In our workshops we teach a technique we call ‘Intelligent Positioning,’ which makes this concept of how your customer perceives value incredibly useful. We teach participants to start out every introductory meeting with questions. Some of the questions are designed to reveal our customer’s business disparity. Others are meant to discover more about their desired business results, their goals and objectives, or their motive, means, and urgency to achieve them. But before we begin to position our products and services as solutions to business problems, we should use our discovery process to learn some things about how our customer perceives value by asking questions such as:
‘Laying aside the details of products and services for a minute, have you given any thought to the kind of company that you would like to partner with on this project?’
Or . . .
‘What are some of the characteristics of the kind of companies you like to do business with?’
Now, if you’ve looked at the Three Major Sources of Value model, you already know what they are going to say. But even if their answers are exactly what you would have guessed, the fact that you asked them these kinds of questions sets you apart from your competitors, who just show up and ‘talk at them.’
Regardless of which specific characteristics or attributes of an ideal vendor they happen to mention, you earn the right to ask another question. It is this follow-up question that really matters, because . . .
Far more crucial than what is valuable and important to your customer is why it is valuable and important to them.
Asking questions in a way that helps your customers to clarify what is important to them helps you understand the characteristics by which they will evaluate you as a vendor. Asking ‘Why?’ tells you which denomination of value they believe these characteristics relate to. It enables you to tie the strengths of your company, your people, and your solutions to the particular denominations of value they care most about. Here’s an example of how Intelligent Positioning sounds in practice:
‘Mr. Johnson, what are some of the things that matter most to you when evaluating a new vendor or supplier?’
‘I’d say that the vendor’s reputation is key.’
‘Why is that the first thing that comes to mind?’
‘Because we have bought from a few vendors who weren’t around a year later.’
‘So, is it financial stability that you are referring to?’
‘Yes, but also I’d say the size of the company matters.’
‘Why is the size of the company important to you?’
‘Because we have operations in several countries and we need a vendor that can support us all around the world.’
‘So, worldwide support is important.’
‘Yes.’
‘Why is it important?’
‘Because when we have a machine down, I need someone that can get there and get it running again ASAP.’
‘Is there anything else from a company standpoint that is more important than that?’
‘I need to know that they will stand by their commitments.’
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Because I need to know I can count on them to do what they say they will do.’
‘Of all of these, which is the most important to you?’
‘Probably the last one. I want to work with a supplier I can rely on.’
‘So, integrity is the most important thing of all?’
‘Yes. I would say so.’
Now we have something to work with! This customer seems to think that the key characteristics of the right company to partner with include:
- A strong reputation.
- Financial stability.
- Highly responsive global support.
- People of high integrity.
The denominations of value that he believes these characteristics represent are:
- Simplicity Value: Selecting a vendor that is proven and low risk
- Emotional Value: Not having to worry about replacing the vendor again in a year
- Time Value: Having someone ‘on-site’ to quickly handle any problems
- Relational Value: Knowing that the vendor is reliable and will do what they say they will do
Using this approach, we can position our company against an under- standing of exactly which factors this customer thinks are important as well as why they are important to him, like this:
‘Well, Mr. Johnson, you’ll be happy to know that we currently support many clients with global operations and we’ve been doing so for overtwenty years. One of the reasons that clients choose to work with us is our worldwide support network that ensures we can have a person ‘on-site’ at your facility anywhere in the world within twenty-four hours. When the time comes, I’d like to introduce you to a couple of our long-termclient/partners and have you ask them confidentially whether or not we have been true to our word. Would that be all right with you?’
This is very different than reading the bullet points on a slide presentation announcing:
- Founded in 1982
- 6 international offices
- Over 800 customers
- Global support
Another important facet of Intelligent Positioning is that it enables us to change the way we position ourselves based on what we learn about our customer’s perception of value. I could ask two different people, working for the same company, ‘Does the size of a company matter to you as you evaluate potential partners for this project?’ and get a ‘Yes’ from both. But when I ask, ‘Why does the size of the company matter to you?’ one person might say:
‘Because we want to work with a big vendor who can support our global operations.’
We don’t necessarily have to be the global market leader to do that. We could respond by saying:
‘Well, you’ll be happy to know we work with many clients with worldwide operations and our worldwide support network enables us to provide the highest-quality service wherever you do business.’
Then we could walk right down the hall to meet with a different person in the same company, and ask them ‘Why does the size of the company matter to you?’ and hear:
‘Honestly, I am fed up with our current ‘ big’ vendor, who won’t return our phone calls and who treats us like ‘a number.’ We are looking for a company that’s more focused on partnering with us to make sure we get what we need.’
We’re still the same company, but in this context our response could be:
‘You’ll be happy to know that our company philosophy keeps us very client- focused. I hope to demonstrate to you-as we talk about your business objectives and explore the ways we could possibly help you achieve them- that we are exactly the kind of company you will enjoy doing business with.’
Intelligent Positioning is actually a microcosm of the Customer Results Model (points ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’). We need to learn what matters and then why it matters before we can properly position our solution. In the alphabet, these three letters appear ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and then ‘C.’ But as they apply to Intelligent Positioning and the diagnostic approach, we start with ‘A,’ and then understand ‘C,’ before we position ‘B.’