Unique Promise

Do Your Customers Prefer You?

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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 …

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The Most Important Principle Revealed

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Your Brand Is Your Promise My father grew up in Minnesota during the Great Depression.  His father and mother had farmed in Montana, persevering through locusts, droughts and troubles with local Native Americans; they went bankrupt twice. Finally, with a wife and now five children to feed, my grandfather relocated to the iron range in northern Minnesota where he could earn a living cleaning out railroad locomotive boilers. In Minnesota, Dad’s family built their house, …

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Can We Collaborate Too Much With Customers?

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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. …

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