Tip # 11 – Re-define your Markets … solve “Problems”

February 23rd, 2011 @ admin

Stop selling and start solving problems. It’s as simple as that.

In tough markets, when money is tight and customers rather hold on to their money, they will spend their money only when they can solve problems that are costly. So you might want to consider finding your new markets around business problems your customers want to solve.

It’s not about doing what you always have been doing, but more about solving problems your customers have, in ways that are highly valued.

I have a good example of this – some time ago, during the last tech bubble that burst, I was selling an IT solution that cost close to 15 times more than the solution people were used to buying at the time. Our solution was $1.2M on the low end and as high as $4.3M on the high end. The competition, the industry standard, cost about $70,000. My prospects were the Medical Communications departments of large pharmaceutical companies.

Put very simply, we managed to sell a lot of services over a 3-year period by solving our customers “risk management” problems and not really focusing on the technology, though; that was the solution we offered. The FDA changed some of their compliance requirements, creating a new space of possibility and we offered a solution to that problem.

So my comment to you is this … where can you begin to solve problems for your customers?

Given all the uncertainty in the market place today, and the way companies want to save money and reduce costs there have got to be new services and new offers you can make to your customers. Get creative and design new solutions that solve problems in today’s market conditions.

Be creative, relevant and lead.

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Category : 25 Tips to Selling in a Recession &Blog &Business Strategy &Leadership &Sales