When frustrated by lack of sales growth, business leaders tend to cite one of three excuses.
To deal with the three most common no-growth excuses, try the following:
“If we don’t offer the lowest price, we don’t get the order.”
If you make no effort to learn about your customers’ business, and offer nothing novel or compelling to strengthen their competitive position, then they will focus on getting the lowest price from you.Your customers don’t care about your product or service. They care only about the strategic value you produce for them. When you generate a quantifiable financial advantage that also strengthens their differentiation or competitive advantage, you produce strategic value. Contributing to the achievement of their goals changes their perception of you and reduces their focus on price alone.
“Our customers have no time to consider future benefits. They’re focused on reducing today’s pain.”
There are really only two business strategies – the mature current strategy that generates the majority of revenue and profit for a company, and a future growth strategy intended to replace the mature business and create the company’s future prosperity.Investments in the mature business focus on the short term, the current pain, with solutions that are cheaper, better or faster but produce limited sustainable value. Solutions that address the current pain while contributing to your customer’s future growth strategy generate sustainable value with stronger differentiation and long term financial return. Delivering the future is the responsibility of your customers’ senior leaders – they pursue opportunities rather than pain. Focus on the future to connect with senior managers and separate from competitors.
“To stay competitive, our operations folks concentrate on producing good quality at the lowest cost. It’s not their job to learn about customers or make suggestions to our sales team.”
Make it easier for your customers to choose you and to experience the value you produce for them. Align your entire organization to win when your customers win. Demonstrate that you are committed to helping them make money rather than taking their money. When your personnel are aware of the uncommon strategic value you produce, and deliver it, you create enduring customer relationships.
What strategic value do you produce for your key customers?
How much of your organization realizes how they contribute to your and your customers’ success?
Need to grow now? Contact Bob for a FREE no-excuses growth assessment
at rschultek@staging.elfin-bead.flywheelsites.com.
