My dentist just walked me through the buyer’s journey. Boy, did it hurt. But it was worth it. I learned a crucial lesson about how to sell costly, disruptive solutions. Without going into the painful details, I’ll just say this: the buyer’s journey is all about three stages of agreement. I was not willing to do anything about that stupid tooth until my kind-and-gentle dentist could get me to agree on three things: (1) it … [Continue reading]
Five things that happen when marketers tell the truth
Too many companies assume they’re expected to say “yes” to every question … to be the best at everything … and to be constantly reminding you how superior they are. Yet, those very same companies wonder why more people aren’t buying their message. Maybe it’s because the goal of great marketing is not to become a better liar. It’s to tell the truth about your company and tell it well. And the truth is that … [Continue reading]
Draw to a close (Part 1): Winning business on the whiteboard
One of our clients’ clients (the CIO of a Fortune 1000) recently came up to me after a meeting at a business association we’re both involved in. He had just met with his vendor (our client) over lunch and was impressed with the new way they were telling their story. What stood out to him the most? The simple little diagram they drew for him in the restaurant. It summarized their network infrastructure challenges with … [Continue reading]