So, I hope that you have already spent some time with him finding out what is important to this particular customer. If not, see if you can do so. Over and over again, your competitive advantage comes from your knowledge of the customer – not from your knowledge of the product.
If you can gain some insight into this customer’s needs, interests, and hot buttons, you can build your presentation around them. So, once again, scheduling this time with him and gaining that inside information is the highest priority, the most important step you can take.
Now, it may be that you already have that information. If so, good. If not, and you cannot get that time with the customer, then you are going to have to work on assumptions you make about these kinds of customers. That is never the ideal situation, but sometimes it is unavoidable.
Stop and think, then, about what would be important in this product for your customer’s customer. The people for whom your contractor is building – what do they want in a product like this?
Make a list, and then rank them from highest priority to lowest priority. Since you only have five minutes, eliminate all but the top three or four items.
Now do the same thing for your customer. What do contractors like him want in a product like this? Go through the same exercise – make a list, rank them in priority, and then eliminate the lowest priority items.
Don’t worry about not mentioning everything this product has to offer. If the customer were interested in the entire list, he would have provided you 60 minutes instead of five.
In the presentation, begin by first talking about your customer’s customer. Talk about what he/she wants to see in a product like this. Then mention the few benefits that you have selected for them. Then, move on to talk about the customer. What customers like him typically want in a product like this. Show how your product provides those benefits.
Your strategy is to present the most important features and benefits of the product and to do so from the perspective of the customer’s needs and wants.
If you can do that, you’ll separate yourself and your product from the competition and clearly and powerfully communicate to the customer. And that’s the best you can do under the circumstances.
Good luck!
