When asked why their customers buy from them, I hear from my clients, and others, things like:
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“We have great customer service.”
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“We are customer-focused and have great subject matter experts.”
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“We make hard to engineer parts to exacting standards using Lean and Six Sigma principles.”
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“Our expertise and experience are evident to them, and they value that.”
Hopefully, you’re like me and recognize that while what you just read might be true, it’s not why customers buy. My guess is every organization says their expertise and experience sets them apart. If everyone says it, then does it set you apart?
Let’s face it, your customers buy from you because, and only because, whatever you have (services/solution/expertise/etc.) helps them achieve THEIR GOALS or address THEIR CRITICAL BUSINESS ISSUES. The ugly truth is they don’t care about how great your product is or how smart your people are if that attribute doesn’t translate into outcomes for them.
If your sales conversations, sales literature, and website are filled with things like (all of these quotes are pulled from publicly available sales materials/websites):
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“We deliver tomorrow’s solutions just in time for today’s concerns.”
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“We deliver consistent strategy execution to assist organizations through every stage of their transformation journey.”
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“… we understand the complexities of the competitive landscape and statutory regulations facing our clients. That is why we work in partnership with global executives to address the challenging realities they face.”
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“We are focused on creating real value for our clients by envisioning, designing, developing, and deploying great software products.”
then you’re not telling anyone that they should buy from you. You’re actually telling them that you’re just like everyone else.
These quotes are from four different companies, with four different business focuses. But, they sound pretty much the same, don’t they? Do you think your customer or prospect really believes that is why they should buy from you?
Where are the outcome statements? Or if not the outcome statements, then the insights that get a prospect to think “wow, that sounds like what I want to achieve, I need to learn more?
To find out why your customers buy from you, ask them. If they won’t tell you, then get a third party, one with experience in such information gathering, to do so. You want more than the feel-good platitudes. You need to understand what outcomes your customers achieved as a result of working with you. Things like:
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“Before working with X, we were experiencing a scrap rate of X%. After six months with them, our scrap rate is now Y%, and that has resulted in a $XXX,XXX annual savings.”
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“By working with X, we were able to recognize $4,000,000 in revenue this fiscal year that we didn’t expect until next fiscal year.”
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“Before we started working with X, our production line was experiencing 3 unplanned stoppages a year, with a cost per stoppage of $XXX,XXX. Over three years, we’ve saved $X,XXX,XXX since implementing their solution.”
Once you know why your customers buy from you, you can develop messages that are outcome-based, making your customers and prospects the heroes of your story, not you. And who doesn’t want to be the hero of the story?
