Ideas from “The Challenger Customer” to Create Commercial Insight

Pitching ProductsUnless the customer is looking for products like yours to solve specific problems

Nobody Cares About Your Products, Except You!

What do your Customers Really Care about?

Grow Revenue

Reduce Cost

Reduce Risk Competitive Advantage

The Buyers Compass – Why People Really Buy

Start Helping Customers to

BuyBut how?

No-one likes being pitched

Start showing customers how to solve the problems they really care about

Do You Need to Change How You Sell?

• What does your ideal customer look like?• How do they buy?• Who do you have to convince?• How does the customer see their problem?• What are their alternatives?• How do you make the case for change compelling?

The Capital Purchase = Change

Average B2B Buying Committee = 5.4 people

Asking: Why Change?

It’s expensive, disruptive, risky and unknown

Which is why most opportunities lose to status-quo!

B2B Customer Buying Process: I-M-P-A-C-T

Idea Mentor Position Assessment Case Transaction

*Do nothing*Build it*Explore*Find alternative

Awareness Evaluation Decision

Why Change?

Why You?

Why ChangeNow?

Shared VisionWe must change!

Mentor/MobilizerStatus-quo

A B C

Fit

PricePeople

Teaching Customers to Value a New Perspective

A BCurrent

PerspectiveDesired

Perspective

Hint: It’s Not about the Product

• To help customers change - show them what they are currently doing is unsafe, costly and untenable

• That is, help them envisage a different way of operating that will produce superior results, or opportunities they are missing.

Suppliers think B is their Solution

A BUntil A becomes unsafe, risky and painful, the

status-quo will prevail

Current Perspective

Desired Perspective

A to B is the Customers Story

Counterintuitive points: 1. Stop thinking about A--> B as your value proposition

and start thinking about the return to the customer from a new way of thinking about their problem.

2. Get customers to think differently about themselves and they will think differently about you.

We must change!

A BCurrent Perspective

DesiredPerspective

Commercial Insight helps the Buyer break down A and build up B

“Let me show you how we are the only company who can help you with this.”

Commercial Insight

Building Commercial Insight is an Organizational Capability, not an individual salesperson’s skill.

Commercial Insight requires deep understanding of how customers see their own business.

Four Questions to Create Commercial Insight

• What major problems are customers exposed to that you can help solve?

• What are the causes of the problems currently under-appreciated by your customers?

• What is the impact to the customer if they fail to act?

• What would we have to teach the customer about their business that would lead them to value your capabilities?

How can you credibly break down their A and build up their B?

Create Differentiated Capabilities: Cause-Level Value-Model

Customer Problem Solution

CapabilitiesCause Generic Value

Differentiated CapabilitiesCause

Differentiated Value

Issues

Symptoms

Impact

Impact

Adapted from Bob Schmonsees Cause Level Value Model

The New WayProblem Addressed

How it endsOUTCOME

Defining MomentTriggering Event

Light-bulbINSIGHT

ChallengesStruggle

Resistance to ChangeTHE REVEAL / HUMAN

Character (s)When/Where

How does the Journey Begin?THE SET UP

The MoralThe Message

A BeliefLIMBIC-TO-LIMBIC

The Point

Complication

Turning Point

Resolution

The Hero’s Journey Storyboard

Setting

Adapted from “What Great Salespeople Do” by Mike Bosworth

Visual Story Development Guidelines

2. Narrative:• Customer as-is, • Creates tension,• Engages emotions,• Contrasts as-is vs. as-it-could-

be• Insight resolves in a new way

of thinking• And a guide for the journey -

you

This Way

1. Visual – easy to draw icons, big ideas

3. Language = voice of the customer, no “product-speak”