Some businesses are complaining about the weather in the Dallas area, at the same time other businesses are benefitting from the unusual amounts of rain. 

As noted in the Dallas Morning News, umbrella sales, car washes, and car dealers are doing well.  In contrast, concrete, water parks, and some restaurants are experiencing difficulties this summer. 

This situation illustrates an important aspect about facts.  In isolation, facts have meaning only in context.  Our perspectives provide context and help us decide what the fact means.  Each of us has a slightly (or substantially) different perspective so every person may see things a little differently from others.  

Think about what this means for a business and how context can be used to create opportunities.  What is your strategy for doing so?  Let’s consider a scenario so that you can decide if there are opportunities to improve your current strategy.

Scenario

Suppose that a customer offers $30,000 for a product or service. 

If the product or service normally sells for $20,000, the supplier is likely to be happy. 

If the product or service normally sells at $50,000, the supplier is likely to be unhappy or disappointed.

Positioning

If presented by a situation in which the customer wants to pay less than what a supplier normally charges, many suppliers reposition their offering.

Three types of changes that can be made to reposition an offering are:

Message.  Message questions relate to the content and manner of communication. 

What is communicated? 

When is it communicated? 

To whom is it communicated? 

How is it communicated? 

Where is it communicated? 

How often is it communicated?

Offering.  Changes to the value of an offering can be made by:

Eliminating unnecessary features and functionality.

Adding features and functionality.

Finding new uses for the features and functionality.

Modifications to the method of doing business that are based on customer requests and feedback.

Creating a new offering that is better aligned with the customer’s needs. 

Markets.  Changing the markets where the product or service is offered by:

Finding groups that will need the offering.

Helping customers define their perspectives and understand their needs.

Exporting the product to other countries.

Changing where the product is offered (either increases or reductions). 

Finding markets where the same customers may be more likely to buy the offering or are more likely to buy it in a way that is aligned with the supplier’s needs.

Next Steps

Think about the critical success factors that explain why customers purchase your product currently.

Consider positioning options that bear similarities to the current positioning.  This can be an easier approach to expand the positioning because you are able to build on what already exists.  The credibility built through the current positioning allows the positioning to evolve into the new opportunities.  Success in this situation requires the new customers to understand how they are similar to the existing customers.

As the information is gathered, keeping an open mind and listening to the customer is important.  In many cases, customers will see opportunities that suppliers may overlook.

Engaging customers and potential customers in the dialogue, building relationships, and creating value for them increases the likelihood that they will share their candid feedback with you.  Sometimes, their feedback may be different from what you are hoping, expecting, and looking for.  When this happens, you have important information that can be explored and evaluated.

Filed by Coleen Davis at 6:55 am under Business Acumen, Customers, Marketing