Losing sales because buyers see you as a commodity? Do these 3 things!
Last week I was speaking to a sales leader at a multi-billion dollar software company who shared that one of his team’s biggest challenges is getting stuck in a sea-of-sameness and struggling to differentiate themselves from their competition.
“We have incredible customers, world-class technology, and an amazing, experienced team, but our customers still see us as a commodity! In the end, we have to give deep discounts to drag deals over the finish line.”
Unfortunately, he’s not alone in experiencing this problem which gets worse every year for three reasons:
1. Solution options are exploding: A seemingly endless supply of new products (along with their marketing) continues to flood the market. For example, in the marketing technology space alone, the number of products has increased by a jaw-dropping 9304% since 2011! That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41.8% in the move from 150 to 14106 solution options.
2. Attention spans are shrinking: Research shows that human attention spans have shrunk by almost 70% over the past 20 years fuelled by an endless supply of distractions and technology.
3. Training focuses on the wrong skills: in an increasingly product-centric world, much of the training sales teams receive is focused on product knowledge. Yet, data shows that top-performing reps spend less time discussing products (9-19% of the time in calls) compared to their peers. In fact, a study analyzing 100,000 successful sales presentations found that top sales reps spent 39% less time discussing features and technology.
So if you find yourself landing in the commodity zone more than you’d like in your sales motion, here are three tips to help you stand out and win more.
1. Stop sounding like your competitors!
I was recently training the team at Salesforce and asked the reps how they typically communicate their value to customers. One of the reps responded with, “We help our customers reduce costs and improve efficiencies” to which I [lovingly] replied, “Stop saying that!!! That might be true, but guess what? All your competitors say exactly the same thing! And if you sound the same as everyone else, your customers will think you’re the same.”
Imagine I decided to start my own financial services company and led with a message, “At Priemer Financial, we provide world-class service for very low fees.” Queue the collective eye roll from all the customers who’ve heard that a million times!
Instead, rethink your pitch to sound different. Use scientifically proven tactics to help your message break through your customers’ armor, engage them emotionally, and align with their journey.
Related post: Three principles scientifically proven to help your message break through your customer’s armor
Related post: A Simple Hack to Transform Your Pitch Into One Customer Can’t Ignore!
2. Sell the problem, not the product
Most salespeople lead their pitch by focusing on their products or their benefits. But that’s not what customers care about! They spend all day, every day living in the world of their problems. Many of which, they lack the clarity around to solve. And if you’re able to describe the problem your customer is experiencing in a clearer way than they understand it themselves and why it’s so difficult to solve, three powerful things will happen.
First, they’ll be grateful to you for connecting the dots. Humans crave certainty. Like an itch we can’t seem to scratch, when we don’t have a clear sense of why things happen we experience anxiety and discomfort. Creating a sense of certainty around why they’re experiencing their problems, gives them confidence they can be solved.
Second, leading with problems instead of solutions is a great way to heighten your customer’s sense of urgency. In Sell The Way You Buy, I talk about how humans are biologically programmed to prioritize the elimination of threats of pain and loss. Selling the problem will get them to lean in and act on those feelings faster.
And finally, if you’re able to speak to the problem on a deeper level than your competition, highlight the reason it exists, and why similar customers have failed trying to solve it on their own, they’ll believe you’re uniquely positioned to help them solve it!
Related post: To Win More Deals, Lead with Problems Not Solutions. Here’s Why.
3. Deliver a better buying experience
If you needed to buy an iPhone, would you rather buy it from an Apple store or Best Buy? If you said the Apple store, you’re not alone. Apple works very hard to create an atmosphere and better buying experience (for exactly the same product) than other retailers. The very same principle is how brands like Amazon, Uber, and IKEA compete and win.
In a world where so many products look and sound the same to your customers and generic outreach and drive-by sales pitches are everywhere, the buying experience itself can have a HUGE impact on why buyers choose you!
Gartner reports that companies that deliver a great buying experience grow two times faster than those that deliver average experiences. Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer report agrees, stating that 80% of customers feel the buying experience a company provides is as important as its products and services. So if you want to differentiate yourself from your competition and break out of the commodity zone, focus on creating a high-value and frictionless experience during the sales cycle that transcends your solution.
Related post: How To Sell More by Nailing the Buying Experience
A Note on Brand:
Companies like Apple, Red Bull, Disney, Porsche, and even Salesforce stand out because of the strength of their brand despite the fact that they sell commodity products. Brands create immense value through perception, emotional connections, and trust, often commanding premium pricing and tremendous loyalty. So if your company already has a strong brand perception due to its longevity, experience, innovation, or A-list customers, don’t be afraid to lean into it as a means of breaking out of the commodity zone.
But even if you’re not one of the big players in your space, it’s never too early to start cultivating your brand. Simple and inexpensive things like content creation (e.g. articles, videos, podcast appearances) can help your message transcend your product and win more business.
In a modern selling landscape full of endless, similar-sounding solution choices, infinite distractions, and product-centric sales pitches, being seen as a commodity is a risk for so many sales organizations. But a few small tweaks to your narrative and selling motion can help prevent you from drowning in a sea-of-sameness.
PS – Did you find these approaches helpful and want to learn more like them? Check out the popular Cerebral Selling Sales Academy training program!
