Joe complained that his customers care only about getting the lowest price. “We struggle to be competitive and still offer more than our competition. But when push comes to shove, we do what we’ve always done and wind up negotiating only our pricing. We can’t grow by operating like this.” I asked why he was convinced that price was his customers’ primary decision driver. It turns out that Joe never asked his customers why low …
In customer-centric organizations, the entire enterprise is synchronized to deliver promised value. Sustaining preference with your customers over time requires commitment: to remain engaged and aware of their vision, goals and strategies; and to consistently produce the strategic value you promised. You can’t generate value for customers unless you thoroughly understand their business – what differentiates them, how they make money. Since every business changes over time, it is essential that customer relationships be sustained on …
Defeating Commoditization Tom was concerned that his business was becoming increasingly commoditized. More and more often, his customers were specifying what they wanted, as if they were reading from a product bulletin. Tom’s sales team was generating quotes in response to these requests. There was little dialogue with the customer beyond responding with price and delivery, or reacting to some competitor’s quote. I asked Tom: “What makes your business unique…what offering do you own? Why …
Evaluate Mutual Value Produced We had been discussing the various ways that increased collaboration with customers prevents commoditization when Ben asked, “Can we collaborate too much with customers?” The short answer is “yes,” but to delve more deeply into Ben’s point, we first revisited why customer-partnering has proven to be so effective in battling commoditization – it produces results for customers that fosters enduring relationships. Sales productivity is increased, driving growth in revenue and profitability. …
Winning When Your Customer Does Early in my career, one customer abruptly ended a meeting when I spent more time talking than I did listening. He said, “We’ve been meeting for more than 15 minutes and you have not yet asked a question about my business, my goals or my problems. I don’t need your products – I need solutions. Come back when you can add value to our discussion.” This was a tough but …
