Get inside your customer’s head... give them a Compelling Reason to Buy!
Posted on 09 February 2010
We've all heard of the USP of a business - the Unique
Selling Proposition - we may even be able to state what the USP of
our business is, our sales staff might also know it... but the
bottom line is that your USP talks about how you sell, it is
focused on you not on the customer.
Ask yourself...
- What does your USP mean to you as a business owner... to your team... or to a customer or prospect?
- Does it drive your customer relations processes... does it help to bring in customers?
- Does it focus you and your sales team and your entire customer facing staff... how about your production team... your back office team... your suppliers?
- What makes it unique... what in your product offering is truly unique that your competition could not copy tomorrow?
So... if your USP is all about you... what do you
need to consider to turn this on its head and focus on what your
customer wants?
Let's put our best customer focus in place - let's think about
what you offer the customer to persuade them to buy from you...
your Compelling Reason to Buy.
This completely switches round the thought process. Now the
focus is on what the buyer wants, rather than what we want to sell
to them. Remember that the customer is subconsciously always
asking herself "What's in it for Me?" The Compelling
Reason to Buy answers this question in a way the USP does
not. It is what makes customers come to you in the first
place... it is what differentiates you from the competition... it
is what keeps people coming back to you time and time again..
It's a tough world out there - making sales is not easy!
Buying decisions are made by people - people with challenges,
preferences, experiences... and prejudices... they have explicit
needs that they are seeking to meet - your offering (be it product
or service) must demonstrate the benefits that they are looking for
to meet these needs if you are to convince them that it is your
product that they need.
Your ultimate goal is to have people buy from you... rather than
for you to have to sell to them. This very often requires a
shift in mind set from thinking about you and your business as the
centre of your sales effort to thinking primarily about the needs
and preferences of your clients. For many this change
requires a fundamental paradigm shift... moving away from being a
hunter to becoming a farmer... from being aggressive in pushing
your product or service to becoming helpful, courteous, and
supportive... from being the overtly pushy, self interested
salesman to being a friend to your customer... building a long term
relationship with him or her.
As an example, the new Jaguar XF executive car has a great USP -
"We've designed a great car, winning 50 major awards so it must
be good, the performance is exceptional". They tap into
people's aspirations without saying specifically what's in it for
the buyer.
How about turning this on its head? Think of the impact of
using the Compelling Reason To Buy: "You'll
love the experience of driving the new XF, it has been designed
with the driver in mind, every control is just where you would want
it to be, it drives like a dream, -when you drive up to the office
in this you will be the envy of all your colleagues and
friends."
Which one works better for you... they are quite different, aren't
they? The USP focuses on the seller and what he has done, the
Compelling Reason to Buy focuses on the buyer and the experience
they will have in the car. From your own experience, which do
you think will be the most powerful message for a potential
buyer?
So - a Compelling Reason to Buy clearly explains the benefits to
the buyer... the WIIFM... the answer to their needs - whether
practical, economic, emotional or whatever.
In business we make money by selling products and services to
customers at a profit - we invest money acquiring customers (we
call it marketing!) and we want them to return time and time again
- making it clear to our customers why they should buy and then
keep coming back to us through a clearly communicated Compelling
Reason to Buy will help you to maximise your profits.
So what is your Compelling Reason to Buy?
You may have a view on what your USP is... you may even have shared
it with your team - but does it really impact on your
customer?
By getting your team and customers thinking the same thing - about
how you can meet their needs, whatever they are - your success in
winning and keeping customers will increase significantly.
So... by going from being business focused to
customer focused you can truly differentiate your business
and its products and services... and experience the difference it
makes.
If this article strikes a chord with you, why not give me a
call?
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