So far we have been working our way through the foundations of strategic planning.
Today I want to spend a bit of time focusing on one of the most vexing challenges that we all face, understanding who our buyers really are.
In many instances, we have a lot of people that would love our value and they really love it when the idea of not having to pay for that value is laid out in front of them.
Unfortunately, as business leaders, our job is to create value for our clients and to capture some of that value for ourselves.
This means that it is essential that we focus our efforts on not chasing everyone, but chasing the people who can use and buy our value.
So how do we understand and identify these key people?
Here’s a secret: I don’t have a 100% effective way to identify your buyer each and every time, but I can offer you some questions and ideas on how to eliminate a lot of people who aren’t your buyers.
1. Who has a budget and team that could benefit from what you are offering?
This is pretty important because often if you have a budget and a team, you have a revenue incentive. If you have a revenue incentive, you are likely looking for ways to improve your performance.
2. What size is the business you are approaching?
In small businesses, you are likely going to have to deal with the CEO or the owner. In larger businesses, you might deal in the C suite or you might deal with a manger, VP, or some other title.
3. What changes are going on in the market?
Sometimes change leads you to the buyer, either directly or indirectly.
So look at the market and try to understand whether someone needs your value and you can find the buyer because of it.
4. In your current clients, what does your buyer profile look like?
Knowing what your buyer looks like now can help you identify the same sort of person in another organization.
5. Ask:
This one is pretty obvious, but sometimes to find the right buyer and the person that can use our value….all we have to do is ask.