Improving the Customer's Economic Well Being
Published Articles
Published: IPA Bulletin - January/February 2009
Your customer gets to decide who stays in business and that will not change.
There exists an increasingly discrete selection of where customers invest their precious dollars. Previous years' budgets are being rolled-back to zero, and re-examined for: "Is this really necessary?" and, "Why did we do this, and what did we get as a return?"
Stockrooms and even small (and not so small) warehouses full of stock printed materials are being re-examined with, "Why did we do this, and what did this cost?" before writing the outdated (and often unnecessary) print inventories down to zero.
In effect, customers don't buy print for the thrills and exhilaration of doing so. They buy print (and print-related services) to support and accomplish their business objectives.
Yet, our industry publications (and associations) continue to focus on internal issues - promoting technology and equipment rather than producing case studies and customer testimonials on how to use print and print-related services to improve a customer's economic performance.
My belief is that most company owners and senior management, deep in their gut, understand that - in addition to the loss of trust on Wall Street and in much of our banking industry - something in our great industry is upside down.
Today's economic conditions are not going away soon regardless of who is in Washington. And there's a stealth wake-up call to most elements of our great industry that if we don't change our understanding and perspectives of what needs to change or occur, our financial performance won't improve.
Turning to the business development team: Yes, of course, customer contact people need to be technically competent but they also need to relentlessly pursue understanding:
- Target customers' business models, and
- How to use products and services to improve the customer's economic performance.
In other words, "a lower price per thousand" is not the customer's first choice or what the customer wants, or needs.
Market Conditions & Business Opportunities
Too often, account executives are not productive with their time. Instead they invest too much of their precious time servicing current customers - a function their CSRs, are often (or should be) better equipped or positioned to accomplish.
My opinion is that how account executives - and CSRs, in particular, and the business development team, in general - use their time and what they understand need to radically change in order to create a continuous stream of opportunities for their company to serve target customers' improved economic performance.
We recently introduced a How to Research Your Target Customers and Markets training program to several associations on both the East and West Coasts. The on-site program was quickly followed by several organizations requesting the program to be customized an delivered on-site to their entire business development teams.
What those organizations are now off and running with, I believe, is part of the key of what's missing in our great industry. Customers want as few suppliers as possible, and the preferred supplier(s) are expected to:
- Understand the customer's business model,
- Continuously supply useful information, and
- Proactively provide a continuous stream of suggestions and recommendations on how to improve the customer's performance.
Focus of the program is multiple, including:
- Evolving current market conditions (in some detail), including implications of threats and potential threats that many (most) organizations are overlooking - or haven't yet recognized are occurring.
- A broad range of customer information that needs to be developed and understood - before even contacting the target account. Examples include but are not limited to:
- Target account history,
- Products and services,
- Published articles,
- Competitors,
- Market differentiation,
- Sources of pain, and
- Customer's literature.
- Online resources (plus other sources of information) that three-to-five years ago were not available but now radically change the opportunities sales reps and supporting CSRs should be using to better understand the customer's business model and how and when to access those online resources. Attendees are required to identify target customers and markets they are pursuing and then access these online resources for developing useful information, which is then shared openly with fellow attendees.
- How to use Online Resource Information for new business development initiatives. Examples include but are not limited to:
- How to successfully develop appointments with target new accounts,
- How to develop understanding of the customer's "sources of pain" for creating value with your strategic print resources,
- How to tap potential of target customer trade shows,
- How to use research information successfully for producing winning major account proposals,
- How to gain and use target account information for producing winning, customized quotes,
- How to develop and deliver successful customer education programs, and
- How to conduct Periodic Business Reviews.
Your Customer & Business Development
It is essential to recognize that the recurring theme throughout this entire process is improving the customer's economic performance through:
- Understanding the customer's business model and market conditions,
- Creating credibility with and providing the customer with useful information, and
- Providing an endless stream of recommendations and suggestions on how to use print and print-related services to improve the customer's economic performance.
Your customer gets to decide who stays in business and that will not change.
Business Development Teams need to systematically nurture not only technical competence but also - even more critical in today's market conditions - to relentlessly nurture understanding of their target customer's business conditions, and opportunities to improve the customer's performance through use of print and print-related services.
Long term, there are few other reasons for our great industry to exist. Do our associations and publication editors understand this?