marketing Archives - The Five Abilities

Tag Archive for: marketing

Feed homeless children by buying children’s music

May 8, 2025

This is a departure from The Five Abilities® but it’s very important to all of us. You can help homeless families have a warm holiday by buying children’s music.

We’re selling the album, The Little Things by Friends of the Family, through CD Baby and iTunes. All proceeds go to Vision House—a ministry that provides transitional housing and rapid rehousing to homeless families with kids. CDs cost $12.97—downloads cost $9.99. Retailers give us $9.00 for each album sold, all of which goes to Vision House on whose board I’m privileged to serve.

(Note: USA Today wrote, “Friends of the Family are just the people you want to have on a long car trip. They travel well.”)

How it helps. $20 provides a night of safety, support services, and care for one child. $60 provides for a whole family. Three album downloads provides a safe, warm night for a child with money left over. Seven downloads and you provide a night of safety and warmth for an entire family. They make great holiday gifts.

The Homeless Plight

Seattle has the third largest homeless population in the country and many are families with children. The only US cities that have larger homeless populations are Los Angeles and New York City. It’s unbelievable that cities such as these have thousands of kids living on the streets but it’s happening.

Who are these people? In Seattle, homeless people have full-time jobs, they pay taxes, and many serve us in restaurants, hospitals and other places that would surprise you. Unfortunately, these people encounter challenges that could hit any of us.

One day they’re your neighbor—the next they become ill or injured and are wiped out by medical bills. They are laid off engineers and manufacturers. They’re full-time workers who can no longer afford the soaring cost of housing and childcare. They end up living in cars, on friend’s couches, or on the street. They’re just like you and me but with unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances.

Friends of the Family

For those who follow my blog you know that I worked as a professional musician to pay for college and I continued after graduation. I quickly learned that I didn’t have the talent to run with the incredible musicians I met in Los Angeles. But it wasn’t totally out of my blood because in 1994 I wrote and recorded a children’s music album so my kids could remember what I sang to them at night.

I entered the studio intending to record just me and my guitar but instead hired 22 musicians (Friends of the Family) and a producer to create a radio-ready album. I had a great job with Hewlett-Packard so the purpose of selling the album was purely to raise money for children’s causes such as Seattle Children’s Hospital whose surgeons saved our son’s life by repairing his defective heart.

We were blessed because as we recorded there was a brewing trend by well-known artists who were producing what Kenny Loggins called, “children’s music that’s for parents too.” Popular artists like Loggins, Nicolette Larson, Carly Simon, and others, were releasing so much material that it created a new music genre highlighted in publications such as Billboard, USA Today, and Family Fun Magazine. It spawned national radio stations like Radio AAHS and Disney Radio. It created new opportunities for unknown composers like me, to get national radio play, do shows at Disneyland, and to sell music. Right time—right place—a blessing that we’re passing on.

Feed homeless children by buying children’s music. 100% of the proceeds go to Vision House (http://vision-house.org/otherwaystohelp/). Please pass this on. Thank you for your generosity. Happy Holidays.

Personal motivations for buying – found in customer history

May 8, 2025

Last weekend, my wife and I had a great time seeing Harry Connick Jr. in concert at Chateau Ste Michelle Winery – a wonderful outdoor venue. We couldn’t get side-by-side seating so we had seats one in front of the other. The couple to my right, without being asked, offered to move their chairs so we could sit together. There are wonderful people everywhere you go.

The people to my left arrived after most had been seated. A father, mother and twenty-something daughter worked their way across the row with the daughter ending up next to me. Before sitting she glanced at me with a look of fear and frantically asked her father to, “Switch with me.” The father said, “You’ll be fine.” The mother responded, “You know she’s afraid of Asian guys. Don’t make her sit there.” The father switched. Obviously the young woman had experience that made her afraid of Asian males. Her face displayed real fear when she looked at me.

