From the course: B2B Marketing Foundations: Positioning

What customers buy and what they don't

From the course: B2B Marketing Foundations: Positioning

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What customers buy and what they don't

- Just the other day I walked into my local department store to buy a suit. My good friend was getting married in a few weeks, and since I rarely wear suits, and the two suits that I do own were quite old, I figured I'd splurge and treat myself to a new one. It ends up I was an easy sale. The salesperson pulled three suits off the rack. One fit and was in my price range. My wife approved via a picture over text. And 10 minutes later the tailor was marking the pants for alterations. On the surface it looks pretty simple. I needed a suit, found one that looked good and fit, was in my price range, and boom, sale made. But when you look a bit deeper, I actually wasn't buying a suit for those reasons. First, I wanted to look good at the wedding. The fit and the styling, and my wife's approval, were the features that delivered that benefit. Second, I really wanted quality. The brands of both the retailer and the designer told me that both the clothes and the service would just be excellent. Lastly, I wanted convenience. The fact that they had my size on hand and that I could get it tailored right there made the purchase so easy. No shopping for hours. No returning an online version that didn't quite fit. 20 minutes and I was good to go. So what I was really buying wasn't fit, brand, or price. What I was buying was looking my best, quality, and convenience. In other words, benefits to me, not features of the suit. Similarly, business-to-business buyers don't buy features or capabilities. In fact, they don't even buy benefits. They buy value. And value is determined by them, not you the seller. And in order to successfully market to them, we need to build value-based messaging. To successfully message around business value, we then need three things. First, a clear understanding of who your buyer is. Second, a well-articulated statement of the problem that we're solving for them. And third, a thorough understanding of the alternative solutions available. Only with that knowledge can we begin to build effective go-to-market messaging and positioning. Knowing who your customer is, the problem you solve for them, and the competitive alternatives in the market is the starting point to build effective, value-based messaging.

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