The Challenge of Selling Ill-Defined “Value” and Asking the Wrong Audience

A colleague recently sent me a link to an opinion piece (read here) about how salespeople in the software industry struggle with selling “value” (the piece put the word in quotes – more on that in a moment). The basis of the article was a survey of 212 sales executives throughout the world, conducted by Blue Sky, a UK sales performance company, which aimed to uncover sales challenges of Fortune 1000 companies.

The survey showed that sales executives felt that the top issue facing companies was that salespeople were not able to find new ways to deliver value to the customer. However, the piece failed to identify what is meant by “add value for the customer.” Ironically, understanding that would provide real value to me. From the quotes that the author used in his article, I got the sense that he also was unable to identify the definition of “value” as it related to the survey.

Additionally, it would probably be just as – if not more – valuable to sales professionals in the software industry if Blue Sky had asked software buyers instead of sales executives what they felt that salespeople could do better. While I don’t dispute the idea that it would help salespeople if they better understood what was expected of them by their managers, my sense is if they – and their bosses – had more insight into what their target audience wanted, it would lead to better results for all parties involved.

I run into this at times with clients and prospective clients: the need to better define terms like “value” and “service” as it relates to what they provide to customers. When someone tells me that they “provide value” or “service” better than their competitors, I ask how they define those terms. And then I ask how their target audiences define those terms – because that’s really the key. What a company defines as “service” may be limited to what they feel they can deliver, and could have no relation to what their customers feel “service” should be. If a company doesn’t understand what their target audiences expect when it comes to things like value or service, they don’t have an accurate assessment of whether or not they are meeting marketplace needs.

The next time you talk about “value” or “service” in your company, take a couple of steps back. Ask yourself to put as fine a point on what those terms mean, and then ask if your target audiences define those words in the same way. If you don’t know, then it might be time to start finding that out.

Tags: Blue Sky, delivering value, fortune 1000, marketing and sales, sales executives, salespeople

Friends don’t let friends…waste electricity?

OPower, a company I much admire, is teaming up with Facebook and the National Resource Defense Council to create an app that will let friends share data about how much electricity they’re using at home. It’s interesting, in the wake of soon-to-be-defunct energy monitoring sites Microsoft Hohm and Google PowerMeter. Next year, when the app comes out, many in the smart meter and energy industry will likely be watching very closely.

I have to say that I am skeptical. The app will attempt to motivate you by ranking you on the number of kilowatt hours you use compared to friends. Not only does ‘kilowatt  hour’ mean nothing to the average consumer, unless you put your electricity consumption in context…the size and type of dwelling you live in, how many occupants are in the home, and whether or not you heat with electricity…usage comparison against that of your scattered network of friends is somewhat meaningless.

Let’s put aside for a moment the fact that human beings will do almost anything to avoid being shamed. Comparison is a knife that cuts both ways. Being ranked against your friends is just as likely to inspire an attitude of “Well, at least I’m not as bad as Joe”—a handy excuse for inertia.

There are ways to make an app like this more meaningful to people. One way is to forget about KWHs and create a scale based on a percentage improvement month-by-month and year-by-year…plus, put usage into context of projected cost savings and impact on carbon footprint. A means by which participants can earn real rewards would also help this app take off. At the end of the day though, sustained consumption reduction behaviors must be the goal, and it will be interesting to see if an app can encourage long term behavior change.

Still, it’s a step forward to make electricity use more top of mind all over the world. Good luck on this app, OPower, Facebook and NRDC . While I’m skeptical, I applaud what you are trying to achieve!

Tags: app, electricity consumer. OPower, energy industry, energy monitoring, facebook, smart meter, social gaming, Social Media

What will Facebook facelift mean for social media marketers?

As famously depicted in last year’s hit film, “The Social Network,” Mark Zuckerberg, creator and CEO of social media mega-giant Facebook, is not one to be second-bested. Yet, the draw of social media platforms continues to strengthen and new vehicles for sharing information, such as Google+ and LinkedIn, are emerging, putting pressure on Zuckerberg and his colleagues to remain on top.