Because their conversation was far from a whisper I heard everything. I could have had a negative response. But having been in similar situations, I know we all have experiences that are the foundation of our perceptions so I chose to say nothing. Throughout the concert, the father and I had friendly exchanges, so much so that when they went to get food he asked if I could please watch their things. We continued to talk throughout the evening, even though the mother and daughter were visibly uneasy. However, by the end of the evening, the daughter seemed more relaxed and the frown that started the evening changed to a smile as they were leaving.

I don’t know what her experience was but I hope she ended that evening having lost a bit of her fear of Asian males. I’ll never know but I will know that I was respectful to and that’s really all I could do.

In business, we sell to people who have many experiences that serve as the foundation of their perceptions – their personal motivations for buying. My services were recommended to a start-up CEO who agreed to meet with me. 45 minutes into the meeting he said, “I’m having a hard time believing you were at Microsoft for 18 years and a VP no less.” I asked why and he said, “I thought you guys were all overly aggressive jerks. I may have to rethink that.”

Since people make business decisions for personal reasons it’s important that we understand their personal motivations for buying so that we can sell to them effectively. Have they had bad experiences with our company before? Have they had bad experiences from implementing innovative products? Have they had salespeople who misrepresented the facts, making them untrusting of salespeople? Is their company culture highly political causing them to assume that everyone is that way?

There’s no better way to understand the customer’s personal motivation for buying than to understand their history. It wasn’t appropriate for me to ask that young woman why she feared Asian men, especially during the concert, but it’s always appropriate to learn how decision-makers earned their position of leadership. Knowing the experiences that got them to where they are is the only way to understand the foundation of their perceptions – their personal motivation for buying.

If they got to their leadership post by catalyzing paradigm shifts, they will be attracted to innovative change. If, on the other hand, they’ve arrived at their position by avoiding risk, they will be motivated by safe choices. The permutations are endless but the lesson is the same – we must understand our customers’ personal motivations for buying by understanding their history.

People make business decisions for personal reasons. Understanding the customer’s personal motivations for buying is an important part of what you learn from The Five Abilities® sales framework. My article “Five things people buy that aren’t on the invoice” tells you more if you’re interested.

Business Development vs Sales: Don’t Get Caught in the Trap

May 8, 2025

There are many jobs posted for business development managers but when you read the job description it’s clear that the employer intends to hire salespeople. We see titles like Life Advisor, Personal Banker, and Global Accounts Manager, but the job descriptions call out objectives for increased insurance policies, loan applications, and revenue. Why does this happen?

1. Management doesn’t distinguish between business development and sales

2. Many great business people don’t want to be labeled as sales professionals

The problem is that whether you’re leading an entrepreneurial venture or an established enterprise, business development and sales are different roles, and you need both done well. Let’s define them.

Business development – With any business you must have an environment in which you can do said business. When launching new products or services, you need business development to create an environment that allows you to sell. Tesla is a good example. While the automotive industry existed, selling luxury electric cars that are as much computer as car, did not. Elon Musk had to create an environment in which this new phenomenon could be sold.

One of the many business development goals was to create an infrastructure such that electric cars could be more than short-range, commuter vehicles. He developed business relationships with utilities to enable home charging. He built a channel of retailers, restaurants, etc., that saw the benefit in funding “destination chargers” for use by their patrons. Now, Tesla owners can easily find charging stations along most major highways in the United States. Musk created the business environment in which he could do business. The Motley Fool – Elon Musk: Tesla Charging Stations Will Be “Virtually Everywhere”

Sales – Once you have the environment in which to do business, you can then identify the right people to whom you must sell. In Tesla’s case, they aren’t called salespeople, but they connect with the people who make decisions to be the most visible, credible, viable, capable, and reliable provider of electric cars. After creating an attractive product, and the necessary infrastructure, they used modern marketing methods to increase visibility thus enabling their people to connect with qualified buyers.

