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Hans’ Blog: Modern Industrial Marketing

Hans’ Blog: Modern Industrial Marketing

When stories intersect

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Our customers are already telling themselves a story about us. Some of it is inspired by what we say. Some of it derived from what we don’t say. Some of it is formed by past experience and some by future expectation.

They have a story. We have a story. How can we accelerate and improve the chances of customer and salesperson converging with a mutually beneficial ending?

– Be crystal clear on our own (true) value proposition and story

– Listen for how the customer’s version (true from their perspective) differs from ours

– Equip our salespeople (training and tools) to present the right content at the right time

Stories can serve a variety of purposes, but we only earn the sale when stories intersect.

Fresh or canned on campus

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I’m visiting colleges with my oldest and becoming a connoisseur of admissions presentations and the technologies used to tell a school’s story. Sometimes they start the video and leave the room. Sometimes they queue the slide deck and read it bullet by bullet. Million dollar meeting rooms to show what is already posted on the web.

But occasionally a presenter will tell it his way. A fresh-faced endorsement full of enthusiasm and personal context. Yes, there are some props: pictures of smiling students and the requisite list of admission stats and standards, but the rest is personal…  and convincing.

Think about the props that sales teams use in front of customers. Are we processing and canning their content such that there is no personal voice? Instead, consider providing less refinement and more materials in the raw: slides that ask more questions than they answer. Images without captions. Short video clips that support discussion instead of replacing it.

Let your team fill in the blanks and keep it fresh, because whether selling to students or B2B clients, fresh is always in better taste than canned.

A short story for B2B

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I once had a boss that asked me to capture the company story. “Keep it short… like an infomercial,” he said.

Without imagining a specific customer, it was impossible. A B2B story is not one-size-fits-all. No two prospects are the same, no two will buy for exactly the same reasons. And no customer wants to sift through a laundry list of features, benefits and capabilities in search of the one or two that may apply.

Realizing that each prospect deserves their own story makes it easier to keep it short, focused and meaningful. Multiple versions of literature, each focusing on a different decision-making role. Online tools geared towards different buying personalities. Presentations that are modular and can be pieced together as needed.

Everyone likes a good story. B2B likes a short story even better.

We know too much

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We’ve paid our dues. We’ve learned all about our offering and figured out what customers care about. And, ironically, we’re less effective because of it.

The problem is that once we learn something, it becomes very difficult to imagine what it’s like not to know it. Difficult to see it like our customer sees it. It’s the “curse of knowledge” that Chip and Dan Heath write about in their book Made to Stick. Here’s an HBR article about the concept.

Breaking the curse takes practice and discipline. ‘Strategically forgetting’ what we know is counterintuitive and humbling, but is frequently necessary to ensure that our sales dialogues are open-minded and exploratory.

Consider how our approach would differ if we didn’t already have all the answers. Ask questions like a rookie. Play dumb.

Our customers expect us to be a resource, but there’s a fine line between being knowledgeable and knowing too much.

Becoming Righter or Wronger

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Here’s a concept that has stuck with me over the years: strategy first, then tactics. In the words of the late Dr. Russell Ackoff:

“All of our problems arise out of doing the wrong things righter. The more efficient you are at the doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become. It is much better to do the right thing wronger than the wrong thing righter! If you do the right thing wrong and correct it, you get better.”

In the context of marketing and technology, most of us are in the presence of projects and processes that are in danger of making us ‘wronger.’ We continue to do things the same old way even though we know that there are technologies that are more effective. Identifying and implementing the technologies that are right for us will make us ‘righter’ and better.