Prospecting in a Time of Crisis

Joe DiDonato | Chief of Staff | BCI

One of the hardest tasks a seller faces is selling his or her products to someone when no one is buying.  What makes it even harder is that the positioning you had been using for your products or service just doesn’t seem to be working in this new climate.  In this blog post, I thought I’d share a few, as well as how I’d switch them around to be more viable in this economy.

Some of the selling propositions that have caught my interest have been around, movie theaters, restaurants, golf courses, and airlines.  The first three were staples in my life, and the last one is because I’m going to need to visit a new member of our family who’s due to arrive at the end of May.

This is how some of these companies have been pitching their unique selling propositions (USP):

• At a local fine dining establishment: “We provide a 5-star dining experience.”
• At a local golf course that’s rated number 6 in our state: “Come enjoy a scenic round of golf at our #6 rated course in Arizona.”
• At a local movie theater that just revamped all its seating into luxury recliners: “Come enjoy a wonderful movie at our luxury theater with our all-new, deluxe reclining seats.”
• An on the airline front, this is a kind of a scrambled version of what we have been hearing in the past: “Come fly the friendly skies with us and enjoy our fine selection of beverages and open seating.”

Those were the good old days.  What I was thinking is what is it going to take for me to go back to these establishments, right now, or even when we get the all-clear?  If it were me, these would probably be the USPs that I would respond to:

• The restaurant: “Let us deliver a world-class dining experience to your home for your next important occasion. Our expert staff will come in and set up a lovely candlelight dinner for you and your significant other.”
• The golf course: “Missing golfing? We provide one cart per person in your group to ensure we adhere to social distancing rules. No extra charge.”
• The movie theater: “Come enjoy our luxury theater with our appropriately-spaced, assigned seating.”
• “Come fly with us and enjoy our new air filtration system and empty middle seats.”

Okay.  That last one is a stretch on the new air filtration system.  But surely, giving us back some space wouldn’t hurt.

All of the above would probably get me back as a customer, right now.  Of course, some businesses are so internally focused, that I’m not sure they’re going to make the mind shift over to all of a sudden being customer-focused.  But those that do, will definitely get my business back.

These are the behavior changing beliefs that I have now fully assimilated.  They don’t necessarily represent everyone’s beliefs, but I think a fair amount of us are worried about the same things:

• When will I feel safe enough to go back to work?
• When will I feel safe enough to send my child back to school?
• What’s going to make me comfortable about flying cross country again?
• When the restaurants reopen, do I want to have the wait staff wear gloves and a mask?
• When will I feel comfortable enough to buy a ticket to a sporting event or concert?
• And even more personal to you and me, when will I feel comfortable about shaking your hand again?

There is a lot to think about, but when you’re looking at how to shift your messaging to your customers, you need to put yourself in their shoes.  What’s the one thing that you can do that will get them back? And even better, what is the one thing that you can do that will marginalize your competition in the process.? When you figure that out, that’s your new unique selling proposition.

Our webinar on May 8^th is entitled, “Prospecting in a Time of Crisis.”  We have our top 3 sellers on the panel, and the VP of Delivery and Customer Success is serving as our moderator.  We’re going to cover a lot of ground, and we will be addressing all of these learning objectives:

• Gain a deeper understanding of the current market shift
• What industries/businesses are flourishing and failing
• How to refocus your efforts to take advantage of both types of industries and businesses
• How to change you USP to be relevant in this crisis
• The basics: best times, best days, response times, ‘persistence’ and introductions
• The technology of prospecting – What’s out there that can help us?

We hope that you’ll find the time to join us on what is sure to be a very insightful and lively discussion.  Here’s where to register: https://www.bakercommunications.com/webinars/Prospecting-In-a-Time-of-Crisis.html