Tesla showrooms and social teams are staffed with highly trained people to demonstrate and educate on Tesla features. They help people see the benefits of being a Tesla owner such that want becomes need, making Tesla a viable option. They are capable of appealing to people’s personal motivations for buying whether its safety, simplicity, rewards, recognition, or revolution. Lastly, their customer support culture emphasizes transparent communication with both existing and prospective customers. USA Today – Why Tesla Has the Most Loyal Customers

Don’t get caught by the business development vs sales trap. Hire great business development people and great salespeople who want to sell. Clearly distinguish your expectations for each and you’ll have focused employees getting great results.

©Rick Wong – The Five Abilities® LLC

Creating a sense of urgency

May 8, 2025

You’ve successfully delivered your 30-second value proposition. Your customer has a suspicion of value and they’ve asked to know more. It didn’t happen in a formal meeting – of course. It happened at a tradeshow, a social event, a meeting on another topic, or a chance meeting. It’s not an appropriate or adequate opportunity to make a fact filled, helpful, presentation. This is a common reality for all business people and certainly salespeople.

When a prospective customer asks for more information, we have the opportunity to create a sense of urgency needed to advance the sale faster. By articulating opportunity costs and/or benefits that compel decision-makers to feel like they’re losing ground by not taking action, we create a sense of urgency. When we learn to do it with a three minute conversation we make tradeshows and social events into real opportunities to help customers. Some of the best practices I’ve seen, in creating a sense of urgency in three minutes, comes from sales professionals at Boeing and those who sell smartphone components.

At Boeing, their salespeople have tools to quickly show the average fuel cost savings and payback periods that airlines can achieve by replacing airplanes with outdated technologies. In the early days of the 757 and 767 airplanes, Boeing salespeople could show cost savings from having two people in the cockpit versus the three that were required in early generation airplanes. In each case there was an opportunity cost for not learning enough to make an informed decision.

On the benefit side, Boeing salespeople were educated enough to advise airline executives on new routes they could add with estimates on the additional profit that could be realized by the airline. They had the depth of information to offer advice on the best locations for hubs and where to store spare parts. Boeing salespeople are among the best examples of trusted advisors.

In the smartphone industry, there are a few key innovations that dramatically affect the usability of the device. One of the most impactful is innovations in glass and sensor technologies. These components contribute greatly to user satisfaction. With each successive innovation we benefit when touch, typing and scrolling gets better – glass gets thinner, lighter and more durable – the phones get easier to use.

Glass manufacturers like Corning, Samsung and LGE, employ salespeople who can quickly describe the benefits of new generation glass and the opportunity cost of not making a decision to go. In minutes they can forecast reduction in phone sales without the new technology. They forecast lower customer satisfaction and translate that into lower sales. They calculate increased support calls when users see their phones not working as well as others. They talk about manufacturing capacity for building the new generation glass creating a sense of urgency to reserve that limited supply.

Regarding benefits, salespeople for glass manufacturers have estimates on how fast users will move to the new generation phones and share the benefits of being an early adopter. They have examples of the kinds of new designs that are possible with lighter and more durable glass. They’ll give advice on the additional services mobile carriers can offer with the new devices.

In both cases, salespeople use three minute conversations to introduce the potential opportunity costs and benefits in a way that presents them as helpful advisors and not simply salespeople looking for an order. When we use the three minute conversation to create a sense of urgency, we open minds, get meetings, close business and take steps to winning lifelong customers.

Win lifelong customers by being unreasonably accountable

May 8, 2025

It’s critical that we understand the practice of RELIABILITY as it regards sales specifically and business in general, on our way to winning lifelong customers. It’s doubly crucial that we guard against the misconceptions that exist around this very important ability.

First we need to look at how people respond to the notion of being accountable for whatever the best next action entails – no matter what. What I often observe, when raising this ABILITY, is that people reject it. What I’ve learned after many years of managing people in the disciplines of sales and marketing, is that people hear accountability but they think responsibility. They respond negatively because they’re defending themselves from being blamed for an undesired result. Let’s define the two words in the context of sales.

Responsibility – Being responsible for something in business has two meanings. The present-tense is that we own the performance of an assignment, project or team. The past-tense is that we were the cause for something that happened.

