How to talk to elephants

In recent years, many printers have made a concerted effort to move into value-added services.  They recognise that many areas of traditional print have become commoditised.

Predatory pricing and suicidal margins have become the new norm for a lot of printers. They have moved into value-added services in an attempt to proactively protect profits. 

These new value-added services have a tendency to end up in something we refer to as ‘a solution’ for the customer. But here is the reality:

Solutions have no inherent value

Solutions do not sell. A solution is only a solution if it enables a customer to solve a problem (pain) or take advantage of an opportunity (gain).

Above all else, a solution should solve a problem that the client already has

Pains and gains are the real key to selling value-added services. If you can help a prospect remove a pain or take advantage of a gain, then you have a realistic probability of developing a solution. This is because, in that context, the solution is delivering specific value to the customer.

Assuming you agree with the idea that the solution has no inherent value unless it solves a customer issue—that would mean completely changing the nature of the customer meeting.

In our case, the purpose of the first meeting is to uncover issues—pains and gains. It is not to present the solution or our company. Our goal instead is to:

Lead with the problem, not the product

Of course, the obvious question one would ask next is how do I uncover the problem? What questions do I ask to uncover pains and gains? 

Assuming you agree with the idea that the solution has no inherent value unless it solves a customer issue—that would mean completely changing the nature of the customer meeting.”

Here are seven powerful questions you can ask at your next meeting. You will need to customise them in the context of the issue you are trying to help the customer with. I will use the example of web-to-print in retail.

Question: What’s the biggest business challenge you have with the X at the moment?

Example: What’s the biggest challenge you have with brand man-agement when distributing marketing materials to your retail outlets?

Question: How much disruption does X cause in Y?

Example: How much disruption does it cause when your people are overburdened with print logistics, due to ordering fairly basic marketing collateral for the stores?

Question: If you could wave a magic wand, what would you most like to see changed in this area?

Example: If you could wave a magic wand, what would you most like to see changed in terms of how you get marketing materials to your retail outlets?

Question: Are you concerned about X? (issue and impact you can help solve)

Example: Are you concerned about brand management when you have different stores ordering marketing materials from different suppliers?

Nick Devine says the first meeting should be about uncovering the problems a client
has and tailoring solutions to meet their needs

Question: Where would success show up in a project like this?

Example: If you could centralize and automate much of the commodity print ordering, where would success show up first? 

Question: What’s the biggest hurdle you face that is getting in the way of you achieving your goals?

Example: What’s the biggest hurdle you face when it comes to controlling how your brand is represented across all your different locations?

Question: What are your biggest areas of concern as they relate to X?

Example: What are your biggest areas of concern as they relate to getting marketing materials to the stores on time and in a consistent format?

Your goal in the early stages of an engagement with the client is to uncover issues. Many people fall into the trap of jumping onto a solution as soon as they get the faint whiff of a problem. Move away from the solution in the first meeting.”

Your goal in the early stages of an engagement with the client is to uncover issues. Many people fall into the trap of jumping onto a solution as soon as they get the faint whiff of a problem. Move away from the solution in the first meeting. 

Stay focused on uncovering the problems. In medicine you would be sued for malpractice if you gave a prescription before doing a deep diagnosis.

Prescription before diagnosis is malpractice

It is true in medicine and it is true in sales. Learn to curb your enthusiasm when the client reveals an issue. Take that as a clue that there are more issues to uncover and you can explore the current issues at a deeper level.
A simple action step after reading this article would be to tear out the questions and put them in your note-book. At your next meeting prepare seven sample questions using the templates I gave you. And stay focused on gathering information versus jumping on solutions.

In the next article we will be discussing how to recruit sales superstars into your company. 
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Tags:  customer retention  nick devine  print business  print contract  tendering advice  winning print accounts 

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