Why Do Your Customers Buy From You?

Here is something I hear quite often:

"We sell a commodity-type product. We really have nothing different to sell." (What we're referring to here is when the competition sells the exact same product, or one that is very similar.)

If I weren’t polite, I’d say to these people, "Oh really so how do you stay in business? Looks like it’s a lost cause for you, time to close up shop."

Granted, commodity-type products can be challenging, since some buyers might buy simply on price alone. And, there are plenty of salespeople who feel they need to sell on price alone. Fine, let those two groups beat each other up. For the rest of you, identify your differential advantage, or Unique Selling Proposition . . . or whatever you care to term what sets you apart . . . the main reason(s) people buy from you.

Start with the premise that people buy from you because,

• the results of owning and using your product or service meet their needs more precisely (quality of product or service  also falls into this category).

• your service is better

• your price is better for what is delivered. This could mean your price is the lowest, or it could mean the value is the highest for the price charged, and this begins to touch on the other two areas.

To determine this, ask your customers why they buy from you, and continue buying from you.

Ask your customer service people about compliments they hear from customers. Ask them why they think people buy from you. Get specifics. Not, "We have better quality."

You want to know that customers like the fact that the handles don’t fall off of your machines. Or that customers don’t have to wait on hold when calling with a question, compared with the competition where you can finish a novel or two while waiting for assistance.

This is a real eye-opener when you put forth the effort. You realize you have more to sell than you think.