The myriad dramatic changes announced at this year’s f8 conference, including elaborate Timeline and “Open Graph” features, appear to be an attempt by Facebook to hold its coveted position—much to the chagrin of some users. Just how will these adjustments affect the marketing and advertising industries?

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Tags: ABCNews, ACLU, Amerincan Civil Liberties Union, Chris Calabrese, f8 conference, facebook, FastCompany.com, Google+. LinkedIn, Mark Zuckerberg, marketing, Social Media, social media marketing, The Social Network

Google TV and 3D TV – What Went Wrong

A few weeks ago I put together some thoughts about the future of television. In that piece I mentioned that Google TV and 3DTV were not the future of TV – and it’s time to take a brief look at why these two efforts didn’t catch on as expected by some parts of the industry.

Google TV: All the Content in One Inconvenient Place

Google TV, initially launched in October 2010, was based on the idea that Google would provide software that powered a single device that integrated traditional TV (cable/satellite) and online content (YouTube, other online video sites and the rest of the web) and put it on your television. The effort was backed by major players in the television and technology industries, including Google, Sony and Logitech. Yet Google TV failed to take off, falling far short of sales expectations.

While many blamed Google TV’s interface issues for the lack of adoption, I think the issue really lies with the idea that instead of delivering “content everywhere,” Google TV was based on the idea of “all content in one place” – the TV in your living room.

In essence, Google TV is running counter to the emerging trend of allowing people to watch television content just about anywhere on a mobile device. The underlying idea behind Google TV seems to be that we want to consume video content from everywhere on one, non-mobile device.  The Google TV further tethers users to their home television setup by requiring a connection to a cable or satellite box – so users aren’t even able to “cut the cord” with their cable or satellite provider.

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Tags: cable providers, Google, Google TV, Hulu, Logitech, netflix, satellite providers, Sony, YouTube

Starbucks to Customers: Recharge with Caffeine, Not Energy

Recently, Starbucks began covering electrical outlets in some of its busiest New York City locations to discourage “laptop loungers” from overstaying their welcome and to help free up seats for other customers who lap up their lattes with more urgency.   As another current CBD blog post pointed out, it’s not unusual for companies to fire their most unprofitable customers.  But using this tactic to pull the plug on this segment has proven difficult to do gracefully.  It’s caused significant backlash and denigrated a core value that has always been integral to the brand strategy.

Starbucks has always promoted itself as a gathering place.  Come in, stay awhile and get free Wi-Fi while you enjoy your beverage.  Together, these are the cornerstones of their allure and, more importantly, RFM model.  Plus, it demonstrates a profound understanding of the considerable time it takes to finish a Venti.   While addressing the issue of abusive laptop loafers might be critical to some store’s business success, there are better ways to achieve the same result. Continue reading

Tags: airline, laptop, Starbucks, Venti

Corporate Social Responsibility. Do You “Walk the Talk?”

Codes of conduct, ethics, sustainability, and social responsibility policies are mainstreamed in today’s corporate culture.  It is rare to find a public company without some kind of written code of conduct or ethical guidelines outlined in their mission statement.  However, just because companies have a social responsibility message, doesn’t mean they are employing it.

Corporate America has a history of “social dumping,” in which business operations are relocated to areas of the world, often to third-world countries, with fewer laws and limitations.  In the 1990s, many corporate shenanigans were uncovered such as Nike’s child labor scandal thus sparking a demand for social responsibility policies in the US.  While many companies have adopted policies since then, they were not necessarily being monitored or put into effect.

The actual enforcement of these policies started around 2005, when the International Labor Rights Fund and workers from Bangladesh, China, Nicaragua, etc., sued Wal-Mart in Los Angeles court for an alleged breach of their code of conduct (i.e. overtime work, cases of violence against employees). Continue reading

Tags: code of conduct, corporate social responsibility, CSR, Nike, Sustainability, Wal-Mart