Accountability – Being accountable for something in a business sense means that we own whatever happens next. We are in charge of the best next action. Whether we caused the problem or not we step up to own the solution.

Rob is one of the most customer-centric people I’ve had the privilege to work with. His nature, in life and in business, is to be unreasonably accountable.

Early in his career, Rob worked for a company that offered component manufacturing and supply chain services to a myriad of technology companies. His customer was a prominent computer manufacturer and he was competing for their business with a deeply entrenched incumbent service provider. In this case Rob had convinced the decision-maker to trial his company’s storage devices and was having an initial order shipped from Raleigh, North Carolina, to the customer’s location in Norfolk, Virginia. Ironically, because the incumbent was managing the project Rob was, in effect, delivering product to be used by his competitor.

As luck would have it, the shipment of the storage devices was damaged in transit. Rob, of course, immediately got on the phone with the project manager (his competitor) in the hopes of understanding what happened so he could determine his best next action for resolving the problem. The competitor was unclear about what had happened and was generally unhelpful. Rob hung up the phone with no more clarity about the situation than before he made the call.

Rob had a manager who instilled in him a lifelong discipline that “if you have a problem, get to the problem.” After brief consideration about how important it was to satisfy this prospective lifelong customer, Rob decided to get to the problem. He was able to get co-workers to complete tasks he had been assigned and he got in his car to drive the 184 miles to Norfolk, Virginia, so he could see firsthand what had happened to those storage devices. He not only was able to resolve the issue but he demonstrated the act of being unreasonably accountable to the decision-makers. That best next action led to Rob winning the business and, more importantly, his actions led to winning lifelong customers.

Being unreasonably accountable is about taking the best next action when our customer needs help. When our customer has a problem, whether we caused it or not, if we’re capable of helping – we do it. We step up because we want to help our lifelong customers – not because we want accolades but because we’re unreasonably accountable.

The 80/20 rule for winning lifelong customers

May 8, 2025

The Pareto principle, or 80/20 rule, is well-known throughout many professions. It states that about 80 percent of the results come from 20 percent of the effort. This principle applies to sales in the area of opportunity management – 80 percent of our sales comes from 20 percent of our opportunities. However, it also applies to the sales activity we undertake to win each opportunity.

Our actions that most focus on unique customer needs, are more creative and improvisational, and this is what sets us apart from our competition. 80 percent of what we deliver is what everyone does. The improvisational 20 percent is our unique value that wins us 80 percent of our business along with lifelong customers.

I spent seven years trying to make it in the music industry where the 80/20 rule also applies. 80 percent is what everyone plays – the melodies, chords and rhythm are what all musicians must do and many get by just doing that. Unique creativity and improvisation is the 20 percent that makes musicians special. However, to enable that 20 percent, musicians need to know and practice the melodies, chords and rhythm enough for them to become habit. When the 80 percent becomes habit we free up our minds to apply more of our musical abilities to improvisation.

Sales is very much like playing music in that 80 percent of what we do to win customers is the same as what our competitors do – our melodies, chords and rhythm. We do standard things to be visible, credible, viable, capable and reliable. The need for improvisation comes when our general approach doesn’t exactly fit the needs of the customer, which is most of the time. We need to appeal to the unique requirements of each customer without changing our basic proposal. It’s all about presenting the solution we can provide but in the customer’s language. Just like great improvisational musicians don’t change the song, we don’t change our products. We need to improvise on top of the standard tools we use to present our value and abilities in a way that each customer can apply our products and services to their unique problems.

The Five Abilities® helps us to turn 80 percent of our deliverables into habit meaning we spend far less than 80% of our time on those activities. Instead we focus more of our time and energy on creativity and improvisation – the 20 percent that addresses the unique needs of our various customers.

For example, Sony Pictures incurred a serious hack attack in November 2014. If we were selling IT products and services to Sony Pictures, we might focus our value propositions on our security capabilities and that of our partners. We couldn’t change what we’re selling but we could improvise our presentations to earn VISABILITY by emphasizing our strength in cyber security.

