Relevance Is Multidimensional
Place task-specific and broader business needs in context
What does it mean to matter to customers? Any company with a cent of revenue already provides products and services that address customer needs. Most continue to identify customer needs or pain points as part of their ongoing product management and marketing efforts. A narrow focus on needs is not enough, however, and may obliterate differentiation, value, or both.
At a high level, all companies need to increase revenue, reduce costs, and retain customers. So many vendors now claim to help with these needs that such claims have become nearly meaningless. Certainly, they are useless as differentiators. At the opposite extreme, all businesses need to accomplish myriad tasks more effectively and efficiently. Vendors often sell product capabilities to fulfill these task-specific needs, without regard for the broader context within which the tasks are taking place. As their market matures and competitors catch up on product features, the focus on task-centered needs exposes the vendor to commoditization and margin degradation. In this situation, both differentiation and value diminish over time.
To matter to business customers, offer tangible, relevant, and unique value - TRU ValueTM - and deliver it in the way best suited to the customer’s company. That’s a much more ambitious mandate than selling products that meet customer requirements. It requires that you place task-specific and broader business needs in context.
Figure 1: The Context of Enterprise Purchases
The context for enterprise purchases contains at least four layers: the external environment, company situation, use case, and people. Competent salespeople know they must understand the first two to gain credibility.
Your customers will hear a recitation of Porter’s Five Forces2 or similar descriptions of the market environment from every vendor they speak to. They will also hear repeatedly about their own high-level needs as derived from publicly available information on the company’s situation and initiatives. Understanding of this level of context is table stakes, required just to be invited to the game.
Your objective, of course, is not simply to be invited into the conversation. To win deals and deliver value, you need to matter to customers in a unique way. Relevance and perception of value lie in the other two dimensions of context: use cases and people. These determine what aspects of your offerings and relationships matter most, and how customers will assess the value you deliver.
Context should not only define product features and marketing messages, but should guide every aspect of your business. Industry environment and the company information are useful for more than showing credibility. Use them to define account micro-segments and guide the customization of everything—from pricing models to purchase and support contracts. The context of people and use cases is at the core of defining what you sell, to whom, and how. The rules in the following sections discuss ideas for segmenting markets and audiences and identifying use cases to create greater relevance.