Tag Archives: sales tips

Amazon Kindle vs iPad

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Finding Your Value Wedge

In Power Messaging we teach companies to differentiate by finding their “Value Wedge.”  Here’s how it works:

Identify your uniqueness in the context of a specific prospect need.  Then amplify that need so it becomes the dominating buying criteria, and then clearly contrast your uniqueness with the competitor’s weakness so your prospect sees the unmistakable value of your solution.  Also, make sure it is defensible by proving the claim and demonstrating your clear advantage.

I recently saw this commercial and thought… now there’s a perfect example of a company that knows how to find and promote their Value Wedge.  Watch as Amazon Kindle responds to the emerging threat to their e-book reader leadership posed by the iPad.

Amazon is saying…  Hey, if you are in the market for a reader, because you love books, and you love reading them everywhere, especially relaxing outdoors, then there’s only one solution for you.  They aren’t trying to be everything iPad is… they are identifying their prospect as voracious readers and elevating the need to be able to read everywhere and showing how only the Kindle meets this need.

Don’t get me wrong, the iPad is an amazing little gadget with so much to offer.  But, if you are a reader, and that’s your emphasis, why not buy the product that will work when and where you want it to, at a much lower price point?

Love to see two strong Marketing powerhouses go at it, using Power Messaging techniques.

- Tim Riesterer
CMO and SVP Strategic Consulting and Products
Corporate Visions Inc.

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Prospecting is Dead. Introducing Deal Creation.

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The traditional 20-question approach to prospecting is dead.

First, it’s undifferentiated. Everyone can ask the same questions.

Second, it’s frustrating for the prospect. Executives are too busy to play along. Why do they have to answer your questions before you’ve given them a good reason to give you that information?

You have a new messaging challenge in today’s skittish marketplace. It’s no longer about prospecting questionnaires. It’s about effective deal creation.

I didn’t know I had a music problem.

One of the smartest consultants in our company explains it this way:

A few years back, if a salesperson selling iPods asked me an open-ended prospecting question like:  “Do you have a music problem?” I would’ve answered, “Not that I know of…  I mean, I’ve got CDs and this awesome five-disk CD changer…  I’ve also got this CD walkman that gives me that high quality CD sound when I work out… it’s all good.”

Then the iPod salesperson follows up with, “How satisfied are you with the way this works for you?” Again, I would have said, “As far as I know, it works as well as any other CD changer or walkman.” Maybe I’d be looking for a 10-disk changer or something like that, but frankly, at this point, I don’t know I have a music problem. I’m comfortable with the status quo. No need to do anything different…no need to buy anything from you.

Now, listen to how the discussion changes when you employ a deal creation dialogue method:

  • How often do you pay for CDs, but end up only liking one or two songs? What if you never had to pay for songs you don’t like ever again? What if, instead, you could listen to all the songs from an album ahead of time, and create a library of music by buying just those songs you wanted to have? Then, you could use the money you saved to buy more of the songs and artists you like.
  • How easy is it for you to take your favorite CDs with you wherever you go, in your house or apartment, at school, in the car, or while exercising? Ever feel like that walkman is too bulky for a rigorous workout? Imagine if you could carry a library of thousands of your favorite songs on a gadget smaller than a credit card… a gadget that fits easily inside your pocket, and that plays perfectly in every setting, including your most intense exercise routines?
  • Imagine if you could play just certain types of songs at certain times, like if you are entertaining people, or you are reading or studying, or working out, or simply relaxing? What if you could create specialized playlists from your library of songs that enable you to essentially create your own albums for these different occasions, activities and moments of your life? And what if they were available at the press of a button on this same credit card-sized gadget?

Do you hear the difference between these dialogues? Now, I know I have a music problem. My current solution is sub-optimal because these are real pains that I’ve ignored or assumed were just part of what I had to deal with.

Deal Creation is Insight-Dripping Questions

Deal Creation is about asking insight-dripping questions that make the prospect realize they are actually in more pain than they knew… and that they are no longer in an acceptable position. And then, showing them that there is a significantly better way to do things available to them. All the while making sure they envision themselves in a better scenario, as opposed to you putting your solution at the forefront.

Deal Creation dialogues lead them TO your solution, not WITH your solution. But, it is a much more directed and purposeful dialogue than the open-ended, who-knows-where-it-will-land discussion that is today’s 20-question prospecting checklist.

Check out this quick, 16-minute, instant webinar to find out more about Deal Creation-messaging as a replacement for traditional Prospecting approaches. And, start putting more opportunities into your pipeline.


http://win.corporatevisions.com/DealCreation.html

And if you’re interested in attending a live Deal Creation workshop, drop us an email at cvimarketing@corpv.com for workshop schedules.