If instead, we were selling to Amazon which is aggressively focused on global growth, we might want to depict our technology as easy to scale with people who have expertise in the global arena. Again, we wouldn’t be changing the product but instead we’d improvise our presentations to earn VISABILITY by emphasizing our strengths in scalability and global services.

The Five Abilities® teaches us to make habit of 80 percent of our sales approach and guides us to use more of our creative and improvisational energy on the 20 percent of our actions that differentiate us from competitors. The result is more wins and more lifelong customers.

The Buzz: Creator, Contributor or Consumer – Sell no matter what

May 8, 2025

Company leaders strive to create positive noise about their offering. They strive to be the topic of positive conversations. They want to create “buzz” for their company and offerings, resulting in heightened visibility and credibility. It’s a bonus when we get to sell for the buzz creators but the best salespeople also know how to sell when we aren’t the hot topic. There are three stages of what I call the “buzz spectrum” and salespeople must be able to execute The Five Abilities® (VISABILITY, CREDABILITY, VIABILITY, CAPABILITY, & RELIABILITY) in all stages.

Stage 1: Creator – It’s beneficial to sell for a company that is creating positive buzz. (I’ll save the problem of negative buzz for another article.) With this fortunate circumstance we have to be ready to use this added visibility to see more customers and win more business. Customers will want in-depth information on our innovations that created the buzz and we have to be credible representatives so that we avoid turning buzz into doubt.

In the late 1980s, HP ran a set of “What if…” commercials. The message was that HP sales and service people were consultative problem-solvers. It was great visibility for those selling for HP but if we didn’t engage with a consultative approach, we lost the benefit of the buzz. If our focus was pitching versus problem-solving the customers would think, ‘Where’s the person in the commercial?’

Stage 2: Contributor – In the real world, we most often sell without the benefit of buzz created by our company and products. Many salespeople have never had the fortune of working for a buzz creator. Fortunately, creators need contributors. They need others, often channel partners, to amplify the buzz. When in the contributor role we must demonstrate our credibility with direct knowledge of the buzz and we must present ourselves as capable and reliable deliverers of products creating the buzz.

Windows 95 was one of the most anticipated product launches in the PC industry. Microsoft was creating so much buzz you couldn’t find a trade publication without an article on “Chicago” – the product’s code name. It was critical that our channel partners were credible experts on the product, that they were seen as viable Microsoft partners such that they had access to information not publicly available and that they were capable of helping customers succeed with the new product. Microsoft had to ensure that channel partners had access to information but it was ultimately up to the partner to become credible and viable experts so they could contribute to the buzz.

Stage 3: Consumer – Veteran salespeople know that there are many times when we aren’t creating or contributing to the buzz – we are simply consumers of information. Importantly, this doesn’t mean we’re irrelevant to our customers but we must help them understand how this new buzz will advance their business. We must learn enough to know how to help or we’ll be behind and become a hindrance.

When I sold checks for American Bank Stationery, in the early 1980s, the banking industry was just introducing the Automated Teller Machine (ATM). ATMs and credit cards, were creating buzz as the future of how people would get cash and how they’d make purchases. Part of that buzz was that people wouldn’t need checks anymore. No need for a checkbook, simply use a little plastic card. Certainly, we had to tout the continued benefits of checks but we also had to acknowledge where the industry was moving. When we did sales training for new accounts representatives, we helped them develop benefit statements for the bank’s ATMs and credit cards. We still represented checks as necessary in certain cases but we changed our approach to adapt to the industry and to ensure we were helping – not hindering. We remained consultative and kept selling checks even though we weren’t creating any buzz.

Know where you are on the buzz spectrum (creator, contributor or consumer) and adjust your sales approach to ensure you remain consultative and beneficial to your customers.

