This is the second post on optimized and targeted quotations. In the first post we discussed Simple vs. Complex, Qualitative vs. Quantitative, and Vision vs. Execution.
Today we wrap things up with two more aspects to consider. This will help you target your message to the receiver. Two additional questions to help you separate the signal and the noise.
Just as we did last week there will be some examples based on selling process equipment to produce bottled water.
Individual or Comparison
When it comes to describing the product we can do it either by promoting the product in itself or comparing it to alternative solutions.
To a customer who is already familiar to the competition the best thing to do will be to focus on the product by itself.
If there are significant differences between your product and the completion (and there really should be) it will be a better strategy to focus on these points of difference.
With an individual view we will only focus on the benefits of our new, innovative PET-bottle. How new product development makes it possible to do things in a new way that was not possible in the past.
With a comparison we will outline our ability to save water and energy compared to competing products or technologies.
Change or No change
When a customer is buying a product it will either be a substitute for some other piece of equipment or introduce a new way of doing things.
If there is no change it’s very important that the product fulfills the specification of the replaced equipment.
If there is a change involved the total end result is more important. There might be some trade-offs in order to receive new goals.
So if the customer is just replacing an old bottling line or looking for a capacity increase we will focus on stability and compatibility.
If we’re introducing a new fantastic bottle we will have a strong focus on emphasizing the benefits of this innovative changes.
When you have these five questions in mind you can be so much more precise about what to present.
What would be the five picks for the steering comity? How would that differ from presenting to a technical project manager? What’s the best approach for a new customer and how would that differ from repeat business?
Quite a big difference even thou we’re presenting the same product, right?
Conclusion
So, once again. It’s all about understanding the noise and the signal.
This post shows how we eliminate the noise and amplify the signal.
By understanding our message based on these five different questions we can do much better targeting in the sales communication.
This is no rocket science but it will make a huge impact on any business.
Would you like us to automate this for you? Read more about document generation from Tacton >>