Market Focus – the Proposition
Market Focus – the Proposition
Do you know what you sell? I can hear you say, "Of course we do, this is stupid I am not going to waste time reading any more of this". Not so fast; so you know what you sell, but do you know what your customers really buy? Research shows that there is often a disconnect between what a customer actually buys and what the supplier believes they have sold.
Who wants to buy a drill anymore? They want the means to make holes in any material and in any circumstances. The adverts may briefly show someone using the drill but will focus more on the new shelf for displaying the family photographs, book collection or CDs.
The disconnect between your perception of what you sell and what your prospect wants or needs, will lead to poor targeting, poor proposition presentation, missed opportunities and a higher than necessary failure rate on bids. All of this adds up to wasted time, wasted money, ineffective and inefficient selling activities and worst of all missed targets.
So, it’s all about striking a workable balance between what you are able to supply and what the prospects and customers need and will be willing to buy.
Your Proposition – What is it that you sell?
When defining your proposition, you need to consider what your prospects and customers actually need and want rather than simply focusing on what you can supply.
When presenting your proposition, you must communicate to your prospect the value they can derive from making the purchase from you. They need to know that you understand their business issues and you must demonstrate this by presenting your proposition in a format that says “we know and understand your problems, and this is how we solve them for you”. This not only enables you to present your proposition in an attractive manner, it also enables you to differentiate yourself from the competition without directly saying detrimental things about them (never a good move!).
Whoever does your selling must therefore be able to articulate the value of your proposition to your prospects. To present your proposition in a format that identifies a clear benefit to the customer which will then provide them with the incentive to proceed further with you, you must first uncover their real needs and wants through a process of carefully structured questioning and listening.
Tips:
* Creating a qualification process will provide a framework and structure for the questions that must be asked.
* When defining a benefit, it is the customer’s perspective that matters.
* Understand the job role of the prospect and their specific areas of interest to better understand their perspective of value, e.g. Total Cost of Acquisition, Total Cost of Ownership or Return on Investment.
* Don’t assume that a detailed explanation of the minutia will excite the prospect as much as it does you.
* When submitting to a “technical” evaluation, don’t forget you must also create and present a well structured business case to support your proposal.
* Remember that what you provide may be part of a larger project. Understanding where your solution will fit in the greater scheme of things is very important.
* If you fail to present your proposition in terms of the value to the prospect, they are likely to make a decision based mainly or solely on the price.
Copyright © Performative plc 2001-2006. All rights reserved.
Market Focus the Proposition - To learn more about this author, visit Phil Shipperlee's Website.
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Market focus; the essential foundation to how and where you get your business. Simplistically, you need to look at what you sell (your proposition), who you should be selling it to (your target market) and how you get there (the routes to market).
Do you know what you sell? I can hear you say, "Of course we do, this is stupid I am not going to waste time reading any more of this". Not so fast; so you know what you sell, but do you know what your customers really buy? Research shows that there is often a disconnect between what a customer actually buys and what the supplier believes they have sold.
Who wants to buy a drill anymore? They want the means to make holes in any material and in any circumstances. The adverts may briefly show someone using the drill but will focus more on the new shelf for displaying the family photographs, book collection or CDs.
The disconnect between your perception of what you sell and what your prospect wants or needs, will lead to poor targeting, poor proposition presentation, missed opportunities and a higher than necessary failure rate on bids. All of this adds up to wasted time, wasted money, ineffective and inefficient selling activities and worst of all missed targets.
So, it’s all about striking a workable balance between what you are able to supply and what the prospects and customers need and will be willing to buy.
Your Proposition – What is it that you sell?
When defining your proposition, you need to consider what your prospects and customers actually need and want rather than simply focusing on what you can supply.
When presenting your proposition, you must communicate to your prospect the value they can derive from making the purchase from you. They need to know that you understand their business issues and you must demonstrate this by presenting your proposition in a format that says “we know and understand your problems, and this is how we solve them for you”. This not only enables you to present your proposition in an attractive manner, it also enables you to differentiate yourself from the competition without directly saying detrimental things about them (never a good move!).
Whoever does your selling must therefore be able to articulate the value of your proposition to your prospects. To present your proposition in a format that identifies a clear benefit to the customer which will then provide them with the incentive to proceed further with you, you must first uncover their real needs and wants through a process of carefully structured questioning and listening.
Tips:
* Creating a qualification process will provide a framework and structure for the questions that must be asked.
* When defining a benefit, it is the customer’s perspective that matters.
* Understand the job role of the prospect and their specific areas of interest to better understand their perspective of value, e.g. Total Cost of Acquisition, Total Cost of Ownership or Return on Investment.
* Don’t assume that a detailed explanation of the minutia will excite the prospect as much as it does you.
* When submitting to a “technical” evaluation, don’t forget you must also create and present a well structured business case to support your proposal.
* Remember that what you provide may be part of a larger project. Understanding where your solution will fit in the greater scheme of things is very important.
* If you fail to present your proposition in terms of the value to the prospect, they are likely to make a decision based mainly or solely on the price.
Copyright © Performative plc 2001-2006. All rights reserved.
Market Focus the Proposition - To learn more about this author, visit Phil Shipperlee's Website.
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith'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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