Build superior value with offers based on specific needs & desires. Combine products with instructions for diagnosing, preventing, mitigating or solving problems.
A superior product is just a foundation. Knowledge is necessary to create maximum short-term & long-term advantages for customers. Example: Help car buyers conserve fuel each day & maintain cars for lasting value.
Customized creations can be better than generic results, so explain how you help people create what they need.
Sometimes, there are better ways than standard methods, especially if a person's problem isn't "standard". Tricks of the trade (different ways to use tools & materials) can be valuable advice to reduce frustration & increase success.
Analogy: People submit questions to cooking shows about adapting recipes for their equipment & nutritional requirements.
Product instructions are like recipes. Help people adapt instructions to their conditions. Many retailers don't advertise services like these.
Put information in your ads, so people understand why products & services are important. Most advertisers don't explain which problems a product can prevent or fix.
Example: Pictures of downspouts with prices won't help if people don't know downspouts keep rain out of their basements.
Information For Successful Tasks
As you consider clients' conditions, combine knowledge of problems with known causes & effects. Work with clients to determine why problems happened, how to prevent deterioration & restore correct functioning.
Do your best to combine everything people need. Tools & materials are more useful with information about causes plus ways to fix & prevent problems.
When a step is over, people need to know what their next step is. Each step requires more information & they might need you to make a step fit their conditions.
Example: When people work on old vehicles or buildings, the original materials might be different than new materials.
Help people find sealers, adhesives or fasteners that are compatible with original & new materials.
Should original materials be replaced to avoid more problems?
How can people determine if original materials will break or wear out soon?
If you show objective criteria for replacing materials, people will realize your advice isn't based just on selling things.
Top Of Mind Awareness as a Source Of Specific Solutions
People will recognize your expertise as a specialist if you promote solutions instead of just products.
You can find solutions & ways to prevent problems by exploring subjects & local conditions.
Problems are gaps in ideal conditions. Knowledge is necessary to identify precise gaps then adapt materials & tools to fill gaps.
Generic "solutions" might be incomplete & temporary because methods, materials & tools don't fit the problems. Specialists recognize gaps & can identify what's missing.
Store chains have Top Of Mind Awareness (T-O-M-A) for retail or product categories. To compete, you should have T-O-M-A as a source of specific solutions.
You should compete based on satisfaction, not just sales. You can achieve long-term success & satisfy people by helping them implement clear solutions.
Use specialized knowledge to develop instructions for achieving goals & solving problems. By packaging instructions, tools & materials, you can help people finish tasks quickly & completely.
Help people understand how products fit their conditions, so they'll have faith in your offers.
People will be satisfied & less stressed if you provide plans with checklists for confirming problems are solved. They'll have faith in plans when you show how the steps fit symptoms of problems.
Top Of Mind Awareness For Specialized Knowledge
To thrive, you should differentiate your business by developing T-O-M-A for specialized knowledge.
Offer the specific knowledge your market niche needs to adapt products for their conditions.
Your specialized knowledge could be combining previous parts with new materials to fix older things. You can help people adapt resources & buy the best options for improvement.
Example: Products could be out of date because different materials were used years ago. There could be compatibility issues between old products & new parts.
When you learn about consumers' current conditions, you'll know how well their old resources fit their new needs.
You can create more value than big retailers that feature general product categories like plumbing.
With specialized knowledge, you offer more value by solving, then preventing specific problems like slow drains.
Provide instructions & products to solve a problem. Add products & information about avoiding those problems.
Since you'll help people understand causes & effects, they can prevent reoccurrences. Example: Toothpaste can build up into clogs, so people should use less paste & rinse thoroughly.
Diagnosis & prevention require knowledge about how problems develop. Prevention depends on noticing symptoms early enough to avoid serious problems.
Find Options That Fit Customers' Conditions
People might need advice based on skills, tools, needs & local conditions. You can determine which options fit people's conditions or problems.
Help people consider advantages, example: Would a regular version fully solve a customer's problem? Is there enough advantage in a premium version to make a higher price worthwhile?
Situations are like puzzles & people need diagnostic help to fill gaps. Like puzzle pieces fit physically & visually, people need products to fit their lives in multiple ways.
People want their completed puzzles to match their mental pictures, but mental pictures might not match what's available. When you help people diagnose problems & compare product specifications, you can determine if the benefits fit people's gaps.
Since people don't always know which benefits they need, ask them for details. You should focus on details of problems & solutions to show benefits are vital in filling gaps. People can choose options based on how well those benefits fill their gaps.
People need to prioritize advantages & disadvantages based on their needs. Example: Big vehicles use more fuel, but some are safer in crashes.
Top Of Mind Awareness For Diagnosing & Preventing Problems
When you have T-O-M-A for diagnosing & preventing problems, people will be open to your advertising.
Ads are valuable if they help people prevent or eliminate problems. People resist ads about selling things they don't need.
You can focus on a solution each month for your locality. Is there a time when a problem is worse or easier to solve?
Example: If slow drains are worse in winter, urge people to clear drains in November. Some people let water trickle to prevent frozen water in pipes.
People might not have serious drain problems when they occasionally use water in summer, but trickling water can back up in pipes. If water doesn't flow quickly through drain pipes, ice could block whatever little space is available.
Help people determine causes & the best solution for each cause - examples: hair or grease in pipes.
Help People Decrease Their Distress.
Your store can be an environment for helping people maintain what's good & change what isn't.
Discount stores sell products, but not always full solutions. You can show options & give advice based on customers' needs. That extra help can be valuable enough to make higher prices a bargain.
If people have to open or replace pipes, you can help them choose mechanical snakes, wrenches, new pipes & sealers or chemicals to dissolve clogs.
Offer what people need before they start tasks. Example: Before opening pipes, people should prepare for a mess with cleaning products.
Warn people about hazards, example: Pouring caustic chemicals into a drain is easy, but it might be too late for an easy 'solution'? People might not realize when it's dangerous to open a pipe.
In discount stores, people might buy products without knowing the risks of combining products & methods.
Offering a solution is more than offering a product. Do you have guidelines to help people determine which solution to use?
Be Prepared For Issues
Differentiate your store from competitors who sell products regardless of people's conditions. Learn about people's conditions, so you can offer the best combinations of products, services & information.
Compare customers' needs with your inventory & suppliers' offers. Compile customers' issues & questions for future reference when you plan promotions.
You also can learn about consumers' concerns through social media, blogs & product reviews.
By tracking patterns like weather, time-related issues & people's obligations, you can learn about customers' concerns & explore options competitors don't offer.
Help people fulfill obligations with better products & updated information.
Ask people to bring questions & ask them questions, so you can compare their needs with product specifications.
If a product requires repair or maintenance, offer a service plan based on how they use that product.
Time-related issues can be people's ages & product obsolescence (warranty expirations).
Example: If many people bought products during a strong economy, warranties will expire about the same time. When the economy is strong again, urge people to buy new versions with warranties. Your offer will be stronger if you accept trade-ins or recycle old products.
Explain how new technology has improved results people need. Example: '(Product) will (produce benefit) longer because of (new materials). (Benefit) is important when you need __. We'll help you pick the best model & show how to get the results you need. If your needs change, let's work together to find new solutions.'
Thank you for using my blog. Please let me know if I should clarify anything.
Copyright 2018 Dennis S. Vogel All rights reserved.
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