecessary information ensuring that when you do send something it is welcomed as useful.


14. What we say versus who we are.

You have often heard it said ‘I cannot hear what you are saying because everything else about you is screaming so loudly at me!’ It is almost impossible to separate the message from the messenger. The age of marketing slogans and tag lines are over. Buyers look beyond them judging a company not by its marketing, but by its credibility in the marketplace, its reputation among customers and its behaviour.

Words do not mean a lot unless they are backed up by action and buyers are looking for consistency above all from suppliers in respect to their promises. The supplier who says ‘we build close relationships with our customers’, for example, will not be believed if the salesperson does not listen during the sales call, or stay in contact between orders.

Do You Dare To Stand Out From The Crowd?

Buyers are lost in a sea of sameness?

Standing out from the crowd is not easy. Well at least that is the conclusion that we have formed from a review of dozens of competitors across a multiplicity of sectors – ranging from aircraft inventory solutions to life and pensions policy administration platforms.

Over the past 24 months we have conducted competitor analysis for dozens of our clients – a important step in helping them to review their sales proposition. In search of the answer to that million dollar question ‘why should we buy from you and not your competitor’ we trawled competitor websites, downloaded brochures, viewed webinars, read analyst reports and much more besides.

For almost every industry we analyzed the result was sameness and boredom. It is very difficult in most industries to tell one competitor from another.


Why Is Everybody Making the Same Promises?

Let us take IT network inventory solutions as an example. Almost all the big vendors offer solutions to enable organisations to create an inventory of the hardware and software on their networks. But, how easy is it to choose between vendors and their solutions. Well, as it turns out – not easy at all.

We analysed the top 6 vendors in the space globally, the results were both surprising and disappointing. In fact, so much so that we could hardly tell one from another. Of the 13 variables used to compare the solutions of the different companies, only two of the criteria showed any differences between any of the supplier companies. In short all the vendors are making the same claims about their products, including reporting, detail level, speed, and so on. That is no doubt as confusing for buyers as it was for us.

Was our client disappointed by the lack of any clear difference between their offering and those of the competition? Well, no actually. The result triggered a lot of soul searching and consideration, and the discovery of 3 unique characteristics of its product previously not highlighted by the company. Its launched a new website and suite of sales material communicating these unique advantages.


Avoid Cloning Your Competitors

Imitation may be generally considered to be the sincerest form of flattery, but cloning a competitor makes no sense. As 6 of the key global competitors in the policy administration platform space have shown cloning happens across, even the most established industries.

All six vendors, many of whom are major multi-nationals, are promising the same benefits (time to market, cutting administration costs, etc.), as well as the same features (scalable, multi-language, etc.). In fact, the degree of sameness was such that it is almost as if all the websites and brochures for all 6 vendors were written by the same person, or people.

This is even a clearer example of the opportunities that exist in so many industries to stand out from competitors and to make it easier for competitors to choose. When and if you do find a company that says something different it is like a breath of fresh air.


Daring to Stand Out From the Crowd

Why are companies afraid to stand out from the crowd? Could it be that some are reluctant to risk alienating some customers by taking a position that is different to the rest of the market? Well, many dozens of competitors later, we make a plea. Stand out. Shout out. Be different.

Pick a point of difference that is important to a certain strand of the market and make your stand on it. The alternative is to be lost in a sea of sameness. Remember it is easier for the smaller company to adopt a more focused and nimble approach to how it positions itself in the minds of buyers.

More Encouragement For Those Who Want to Stand Out

Here are some other observations from our review of competitors across many industries. Again they are very heartening for the company that wants to stand apart:

· Most competitor marketing materials are boring – the standard of web sites, etc. is dull and drab, both in terms of the content and its presentation. That includes photo stock pictures that never seem to look like any business people we know, to the traditional adjective laden and fluffy marketing copy. So, if you want to stand out, bring your website to life. It does not have to be boring and obscure.

· The means of communication is still very much traditional, with the adoption of blogging, forums and other newer vehicles for communication only slowly being adopted in many industries. So, if you want to stand out - make sure your website has a blog.

· It can be hard to distinguish the proposition of many companies, it takes many clicks and much reading to determine exactly what promises they are making. Most are more comfortable presenting technical feature-rich information than talking about the results that their solutions deliver. So, if you want to stand out, tell prospects exactly what you can do for their business, using language that they understand and backing it up with stories and references for what you have achieved for others.

How the iPhone has changed how people see your product

The way your customers see your products has changed. Popular products such as the iPhone have raised the bar with customers now demanding more sophisticated, or at least more visually appealing user interfaces.

This became very clear to a client of ours recently previewing its new web site with two members of its board. Both liked the content but wanted it to look sexier. After some discussion of what that meant, the iPod was identified as the benchmark.

For a long time we have known that most screenshots of IT systems, although popular additions to marketing brochures and sales presentations, do little to increase the attractiveness of most solutions. There are three reasons;

• Screen shots do more to communicate features rather than benefits
  
• Most UI screenshots are not visually attractive and sometimes not even userfriendly
  
• Most screen shots are not legible when they are reduced to fit onto a brochure, website or sales presenter
  

Something similar applies to demos. With so many expectations created in advance of the solution being demonstrated, displaying simplistic, or crude system user interfaces can be a letdown.

One of our clients recently demonstrated its new set top box entertainment system on a large plasma screen television recently. Impressive? Well not quite so. The icons used were more a kin to a BBC Micro, or Amstrad computer, than the iPod. So too was the on screen text and the layout. The client, disappointed by the lack of a wow reaction, explained that while the system’s functionality was rich, the graphics were limited by the hardware’s capacity. Again those watching pointed out that users would view the system on its appearance, long before being able to judge its functionality. Again, the iPod was identified as the standard to be achieved.

Who knows if the iPod is the best product on the market, but one thing is for sure it is both easy to use and nice to look at. In short it is sexy. It has set the standard for user interfaces, with intuitive and stylish, yet understated, icons and buttons.