It’s no longer enough to only target your chosen customers. To remain ahead, businesses need to create distinguishing value and experiences for them.
After losing a few deals to a rival, the CEO of a technology solutions company turned to his leadership team to ask what was going wrong. “Our products lack key features”, sales replied. “The sales team doesn’t have the right relationships”, marketing responded. “Our offerings are too expensive”, finance explained. None of these answers seemed exact. The products were developed in the most cost effective way, had high ratings from analysts, and included new features that people raved about. So the CEO finally called his customer and bluntly asked: “Why did you give this deal to our competitor?”
The response: “Your products are great,but your competitor gives me what I’m looking for.” As they talked, the CEO realised that closing this deal didn’t come down only to product price, quality, features, or sales capabilities. The competitor spoke the language of the customer. The sales people knew how to anticipate the customer’s needs, work closely with their leaders, and come up with solutions to problems that hadn’t even been voiced yet. The CEO now saw that his company lacked one key ingredient necessary to deliver what its clients needed most: a thoughtful, fit-for-purpose designed, and perceptive customer strategy.
This story is from the November 2016 - January 2017 edition of thinksales.
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This story is from the November 2016 - January 2017 edition of thinksales.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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