What can you do if companies aren’t buying? Part 2

Where does the money come from when customers and prospects have decided to reduce their spending to the minimum? If the revenue that used to come from a sales channel that has now dried up, what is a business owner to do? One tactic that many try is to "hold their breath" hoping that market will change and revenue will flow again before they have to exhale and take another breath. We all know hope is not a strategy.  We also know expecting that things will get back to where they used to be is a false expectation.

A more fruitful decision is to find out what the market place desperately needs and try to fill it. Calling prospects to find out what they are looking for, what is on their mind, or what is missing in their business will be more productive than calling to try to convince them to buy a product or service. After asking questions about what they need, you can take that data with you into your next conversation. You can begin to discover what is getting in the way of your customers' success. Once you have that data, you can look at the resources in your business to see if you can help them. You might be able to offer them something they will find valuable enough to pay you for.

Dave Kinnear says: "When the horse dies, dismount." I would add: "and start looking for another horse."

One of my clients in the bio technology system support space did exactly that. He began to listen for his clients' pain and discovered they were paying way too much to confirm that their equipment was actually clean after it was "cleaned".  He found that many of his customers were looking for disposable process systems and ancillary components so they would not have to "validate" the cleanliness of their process equipment.  The problem they were running into was that during the fifty year history of process control and instrumentation improvement, "disposable" was not a significant option.

Knowing what his customers were looking for, he began to develop a way to automate the disposable process via common set of valves that could easily be disassembled and tossed. Each step of the way he quietly discussed his ideas with key clients. He got good ideas from some and made alterations to his design. Over the past six months he has not only drawn prospects and customers into the conversation, he has also pre-sold his new product. As the product moves toward release, he is preparing to go back to the people that helped him envision this new product to make them an offer they have already said would be valuable enough to pay for.