Koncise: Hi, we’re Koncise, we sell first-class cloud solutions. Would you like to buy from us?
Customer: Loads of people do what you do. Why should we buy from you and not them?
Koncise: Well, that’s a valid point.
OK. Let’s try that again.
Koncise: Hi, we’re Koncise, we have London’s most knowledgeable staff. Would you like to buy from us?
Customer: Every cloud re-seller in London has told us the same thing. Why should we buy from you?
Koncise: Well, that’s a valid point.
Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve been talking to our clients about why they first chose us and it’s not all about the service we provide…
Buy, or Bye? Not Any More…
It might be a tired cliché but people want to buy, they don’t want to be sold to. Our potential clients know what we do. They also know that there are others out there who do what we do so we are competing in a buyer’s market.
In the world we live in, buying goods and services is no longer a choice between ‘yes and no’. It’s now a choice between ‘this and that’ and if you’re just selling your goods and services – or to put it in a millennial tone of voice, if you’re an analogue business in a digital age – you’re going to struggle.
Koncise: But why? We’re selling world-class cloud solutions.
Customer: Other people are too so what else you got…?
Koncise: Er, we’re really nice guys to deal with?
Customer: Yawn. Anything else?
Actually, Yes….
So, we know that there are others out there who do what we do and consumers have a choice so what we need to do is not only convince them to buy these products, but most importantly we need to convince them to buy them from us.
To do this we look to Simon Sinek, self-described as an ‘unshakable optimist’ and a highly-respected business and leadership expert whose TED Talk on How Great Leaders Inspire Action has been viewed almost nine million times. If you haven’t seen it, watch it and after you do, you will look at how you sell in an entirely different way…
He’s got business leaders thinking about what they do, how they do it and most importantly, why they do it.
Go back to the top of the article. We started with the ‘what’. We sell first-class cloud solutions. That’s ‘what’ we do.
We then hit you with the ‘how’. We have the most knowledgeable staff in London. That’s ‘how’ we do it.
But selling that way doesn’t work anymore, so instead, we flip the message on its head.
Try this:
With every client we speak to, we challenge the status quo. We think differently. What we sell will positively affect your business. It just so happens that we sell cloud solutions for businesses. Would you like to buy from us?
By introducing them to ‘why’ we do what we do, we invite potential customers to share our values and beliefs and if they buy into and share our beliefs, they are more likely to buy from us.
The same fundamental beliefs we espouse externally to our clients, we espouse internally to the people who work for us –
‘If you hire people just because they can do a job, they will work for your money but if you hire people who believe what you believe, they’ll work for you with blood, sweat and tears.’
Simon Sinek
Never Trust Anyone That Says ‘Trust Me’…
Every website in the world will give you the same lazy garbage – we are trustworthy / you can trust us to deliver / trust us to do whatever it is we do – but that’s not the company’s decision. It’s the decision of the consumer.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
‘We trust you not only to do the right thing but if and when things go awry, we trust you to resolve problems
quickly and with no fuss.’
Managing Director, FTSE250 Company
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We might be veering into cliché territory again but this what we’re talking about. Us telling you that you can trust us seems rather pointless. One of our clients telling you the same thing carries a lot more weight.
The professional relationships we develop with our clients often cross the border into personal ones and it’s not rocket science but any relationship based on mutual trust and friendship is better than a relationship where the overriding factor is purely financial. Just ask anyone who’s ever appeared on Love Island.
In order to be a stand-out business, we need to offer a first-class product but crucially for today’s discerning buyer, that’s no use without a vision that customers can buy into.
Customers don’t buy ‘what’ we do (because they can get exactly the same elsewhere), they buy why we do it (because they can’t get that anywhere else).
Also, we’re really, really nice guys to deal with.
For all things cloud, email info@koncisesolutions.com or call +44 (0) 20 7078 0789 and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Have a good week.
Koncise Solutions
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