Asking the right questions in the market

B2B, Marketing, Questions, segmentation, Testing, value proposition

Understanding which questions to ask is an art. It was said that Socrates had a great method to ask questions which got him to the bottom of a problem.

I have actually been very weak in asking questions. It takes me a lot of understanding to get down to the bottom of things.

I have used frameworks like the 5 Why or 7 Why model to figure things. I have used things like the 80/20 rule to try to identify the small causes for repeatable/fractal patterns.

In most areas in life asking the right questions makes a lot of difference to your success.

In marketing its all the more important because you are dealing with different types of people. In B2B marketing where there are even more players involved at the customer level, understanding the different drivers for each player becomes critical.

If you ask a question about “why is the customer not wanting to buy from me” versus “what could be the compulsions for the customer to not look at my solution ” you could get completely different answers.

Those questions will totally change the way you address the issues in the market. You may be able to figure out a completely different value proposition from what you were thinking about. Your niche or segmentation could completely change.

The other thing about marketing that I have learnt over the years is that there are no absolute truths in the market. The market and its participants have a mind of their own and their perception is their Reality. Once a perception has been created it becomes very difficult to change.

So the bottom line is to think of questions from different vantage points to get to different possibilities and then Test them.

I am still learning this art and working to improve myself. How about you?

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Competition is good – Part II

competition, differentiation, Marketing, Positioning, Product Management, segmentation, value proposition

Yesterday I spoke about why competition is good for you.

Today we will look at what you need to be aware of in your competition.

In the technology space if you’re competing with a big player, you need to first of all be aware that they have a large customer base and they an ecosystem already in place. This could be the software developers, the reseller partners etc.

Due to this you get to know what is the surrounding “infrastructure ” that needs to fall in place, to make your product/service successful.

However going head-on into competition is never a good idea.

Each competitor would also have multiple areas of the market that they neglect because they’re not big enough for them to invest in.

Look at some of those and create segments and value proposition for dominating those before you decide to get into something else. Always get into the niche with an agenda to Dominate.

From a customer perspective also, since customers prefer to avoid taking risks, don’t try to initially target the same type of customers who have made your competitors successful because they will use you to get discounts from the leaders.

Competition is a very good learning experience and gets you prepared to Not do the same mistakes which the competitors have made.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!

Solving problems – only focus on your Unique Abilities

Unique Ability, Value, value proposition

Today’s post is going to be short. Today has been an overdose of problems to be resolved.

Some problems were with vendors to get a better price point, some with the internal teams and some with customers.

I have observed that while I can handle customer and marketing related problems quite well, I am generally not very good at interacting with vendors and negotiating contracts. I have a feeling when dealing with vendors I tend to get a little soft and don’t keep all the commercials in control, so I have to put an amazing amount of effort to even go through a small transaction.

On the other hand when I am dealing with customers or dealing with marketing related challenges with the team I am more alert and tend to be more creative.

Dan Sullivan has this concept of Unique Ability that he talks about a lot. As per him when you operate in your unique ability not only are you more energised to do things, you are also more creative and get less tired.

On the other hand when you are doing things where you don’t have the necessary ability, you tend to have to spend more time and energy. His view is that you should have people around you who complement you on your unique ability so that the areas where they have a unique ability can cover the areas where you are weak. This way every one enjoys all the time because they only do the work which suits their Unique Ability.

What’s your view. Will love to hear your comments

Till next time

Carpe Diem!!!

Technology Adoption- Part 2

Product Management, Value, value proposition

In my last post I spoke about the different kinds of resistance when you take a new technology product or service you take to the market.

Today I will talk about how the product management person will have to keep the “value” issues related to adoption.

If your company is seen to be a price leader in the market then you cannot come out and position a product under your company’s brand as a premium product.

Never create a confusion in the market. Your product or service may have the best features and benefits, but if it’s perceived as expensive and you are the price leader then it will not get any traction.

There are two ways I have found companies solve this issue. They create a new company or create a completely new brand. To create a new brand is a very expensive affair and companies have to ensure a long branding strategy for this.

The other value position in the technology world is related to product innovation. If you’re seen as a innovation leader then you have to ensure that each new product you come out with has a WoW factor with it.

On the other hand if you’re products are seen as unreliable then you have a major challenge to be able to show value.

So we need to keep the customer value perception always in mind if you have to get your product successful.

Till next time then.

Carpe Diem!!!