3 Steps to Matching & Positioning Product for Maximum Impact
- It’s All About the Client
When a client has a problem, issue, or ‘hook’ requiring a solution, they look for one thing: simplicity. They want to "break down" an existing problem and seek a solution to satisfy their needs and take their business forward. Your job is to understand the specific business issues and then provide a solution that will address them in concrete, tangible ways. Here is where you will need two key things:
- A complete understanding of the client, the business, and their aspirations for the future and blockers that will get in the way and hinder future growth
- A thorough and detailed understanding of your product/solution and how to position that product appropriately so it presents a business answer to client growth
Sales also need to remember that not all levels of the product/solution behave the same way in the marketplace, with individual clients and with individual members of the client buying center.
Each client has a specific view(s) of their business. It is critically important to listen to how clients view their world and prioritize their issues. The client provides the roadmap, and sales must follow the client's lead.
- Matching and Positioning Your Product as a Client Solution
Only after sales has a thorough and tangible understanding of the client and their business issues will sales be able to MATCH and POSITION their product/solution appropriately. With that understanding of the client, sales can now provide solutions both competitively and with great positive impact. This is the alignment and matching process leading to differentiation.
No two client conversations should sound the same since every client is different. Sales must pick up on those client nuances. Your aim is to listen, understand, and have better client information than your competition. You will then be able to position your product/solution with maximum impact.
- The Sound of the Skill of Differentiating
The Sales Matching / Positioning Test
At this stage, you are in a position to convert the conversation about your product into how that product/feature will solve and address client needs. As simple as this sounds, both skill and mental agility are absolutely essential. This is often where the sale is either won or lost.
Throughout this process, your aim is to move the conversation from you and your product to the client and their issues. You must be able to frame your conversation completely into the client’s world. It’s all about them, not about you.
Note that very little of this conversation has to do with you. A majority of the language, in blue, must be about them, and what they have said are their issues.
If you remember that this is all about the client, and that your product/service is simply a solution to their issues, you will have moved into the coveted space called ‘advisory selling’.
To better understand how we approach this critical sales skill, I invite you to learn more about our Sales & Business Development program, which is part of the Phoenix Strategic Performance Institute. This program helps you strategically align your sales process to accelerate the relationship sales process, creating corporate growth and building strategic value.
