Selling successfully by Not assuming

Are your salespeople calling on all potential prospects?

Your direct competitors sell products and services that fundamentally solve the same problems. For example, restaurants serve food, air conditioners cool homes, cameras take pictures, and cars get you from one location to the next.

If this is all there is to it, why wouldn’t low prices win every time? Or, looking at it the other way around, why would anyone with unlimited funds purchase anything but the highest priced, fully featured products or services available?

Let’s examine these questions.

A tale of two expresso machines

Let me introduce you to two fierce competitors in the espresso machine business. I have changed the company’s and products names to avoid a debate over your own usage and taste experiences. After all, this is the BeenThere Sales Blog, not a coffee blog.

Meet the companies: EMA and EMB.

Product prices: EMA – $4,900     EMB – $ 800

You would think that at the significance of the price difference these companies would never be competing with each other. EMA would be used only in “high-end” coffee shops and EMB would only be purchased by coffee shops that are not considered high-end.

Similarities:

• Business type: Both machines are used by coffee shops.
• Annual revenue: Coffee shops using these machines typically generate similar annual revenues, often ranging from $100,000 to $1,000,000, depending on size and location.
• Annual expenses: These businesses have similar operating expenses, including rent, utilities, labor, and product costs.
• Customer base: Both products service the same customer base—coffee enthusiasts and regular patrons looking for high-quality espresso drinks.

Key aspects:

• Product quality: Both machines offer reliable performance and consistency, crucial for coffee shops aiming to maintain high standards.
• Brand reputation: While EMA is known for its premium quality, EMB is renowned for providing excellent value and quality at a lower price point.
• Customer experience: Using either machine can significantly impact the quality of the coffee served, directly affecting customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Know the differences

There are differences in the products themselves. For the purpose of brevity, I am not going to list them in detail. EMA has a product that has several features and related benefits that are not offered by EMB. It also has a prestige element that high-end coffee shops want to display.

EMB’s product is extremely cost effective. Start-ups and smaller shops can easily afford this product while producing a high-quality cup of espresso. It is user-friendly, has many integrated features, is compact in size, and has a rapid heat-up time.

Never assume

I am now going to tell you why you never assume simply because of the newness or size of a business, that they are not a prospect for your product. This holds true for both the high-end and low-end.

In the real-world high-end coffee shops purchase the EMB product for backup machines, training machines, cost management, investing in less costly machines which allows them to spend on other areas of need, space constraints, and offering a variety of other flavors not requiring a full-featured machine.

Start-ups and small coffee shops purchase the EMA product for a focus on quality by demonstrating high standards, brand positioning, long-term investments related to durability and value retention, customer experience related to enhanced perception, consistent quality, and giving them a competitive advantage by differentiation and marketing leverage.

Regardless of the size of the coffee shops, there is a potential place for both products.

Now take a moment to replace the coffee shops with your type of customer and the expresso machines with your products and services.

Never assume your product is best or not good enough for any potential prospect. Ask good questions to learn about their needs and desires. Understand your products and your competitors.

Show your prospects the value you add by leveraging your offerings in such a way that they will see and want the value you offer.

Be proud of your products and believe in their abilities at such a level, your prospects will want to become your customers.

I want to hear from you

Tell me about your stories that ignored assumptions and became a success. I always love to hear from you and appreciate your comments and stories. Send me an email, Phil@BeenThereCS.com.

If you would like your sales teams to learn how to perform and succeed at the highest levels, please contact me for a no cost consultation Phil@BeenThereCS.com.