The “pay to play” factor is still ignored by most business people!
The “pay to play” factor is still ignored by most business people!
If you sell to the business community, think of your customers and prospects as being both ‘business payers’ and ‘business players’ – in the sense that the paying function involves access and the playing role concerns success. With this thought in mind, are you selling product access or product success? Again, in my view, based on many years of working with countless numbers of companies across a wide range of industries, most companies and sales people focus on the access factor…and so inevitably there is pressure on ‘price’ and other paying related issues. Here are some examples of the focus on ‘paying’:
• Most people that sell home or commercial insurance are worried to death about being price competitive (the access factor)…rather than helping the vast majority of customers to reverse their current, dangerous position of not having anywhere near the insurance cover they really need (the success factor)
• Most financial planners sell super and investment solutions that match what customers can ‘afford’ (the access factor)…rather than working with customers to ‘manage’ the wealth development they really need (the success factor)
• Most suppliers that sell to any form of re-seller base, engage in trying to sell their product into their customers’ businesses, with endless arguments about margins and trading terms (the access factor)…rather than showing how to sell their products out of the re-sellers businesses (the success factor)
• Most financial services organizations insist on selling home loans, personal loans and other services based on what customers say they want, such as the best borrowing rates, etc. (the access factor)…rather than leading customers to arrange and manage their current and future financial situations with better ideas (the success factor)
• Most retailers serve customers in a friendly manner (the access factor)…rather than starting with service and then finding needs and offering recommendations to achieve the best possible results (the success factor)
I wrote recently about our dual business roles of ‘servant & master’, with the servant scenario relating to our ability to ‘attend to customers’…and the master task concerning our ability to ‘achieve for customers’. So I am not downgrading the servant role, I am simply offering a reminder that this part of our job only deals with the paying factor, not the playing factor. If we return briefly to the topic of buying CDs, the paying factor is now so easy we can download what we want, anytime, with great ease…which raises the question: ‘what will happen to traditional music stores if they continue to focus on music lovers as just being payers?’
If you focus on the payer and therefore ignore the player, it is almost certain that you will get hammered from cheaper or more convenient competitors…to the point where your business will be controlled and forced backwards by the power of buyers. Conversely, if you keep make paying easier but focus on delivering pleasure to players, the players in turn will make you very successful!
The pay to play factor is still ignored by most business people - To learn more about this author, visit John Lees's Website.
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If you were in the market for a music CD you really like and want, which is the most important element you will look forward to: paying for the CD or playing the CD? It’s a simple question and the answer of course is even easier: playing and enjoying the CD is what matters most. If the answer is so obvious, why is it that the great majority of business people still think that customers and prospects are mostly interested in the paying factor? My studies show that too many managers and sales people have little or no appreciation for the ‘playing’ side of business transactions…meaning ‘that side where the customer derives longer-term enjoyment, pleasure and success’ from the product or service they bought, compared to the short-term [usual] displeasure of making purchases.’
If you sell to the business community, think of your customers and prospects as being both ‘business payers’ and ‘business players’ – in the sense that the paying function involves access and the playing role concerns success. With this thought in mind, are you selling product access or product success? Again, in my view, based on many years of working with countless numbers of companies across a wide range of industries, most companies and sales people focus on the access factor…and so inevitably there is pressure on ‘price’ and other paying related issues. Here are some examples of the focus on ‘paying’:
• Most people that sell home or commercial insurance are worried to death about being price competitive (the access factor)…rather than helping the vast majority of customers to reverse their current, dangerous position of not having anywhere near the insurance cover they really need (the success factor)
• Most financial planners sell super and investment solutions that match what customers can ‘afford’ (the access factor)…rather than working with customers to ‘manage’ the wealth development they really need (the success factor)
• Most suppliers that sell to any form of re-seller base, engage in trying to sell their product into their customers’ businesses, with endless arguments about margins and trading terms (the access factor)…rather than showing how to sell their products out of the re-sellers businesses (the success factor)
• Most financial services organizations insist on selling home loans, personal loans and other services based on what customers say they want, such as the best borrowing rates, etc. (the access factor)…rather than leading customers to arrange and manage their current and future financial situations with better ideas (the success factor)
• Most retailers serve customers in a friendly manner (the access factor)…rather than starting with service and then finding needs and offering recommendations to achieve the best possible results (the success factor)
I wrote recently about our dual business roles of ‘servant & master’, with the servant scenario relating to our ability to ‘attend to customers’…and the master task concerning our ability to ‘achieve for customers’. So I am not downgrading the servant role, I am simply offering a reminder that this part of our job only deals with the paying factor, not the playing factor. If we return briefly to the topic of buying CDs, the paying factor is now so easy we can download what we want, anytime, with great ease…which raises the question: ‘what will happen to traditional music stores if they continue to focus on music lovers as just being payers?’
If you focus on the payer and therefore ignore the player, it is almost certain that you will get hammered from cheaper or more convenient competitors…to the point where your business will be controlled and forced backwards by the power of buyers. Conversely, if you keep make paying easier but focus on delivering pleasure to players, the players in turn will make you very successful!
The pay to play factor is still ignored by most business people - To learn more about this author, visit John Lees's Website.
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Anne BarrAnne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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John BrennanJohn Brennan Ed.D. Dr. Brennan is President of Interpersonal Development, LLC, a training and development firm. Interpersonal Development has provided sales training and coaching to more than 3,000 sales reps from over 100 companies. A native of Australia, Dr. Brennan received his doctorate from the University of Rochester. His dissertation researched the effectiveness of Behavioral Modeling Technology in training people in interpersonal skills. While he has spent most of his career designing or delivering training, he was also a Vice-President of Sales of a training and development franchise with operations in 25 markets. Dr. Brennan has designed and delivered sales training in North America, Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. He has been a guest speaker at numerous national and regional professional conferences. When Microsoft wanted Best Practices articles on sales for their web site, they called Dr. Brennan. The results are at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX011387391033.aspx His firm’s clients have included Volvo, The Prudential, Merrill Lynch, Eastman Kodak, Gannett, Equifax Europe, the Economist Group and countless small businesses. - Visit John Brennan's Website |
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Casey GollanCasey Gollan, Business Coaching & Mentoring Programs. Add $1 Million to $10 Million in the next 1 to 3 years. Since 1996 Casey has to added hundreds of millions of dollars to businesses. Watch a free video see client results Business Coaching website. - Visit Casey Gollan's Website |
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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