108984 Resource 102302 102466 102466 1133483471607 1133617689754 Controlled Fud Is a Dud and The New Customer Experience

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt are so Yesterday

<P>I am always amused and befuddled by competitors who spend more time and energy trashing us and NetSuite than they spend on articulating a concise, clear and powerful value proposition for themselves. I know when it happens, too. Usually it's on the second or third conversation with the prospect and they will have several pointed questions or comments about software as a service. Great. My competitor has given me the opportunity to discuss issues like business continuity and the TCO of software as a service. Of course, it's on me to articulate a clear and powerful rebuttal to the FUD that XYZ competitor came up with and, frankly, that's not a problem.</P> <P>I was glad to find that I am not alone in thinking that lashing out at the competition is a waste of time and poor sales behavior, very often counter-productive. <A title=Competition href="http://loririchardson.typepad.com/salesprocessdiva/2005/11/thoughts_on_com.html">This post by the Salesprocessdiva brings home the point rather well</A>. (Wink to Jim at CRM Mastery) I like competition as much as the next person and I certainly am ready to compare my firm's market offerings to the next guy's. But there are good competitors and there are lousy competitors. The competitors that really challenge you are the thoughtful, intelligent ones, not the nasty, angry ones; they're just annoying.</P> <P>One of our guest webloggers <A title="The Social Customer" href="http://the56group.typepad.com/pgreenblog/">Paul Greenberg writes a lot about the Social Customer and this customers new expectations</A>. In a nutshell, though I urge you to learn more at PGreenblog, Greenberg believes that there is a new customer emerging in the marketplace that seeks interaction, a level of control and an intelligent sales process. If consumers are changing their expectations of the experience they seek then one must naturally ask "How about business buyers?" Are B2B buyers and sellers in a different league? Or do business buyers seek the same level of interaction, control and intelligence in the sales process as consumers? My guess is that business buyers may be lagging the curve a little on the new expectations, but not by a lot. Especially younger buyers. I find that they are more forthright and natural about the buying process,&nbsp;as if&nbsp;they are carrying a lot less baggage. </P> <P>My advice to B2B sellers is to bring your game up a notch. Create and refine every day and every conversation your value proposition. Be ready to compare your product to the competition with persuasive argument, not FUD. Your customers demand intelligent selling. Give it to them.</P> 9 application/xml false b2b selling business continuity netsuite software as a service Are Customers and the Customer Experience Changing? http://the56group.typepad.com/pgreenblog/ Don't Throw Dirt http://loririchardson.typepad.com/salesprocessdiva/2005/11/thoughts_on_com.html Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0; T312461; YPC 3.0.1; (R1 1.5); .NET CLR 1.1.4322) 70.233.4.113 70.233.4.113 tfoydel false true false false true 205861 false false true false false false true 102302 blog blogsite/SightLines/web