It amazes me how many companies and individuals are willing to work for free, especially in the B2B market. Tenders, proposals, sales meetings, pipeline calls/emails the list is endless, a perpetual stream of chasing clients in hope that they throw you a bone instead of someone else.
Let me explain the five key reasons why people buy, in this order:
Pain now: They have an issue, they know of the issue and they desperately need it resolved; therefore whatever the cost it must be sorted.
Pain in the future: They know that if they don’t get something done now they could suffer real issues later on. Prevention is better than the cure.
Pleasure now: They fancy spending some money to put a smile on their faces.
Pleasure future: They hope that spending now will provide a smile at some date coming.
That’s interesting: The least driver. That’s interesting typically stays that way.
People need an emotional reason to buy and the pain/pleasure factor is the most predominant. I would also go as far to say that the ONLY reason to buy in a business to business (B2B) sale stems from the first two factors; with consumers probably making their choices based on more of a balance between pain and pleasure.
So if a potential client is still thinking about it, they aren’t in enough pain.
If they need more information they aren’t in enough pain.
If they have to speak to their boss, their boss isn’t in enough pain.
If they need another meeting they aren’t in enough pain.
Often replies such as ‘we haven’t made a decision’ or ‘we need more time/information’ is simply a delayed No! This is normally a waste of time and should be dropped. Ask them a simple yes or no question and DON’T keep them as ‘potential’ or ‘pipeline’ opportunity as this just offers nothing but false impressions to your business.
When it comes to pitches and tenders we would seriously consider looking at how many you do, how much time they take and how many you win. This process is fraught to disaster for any business and in our mind is a structure left over from BC days (Before Crash).
IF a business wants stuff doing and they have looked at you and think you can do it, what on earth does a tender or pitch accomplish? What could you do to convince them and if they need convincing then is that a good place to start a relationship off? Of course some industries are based on them and it is THE only way of winning large pieces of business. All I am saying is have a really good look at this structure as it is often a huge drain on resource and often looks like the company is doing a lot where by all they are really doing is wasting company time and costing money.
Is there a better way?
In our mind there is. If someone pays good money for something it means that they trust the provider to deliver. Therefore getting a client to start paying as soon as possible, within the relationship, is essential so they start to value you and your input/product/service. Even if it is a small amount – get them paying. If they are unwilling to do this, yes you’ve guessed it, they aren’t in enough pain and therefore should possibly be disqualified as a potential client. Or you need to look at your sales process and how you can get clients into pain quicker.
Also if your market is being dictated by price, stand out, increase your prices and then tell the market why you are more expensive. Clients that want the best of what you offer will come to you and they’ll understand why you are more expensive and probably won’t try and chip away at the price.
If your business has a process that most companies give away free then charge for it. Stand out. Explain that the others give it away for free because that’s what budget organisations do and if that is what they wish to work with then it isn’t you.
In a time when most companies involved in a B2B market are chasing business and being a desperate date, stand out. It will take balls but hey, business isn’t for the fainthearted.
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