Becoming a Growth Driven Organization: A CEO's Story

The Customer Gap™
"The misconception when it comes to converting prospects to customers has to do with selling…" I started.

"Exactly! Charles interjected. " I've been telling my sales manager that he and his team have to close more business! We get in front of the prospect and our sales team always seems to drop the ball. We've got the perfect solution for the prospect, but we just can't seem to close the deal," he said, frustrated.

"Actually, converting more prospects to customers has little to do with improving selling techniques. That's the misconception behind The Customer Gap™. Business guru Peter Drucker said, 'if you know and understand the customer well, the product or service fits him and sells itself. Ideally, marketing should result in a customer who is ready to buy.'"

I continued, "We work with our clients to position them so well, and make them so focused on
solving the prospect's problem, that the prospects actually sell themselves. Your sales' team job is to explain the benefits and outcomes in such a way that you become the client's savior. In their eyes, you become uniquely qualified to solve their problem."

"You know, that reminds me," Charles said. "What exactly makes you uniquely qualified to help a business like ours?"

"I'm glad you asked Charles," I said. "In addition to the fact that we concentrate on driving top-line growth where most other consultants concentrate on solely controlling costs, we've built a unique system that focuses on fixing the causes of growth shortfall, not merely treating the symptoms. This unique focus of ours results in sustainable success for our clients."

"That's how we are able to get such incredible results for our clients. Using our whole-brained approach to problem solving, we develop game-changing, high-impact solutions, which most companies aren't able to come up with themselves. Then, we stay with our clients to implement the ideas in the organization. We call this our Idealignment™ System," I explained.

"Well, that's pretty compelling. You come up with high-impact ideas we couldn't see on our own - the old 'forest through the trees' analogy - then you help us carry the ideas out. Walking the talk if you will. I like it, " said Charles. "But getting back to the Customer Gap…" he continued, seemingly feeling more comfortable with each answer I gave.

"So you're telling me that it's more about how the prospect perceives the product and service, and how well they believe we can deliver on the promise?" he asked.

"Bingo. It relates back to filling the pipeline with more qualified prospects," I explained. "The more qualified the prospect, the more your products and services seem like the ideal solution to their problem. Your goal is to get the prospect to ask, 'Where have you been all my life? You know just what my problem is, and you've created a solution better than every other option out there. Where do I sign?'"

Charles was clearly excited at this point. "Now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Taking advantage of these first two overlooked opportunities alone could boost my top-line."

"Yes, you're right," I said. "But, we're not done yet. There are still three other opportunities to grow the top-line. And these are powerful because they are opportunities your competitors are missing."

I went on to explain the third growth misconception, The Loyalty Gap™.

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