Your #1 Competitor is Status Quo

  • 1 min read

Here’s the news we’ve all been avoiding: your customers really don’t care about you and your product or service.

Here’s the other big piece of news: Most of your customers are satisfied with their status quo.

Forrester recently asked hundreds of executive buyers and decision-makers this question: “How do you make buying decisions?”

  • 65% of buyers admit they make decisions based on who creates the buying vision.
  • 35% said everybody has an equal shot–the sale is up for grabs.

The Corporate Visions Buying Spectrum:

Corporate Visions helps global companies “translate a 30,000-foot company message into a 3-foot customer conversation in a way that sets them apart from competitors, communicates value and wins more profitable business.

On the right side of this graph you’ll see the 35% of the decision makers that we usually address. Corporate Visions calls this area a “Bake-Off” because this segment of the buying cycle is all about identifying vendors, comparing product pros and cons and making a final decision.

But–most buyers–65%–are hanging out on the left side of the graph. They’re not ready to evaluate vendors or look at product features. They’re happy with their status quo–or at least the pain they’re experiencing is not as great as the pain they believe they’ll feel by making a change

So–instead of creating content that tells prospects why Vendor A is a better decision than Vendor B, we need to create content that answers this question: “Why should I do anything different than I am today?”

That’s where a well-constructed Buying Vision fits in. It a different conversation all-together–one that takes place before the Bake-Off even begins.

The Buying Vision should address the desired outcome (revenue, sales, brand loyalty, etc) and what will get in the way of reaching that outcome (threats, risks or missed opportunities) if status quo is maintained.

Our branding and marketing efforts needs to progress to match today’s evolving buyers, and the ultimate goal of our messaging should be to help customers advance to a new status quo.

Picture of Wendy Brache

Wendy Brache

Wendy Brache builds and executes personal branding and online marketing strategy for executives and corporations in the high-tech sector. She is the author of Sales Force Branding: Differentiate from the Competition, and co-creator of the Sales Force Branding program. Wendy is a senior consultant specializing in B2B Corporate Social Media, Demand Generation and Marketing Automation, and is also a featured marketing technology speaker and columnist on renowned websites, such as Maria Shriver’s Women’s Conference, Chopra’s Intent.com and Denver’s GreatIdeasForKids.com.

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