- Tim Riesterer
CMO and SVP Strategic Consulting and Products
Corporate Visions Inc.

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Strip Out Complexity and Confusion with Big Pictures

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Complexity in your message keeps your customers from buying. Whenever there’s complexity, there’s confusion. And, confusion slows down the decision-making process.

A confused buyer cannot buy. So, you need to make it simple for your prospect to make a decision. How? Have you ever noticed that when someone says, “I don’t understand,” someone else gets up and draws a picture?

One of the great tools that you have in your messaging toolkit is a concept called the Big Picture. But, just knowing why pictures are important doesn’t mean they will be executed well. Look at this picture below to see what can happen when a big picture goes wrong.

OK, OK.  I know this was drawn by a grade-schooler. But, it still makes a great point. Big pictures are powerful tools that can have tremendous impact. Just make sure it’s the impact you want.

You need to be aware of how your customers’ strategic agenda, responsibilities and experiences affect the way they see things. They are always wondering, “How will this work in my world?” They don’t care about your world and the way you’ve ordered it.

Many times you are too steeped in the details and nuances of your specific products and services to realize that your customers see a forest, and have no understanding or appreciation for the subtleties surrounding your tree.

Here are some important lessons for making sure your big picture helps strip out complexity and confusion among your buyers, not add to it:

  1. Use Contrast – Before and after imagery is very powerful in communicating value. Make sure your customer sees the “pain” they are currently experiencing without you, and then clearly contrast it with the “gain” your solution provides. Make sure you use dramatic contrasting colors so that the viewer can literally see the difference. Don’t use blacks and blues; rather, use the drama of red to make your contrasting point.
  2. Beware of Metaphors – Using a metaphor in your big picture may seem like a good idea at first, but they often drag down the image with too much superfluous detail that distracts from your core idea and makes it harder to remember. Seriously, we don’t want to see another company claim to work like a “pit crew” to make sure their customers succeed and then proceed to draw a detailed analogy of a pit stop.
  3. Catalyze Action – Remember, you are messaging for a decision, not just to inform. How does your picture inspire your customer to want to take action? What are you doing to show a clear path moving forward, away from the status quo and toward you? And, did you remember to make it look really simple? Make sure your customer can redraw it after you leave so they can inspire their team to move forward.

Use a big picture whenever you need to make abstract ideas more concrete, and complex concepts more simple.

It can be the breakthrough you need to communicate your solution story in a more remarkable, memorable way that will be retold and sold by your customer – even when you’re not there.

- Tim Riesterer
CMO and SVP Strategic Consulting and Products
Corporate Visions Inc.

Sharpen the Saw

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Do you recognize this short story?

One day, a man walking through the forest came upon a logger (lumberjack) who was sawing away at a large tree and not getting very far at all. The man approached the logger as he stopped for a moment to rest and observed that the logger would get further if he sharpened his saw. The logger replied that he just didn’t have the time to sharpen the saw because he was busy cutting down the tree, and went back to his work.

This story is from Stephen Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the 7th Habit, Sharpen the Saw.  We learn that if the logger had taken the time to sharpen his saw, he would have achieved his goal in a more effective manner. Instead, he chose the status quo.

Often times, we learn something, practice it for a while, gain success and then go back to doing things the old way, simply because it’s easy or we’re tired.  This is the best time to sharpen your saw.  Find ways to do things differently.  Add a new skill to your portfolio, refresh an old skill that was working for you, attend a conference that offers a fresh perspective, take a class, read a book… and so on.   If you’re not sharpening your saw, you’re not growing, and if you’re not growing, you’re dying.

We did an informal poll of a group of salespeople, asking them what they did on a day-to-day basis to keep their messaging skills sharp.  Here are some of their ideas:

1)  Mix it up. Some sales techniques you learn can seem cheesy, or even intimidating at first.  Try them anyway.  They’re only cheesy when executed poorly, and sounding the same as everyone else is far scarier.  Prospects will appreciate that you sound different from everyone else.

2)  Teaching is learning. Explaining a concept to someone else is one of the most effective ways to ingrain that concept in your own mind.  Look for the opportunity to coach one of your peers on their messaging.

3)  Peers are the toughest critics. When’s the last time you gave a sales presentation to your manager, or a fellow salesperson?  That can be far more nerve-racking than presenting to your prospects.  But your toughest critics are your best coaches.  Volunteer to do a practice run of one of your upcoming sales presentations on one of your weekly team sales calls.