Salesforce Automation – Three things you get from it

May 8, 2025

Salesforce Automation (SFA) has been around for many years in various forms. For most of its existence it’s been a tool for large corporations with significant IT budgets and IT staffs. Recently, it was reported by GetApp®, a site that connects businesses with sales management software vendors, that “48% of SMBs are migrating from manual methods to SFA software for the first time.”

What’s changed? The cloud, the cost, and software/service compatibility are key factors.

Today’s cloud offerings have turned previously complex software deployments into simple turn-key services that eliminate the need for complex infrastructure and support. GetApp® recently ranked the Top 25 Small Business Sales Apps and all are simple and secure cloud-based services with excellent support offerings. (See the rankings below.)

The cost of SFA is no longer calculated in the thousands of dollars but instead in the hundreds, for even the most comprehensive offerings. In many cases the cost is even lower for very simple cloud-based services.

The compatibility of these services has advanced greatly from antiquated offerings that only compile native reports. Today’s SFA tools integrate with productivity software, digital marketing tools and social media solutions. It’s becoming commonplace for small businesses to use automated marketing tools that are either part of the SFA service or easily integrated with it.

The advancements in SFA are substantial and with the help from services such as GetApp® it’s easy to find the right applications for your company. But there’s a caveat – even though SFA tools are simple to find and implement, the biggest barrier to success continues to be usage. Can you get your salespeople to use the tools effectively and will the data result in more sales or just more work for salespeople?

This is a conversation inside every company that implements SFA and the focus is usually about how you force salespeople to use the tool. Unfortunately, that’s the wrong conversation because the success of SFA starts with management, both sales and non-sales. The foundation for a successful SFA deployment is when management expressly needs and uses the information produced by these tools.

Three things that management can do to motivate salespeople to keep SFA tools updated:

Coaching: Managers and executives can use the information in the SFA tool to structure one-on-one coaching sessions. The SFA tool, when updated honestly by salespeople, will outline successes and difficulties. When sales managers and other leaders, base coaching on helping with those difficulties it motivates salespeople to keep them updated.

I worked with a marketing executive who met with salespeople weekly in order to stay current on customer issues. She would have 45 minute meetings with agendas built from the sales challenges she saw articulated in the SFA tool. Meetings with her were highly valued and she would only meet with salespeople who had current and relevant information in their tool. No surprise – salespeople were motivated to stay current with their tool.

Executive updates: It’s common for salespeople to build executive summaries when executives make customer visits. When required briefing documents are different than what is in the SFA tool, salespeople will forgo tool updates and just focus on creating pristine briefing documents. If, instead, company leaders review information in the tool and don’t require extra work by field personnel, it’s amazing how motivated salespeople are to keep their tool updated.

Smooth change management: The only certainty in any business is that things will change. Salespeople and sales managers earn promotions and/or move on – executives do the same.

When I took over the Asia Region for one of Microsoft’s divisions, I learned from one of my mentors that all I needed to know should be in the SFA tool. He suggested that I not ask for transition reports from my predecessor or any of my directors but instead just review the tool. By acting on his suggestion it helped me learn the unfiltered realities, it helped me to see who wasn’t performing, and it helped me see where my support was needed. It was much more effective than having everyone build customized reports which resulted in more work and occasionally fabricated information.

You’ll see better utilization of SFA tools when sales and corporate leaders consistently use the information to enhance coaching, simplify executive updates, and smooth the constant change management that is required in all organizations.

Three questions that earn you trusted advisor status

May 8, 2025

Advancing from seller to trusted advisor wins you lifelong customers resulting in years of repeat business and referrals. As an advisor you become part of the value that customers pay for. Advisors solve problems in a logical fashion that coalesces stakeholders and promotes collaboration. This helps decision-makers select and implement the right solution.

This simple problem solving approach keeps you focused on what the customer needs most – lasting solutions to problems. Three questions that earn you trusted advisor status:

WHAT do you see, hear and/or know that is problematic?

Early in my career I worked for an SVP who asked, “Does the patient have a fever?” She wanted to know that we were seeing, hearing or knowing things that ensured the customer had relevant problems that were acknowledged by their decision-makers. Sometimes sales and marketing people see problems and answers that may not be real resulting in chasing false leads. My SVP forced us to prove it was real by clearly identifying what we saw, heard or knew that was problematic.

