Winning Moves: A Strategic Marketing Newsletter from Vision Strategic Marketing & Communications

September 2006 • www.visionsmc.com • 410-849-8095

Editor's Note

Soon after I got out of college, I realized at the last minute I had the time to do an offshore race - my first - from Annapolis to Newport. So I was scrambling for "a ride". Right before the race, three different people all told me that the same boat was looking for crew. They wanted someone with "local knowledge" of how to sail down the Chesapeake Bay, since the crew was from the New York area.

Early the next morning, knowing that time was short, I dressed for the race, packed my bag and headed down to the harbor where the boat was tied up. I walked down the dock and introduced myself to the crew, explaining that I had heard they were looking for an extra, and that I was available.

While several of the crew asked me a few questions about my sailing background, others hailed below and up came someone of decision-making ability. He took one look at me and I'm not sure what he noticed; visibly, I was younger than they all were, and the only female on the dock. Whatever he saw, after his one look, he quickly told me that they didn't need crew. But, he went on to ask, did I know anything about the conditions they might expect to find in the Bay?

I was livid and insulted and I was ready to walk off the dock. But I remembered both that they had wanted local knowledge, and that I wanted to do this race! So, I took a deep breath, and began to talk about currents, and tides, and shoals, and the impact of the nuclear power plant, and the rhumb line down the Bay. And then I stopped. And took another deep breath.

I got on the race.

I didn't get on the race because I told them what I'd done in the past, or how qualified I was. I got on the race because I showed them how I could help them.

I sold them. And you can sell, too.

Molly Hughes Wilmer

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Feature

What's In It For Me?

WII-FM. It's a popular radio station-What's in it for me? That's all your customers care about. (In fact, when you're a customer, it's all you care about, too, so it should be easy to remember.)

Customers will only pay for things that they perceive to be of value. And they will pay a higher price for things they perceive to be of higher value. From another perspective, if you can answer the WIIFM question, you can attract customers. If you answer it well, you should make more money.

To answer WIIFM well, that question should drive and inform every phase of your marketing-from value proposition and product/service/solution development to pricing models, from promotional materials to your sales process.

It sounds easy. But how many proposals begin by establishing credibility? How many web sites have "About Us" as the first link? How many sales presentations begin with the seller's corporate logo? How many solutions are looking for problems?

You have to begin by understanding your customer. What is their world? What are their needs? What would make their life better?

If you answer your customer's WIIFM first, at every step along your corporate development, you will be able to add increasing customer value.

Define the solution your customer really wants, and then worry about how to deliver it efficiently. It's not worth delivering it efficiently if they don't really want it.
Talk about benefits before you define features.
Put your pricing model in metrics that they value.

Answering WIIFM should be easy.

Answering WIIFM well is what has made companies exceptional, it's what makes business so exciting, and it's what should drive product and service development

Breakthrough companies that are answering WIIFM well are often answering it in a way that customers don't expect. They have gone to the effort to understand their customer's world so well they often know it better than the customer does. And they have developed a solution to the customer's problem or a response to their needs that can solve their problem or meet their needs better than the customer had expected.

And that's when it gets tricky. Will they be willing to pay more for a better solution than what they had pictured?

Yes, customers will pay more for warm pizza if the value is presented to them. A better pizza comes in a better box. (You believe it, don't you?) In fact, there's a lot of research into how to cut pizza and get it in the box so the slices don't spread apart (you cut it in the box!). Why go to all that trouble and let the pizza be cold upon delivery? So, today there is a market for pizza boxes with greater insulation capability. Companies selling pizza for a cheap price don't worry about this. But companies who are selling good pizza that people are willing to pay a higher price for are going to add this kind of value.

But someone first had to explain the value of an insulated pizza box to a pizza company owner. When you answer the WIIFM question beyond what the customer expected, you have to educate them. Companies that are in their early stages might panic-are we really selling them what they need, or is this a solution looking for a problem? If you've done your homework, and you really do understand their world, be confident and focus on education. If you educate them well, they will realize that you do truly understand what they need, and that your solution is better than what they had envisioned, and that's a good thing.

And the best way to educate them? Focus on what they need. Think about that pizza box conversation-it kept coming back to what the pizza vendor and the pizza buyer needed.

WIIFM? As a customer, warm pizza, cell phones, sliced bread and other exciting business innovations. As a business person, higher revenues.

What Can You Do?

Are you answering WIIFM well enough? Audit your sales cycle to see where the glitches are, and look at how you are answering that question at each of those glitches.

Does your solution meet your customers' needs in a way that is better than your competitors?

Are you presenting your offering in a way that speaks about your audience's needs?

Do you counter concerns with benefits instead of features? "But, our cardboard has the highest thermal rating around!" In the pizza example, the salesman countered with comments about cold pizza and retail prices of pizza.

Do you remind your customers throughout your sales cycle of where they would be without your solution? You can reinforce your value by reminding them of how you are solving their problem by asking questions, "Do you feel better about this now?" "What kind of an impact are those boxes having?"

Is your pricing related to a metric that they value? For example, one company that offers web site optimization services can set their pricing on site results-number of site visitors, or the number of people clicking through to a certain action. This reinforces the value of their solution more than billing on an hourly basis.

Ask the Expert

Question
So, if I'm always talking about their problems, when do I get to talk about my company, how great we are, how successful we've been, our impressive client list, and our innovative way of doing business?

Answer
As late and as little as possible. Your customers really don't care about your company if you don't have a solution to their problem. If you solve their problem or meet their needs well, they are going to like you-and your company. Ideally, let them tell other people how great your company is. Talk about credibility after you've told them you can meet their needs, if you feel they still want more. Describe your company after you describe your solution. And wrap up that description by highlighting how your company's wonderful strengths and assets help your customer.

Submit your questions to the editor: molly@visionsmc.com

Want to Know More?

Get personal. Think about a time, in business or as a retail consumer, when you bought something you needed, but it wasn't what you had intended on buying. What was the sales process? When did you realize it was a better solution that what you had envisioned?

You are welcome to forward this to others. Permission to reprint or reproduce any content in print or electronic means is granted provided it includes this notice: "Copyright 2006, by Molly Hughes Wilmer, Vision Strategic Marketing & Communications. From "Winning Moves", an email newsletter by Molly Hughes Wilmer, Vision Strategic Marketing & Communications. Website: www.visionsmc.com Email molly@visionsmc.com". We would be grateful for a copy of the work containing the reprint or reproduction.

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