Your strategy begins with value

When starting on the strategy journey, you will need to understand where you are. A map is useless, unless you know where to start. Many companies fail here. They do not know where they are, so they are taking huge risks towards failure at the get go.

Why is this?

99% of companies communicate inside out. “We are the biggest...”, “Our solution will...”, “Let us help...” So even if you think you are looking at things from a customer’s point of view, you are not. Test this: go to a random selection of corporate websites and calculate on how many you see the words We, our etc.

“Are you looking forward spending your Friday evenings with your friends or family? “

Why? Because the customer is using our services, they don’t have to sit and do XYZ on Friday evening and can chose to spend it with their friends or family!

Understanding your customer

Understanding your customer is not the same as knowing your customer. Most of companies know their customer. They know their product specifications, and they know what is required from the customer to be a good fit. They have spent years specifying how their product is helping their customers focus on what’s relevant (actually a mission statement for SO many businesses).

But what companies fail to do is to truly understand their customers. When I stepped up as Sales Director for Direct Sales in Xerox Finland, I started attending forums and focus meetings where our customers went. It wasn’t until I started to understand the realities of my customers, that I really knew how they are looking at us, and how we could actually help them.

What are you selling?

You are not selling your product. You are selling something that your product will enable the customer to do. Netflix is not selling you its highly coveted algorithms, that suggest more content for you, that makes the next episode start within seconds... It sells you entertainment at the top of your fingers.

Customers buy for two reasons:

1. To avoid something
2. To gain something
   

This is what you should be addressing.

Find the value!

Whatever you are selling, is of a certain value to your customer. By communicating the value, you will be discussing with them instead of selling to them. Once you are discussing with your customers, you will also start getting your message through.

This is the first, and most important step of The Revenue Generation Framework™ because the entire process leans on this.

Next post:

Step 2 – The Buying Process

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Intro – Strategy eats tools for breakfast