WHY are these things causing problems?

Successful problem solving requires that everyone sees and attacks the same problem. The lack of collaborative thought and action, by all stakeholders, leads to failure even with the right solution. The process of discovering and deciding WHY the problem exists versus just reacting to WHAT you see, hear and/or know, constructs a collaborative foundation. Acting without that collaborative foundation relies on luck to find success. My dad would say, “It’s great to be lucky but it’s hard to repeat.”

Continuing with the medical metaphor is relevant because your doctor wouldn’t treat you without first knowing what’s causing the fever. If you had an infection you wouldn’t want to be treated for flu. The diagnosis must be right as it must for business problems.

Companies selling intellectual property offer a useful example. Product piracy allows customers to get products almost free. In emerging markets it was assumed that price was the issue but reductions had temporary or no effect. Research determined that people wouldn’t pay for something they could get for free because they’d be considered stupid. The WHY wasn’t about high price but instead about ego especially given the pirated product was perceived equal to the genuine product.

WHAT best next things you can do to address WHY the problem is happening?

With a proper diagnosis the doctor can choose the right treatment because WHY the fever happened is known. Industry is continually working on the intellectual property issue but the focus is more on delivering unique value to customers and resellers because they now know that simple price reductions don’t address the ego problem.

WHAT-WHY-WHAT is a simple problem solving discipline that focuses your creativity on WHY the problem exists. You’ll create lasting solutions and you’ll earn trusted advisor status, resulting in lifelong customers.

How to Win Over Any Decision-Maker and Make the Sale

May 8, 2025

A true decision-maker makes critical business decisions for very personal reasons. You know this to be true because didn’t you buy a blue jacket instead of black because you feel you look better in blue? Did you buy your iPhone because it’s cool and has all your music? Or did you get it because your analysis showed it to be the most secure phone?

In B2B, the bigger the decision, the more likely personal motivations come into play. Decision-makers will still need to justify a transaction with data but ultimately, they still turn to people with whom they want to work.

Providing these things to a decision-maker will improve our chances of winning the sale:

SAFETY. Customers who worry that things will go wrong often seek out the safest decisions. Guarantees are a common ask from people who hate mistakes more than anything. Company cultures that prompt risk-averse behaviour can sway decision-makers to follow suit. Or, perhaps the decision-maker is a more cautious person, fretting over decisions. In either scenario, you’ve got to present your product or service as the safest bet, bar none.
SIMPLICITY. Where you find harried, stressed employees, you’re also going to find leaders who want to help. Good leaders will buy solutions that will simplify everyone’s life. Buying from you means rejuvenating employees and improving work/life balance. When your customer wants simplicity you’ve got to take charge. Asking for guidance creates more work for the customer who is trying to cut back. The customer buys from you because you just get the job done.
REWARDS. Some customers measure their success by the number of rewards they garner. These customers will buy from you if they believe it’s going to help them get a reward. They are looking for things like promotions, a bonus, or some other kind of prize. An easy way to spot this kind of customer is to listen: They will describe “wins” as personal ROI they get.
RECOGNITION. These are the mentors, coaches or experts who don’t need or even want public rewards – they want to help the team win. Other employees will mention them when talking about who they turn to for help. Offer help and support so that they can be better experts, mentors, and coaches.
REVOLUTION. These are change agents that often fill turnaround roles. They jump in when things break and thrive on cleaning up messes. They’ll want to buy from you when they know you will help them make important, legacy creating change.

To learn more about selling the personal reasons people make important business decisions, go to thefiveabilities.com. You can also find these and many more nuggets in Winning Lifelong Customers with The Five Abilities® which you’ll find wherever you buy books online.

What big decisions have you made for personal reasons? Comment below.

Tag Archive for: marketing

Get 2 Free Workbooks to Help You Win Lifelong Customers