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Meet the Top 4 Barriers You’ll Encounter Selling to Organizations

11/17/2022

 
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Selling enterprise solutions to any organization is challenging and time consuming to say the least.  And the more complex your product is, the longer it will take to close. Even if you’ve made a contact, garnered interest and locked-in a meeting or even a proposal phase, you still have 4 big barriers to overcome. 

Barrier #1: Integration
Your solution can’t deliver the benefits you promise until it is integrated with currently used systems and  workflows. If left to the customer, this may be beyond the ability of internal resources (time, money, staff) to do it successfully.

Barrier #2: Trialability
Because of the first barrier (integration), it is difficult, if not impossible, to effectively try your solution before it is bought. Scaled-down demos or trial versions often can’t show enough of a benefit to validate a purchase decision.

Barrier #3: Transcendence
Your solution cuts across multiple organizational (functional and political) boundaries and requires near simultaneous buy-in from multiple influencers and approvers, each with a different receptivity to innovation.

Barrier #4: User Behavior
Because of the innovative nature of your solution, users must change their behavior to attain the benefits the solution promises to deliver. Left on their own, users will rarely change.

Here are Some Solutions to Help You Overcome these Barriers
  • Develop an easy, three step process that demonstrates how easy it is to integrate your solution
  • Propose a pilot program where customers can experience success in the early stages
  • Develop stories to satisfy the differing interests of everyone involved in the buying decision
  • Nurture your end users and show them how your solution will highlight their continued success.

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How Will You Grab Buyer's Attention This Fall? Is Your Value Proposition Provocative Enough to Get You To the Top of the List?

9/7/2022

 
Only a few projects on any organization's list of initiatives stand a chance of getting funded any time soon. So, if what you sell cannot be positioned as an essential part of one of these initiatives, your chance for success is slim at best. Unfortunately, investments in new product categories rarely get funded out of existing budgets. Instead, the funding must come from anticipated savings or new sources of revenue unleashed by solving a critical problem. So, the big question is, "Can you offer a compelling reason to be on the list?" Here's a hint, it better be provocative. Provocations help customers see their competitive challenges in a new light that makes addressing them seem extremely urgent. So, if you want to get on the list or get to the top of the list faster, here are some helpful tips about building a good provocation:

​A Good Provocation:
  • Reveals an unrecognized problem
  • Suggests an unanticipated solution
  • Proposes an unseen opportunity
  • Or Defines an unexpected relationship between your organization’s capabilities and the expansion of their success​​​
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Do You Know What Your Buyers Hope For?

4/18/2022

 
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Charles Revson, the founder of Revlon once said, "In the factory we make cosmetics, in the stores we sell hope."  Are you addressing what your customers hope for? Far too often that answer is, "no". Your message gets buried with product features, technology and specifications that cause your prospects’ eyes to glaze over. Until you understand the emotional drivers behind your customers' buying decisions, your sales pitch will merely deliver information, not inspiration. Here are three easy steps to find out more about what's on your customers’ minds.

1. Do your research. If you don't have a research budget - Use Google! Tap into the people who get paid to stay on top of industry trends (i.e. Trade journalists, management consultants, bloggers, etc.) Look at the editorial calendars of your trade publications and presentation topics at upcoming industry events to find out what topics are trending. Stay informed.

2. Talk to existing customers. If you don't have a budget for an advisory board or focus group, talk to your customers. Find out what they are excited and worried about going into the next year. Are there new regulations coming or pressures for greater efficiency? What would make their work lives better? What motivates their buying decisions?

3. Tell them what to hope for!  If you can't find a new trend you can sell into - create one. Test the story on trusted colleagues and measure their reaction.  Does it excite them? Does it create belief in your solution? Remember you are far more likely to attract a following and create brand loyalty if you address your buyers' hopes and needs.

Stop Selling. Start Solving!

3/1/2022

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Far too often, sales representatives and even CEO's get caught selling all the features of their products and leave the "what's in it for me" portion of the pitch until the end. We've all done it. Sure, you may have a long list of all the benefits of your product and all the problems it solves, but the prospect doesn't care about half of them. Instead, find out what problem the prospect wants to solve  and find out up-front. This way you can frame your product's value in the context of the prospect's needs. 

The Trap: What Not to Do
"Thanks for taking the time to learn more about my product. Here's what our product does. Yada, yada, yada  (Have I hit on something you're interested in yet? No?) Yada, yada, yada. Oh, and, yada, yada, yada..."

A Better Approach
"Thanks for taking the time to meet with me. Before I tell you about our product, I would like to learn more about you and your practice. (Ask some probing questions until you find a pain point.) What are some of the challenges you face when treating patients with (disease/condition you specialize in)? 

Once you get some answers, you can position your pitch on how you solve his/her problem.That way you're not wasting his/her time with information overload. If you want to pepper-in a few additional benefits at the end, that's fine. But don't weigh your pitch down with information that may be irrelevant to the person you are in front of today. 

Selling solutions to problems vs. selling products also strengthens your relationship with the prospect. By listening and helping him/her solve a problem, you become strategically important and a trusted colleague. 


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Howja Say That Word?

2/28/2022

 
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Do you ever find yourself preparing for a meeting only to find a medical or scientific term that you just don't know how to pronounce? Fear not! Simply go to http://howjsay.com/ type in the word, and hit submit. A man or woman with a nice British accent will demonstrate the correct pronunciation. You're welcome. And on the flip side, if you still can't pronounce it - don't. Take Mark Twain's advice, "If you have nothing to say, say nothing." 
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    Meghan O'Sullivan
    Cheryl Allen
    Gabe d'Annunzio

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