Don't start with "why" - start with "WHAT"

It feels like every entrepreneur has heard by now the mantra "Start with why" by Simon Sinek - and if you haven't read the book yet, do it!

It's a great book and a great mantra.

But it's not about you

Unfortunately too many entrepreneurs still feel that the "why" in "why customers should buy my product" is about the amazing features of their products. Or about the great origin story of their company.

And in rare cases that might be enough. When I started my social impact tailoring business The Tailor Network the fact that we were a social impact startup was sometimes enough to get us in front of our desired partners. But those partners only had to provide their support - not to make a purchasing decision.

It's about your customer's problems

To make those happen, the "why" is never about you or your product - it is about "what problem" are you solving for your customer and "what impact" does that have on their business - operationally and/or financially.

The author Keenan describes it perfectly in his must read B2B sales book "Gap Selling: Getting the Customer to Yes": "[the gap] between where [the customers] are now and where they want to go [....] represents the value of the sale to the buyer. And the sales person. Without it there is no sale."

Customers don't buy your product because it has amazing features or you have a great origin story - they buy it because it solves a problem they have. And it is your job as entrepreneur, or as sales person, to identify the problems your product or service is solving and to quantify the impact.

Is the gap your product / service closes great enough to buy?

So whether you are in early stage startup phase or just wanting to improve your B2B sales - take a step back and write down:

1. Which problems do your customers have (operationally / financially) that your product / service can solve?

2. What is the impact on your customers business performance if those problems are solved?

3. How does this gap (between their current and their future business performance) compare to the costs of adopting your product / service?

Most companies are not looking into the costs customers face when adopting their product / service. But it is crucial to do this in depth as well. And to ensure that the gap their product / service closes is great enough for the customer to bear the costs of change. There will be an entire blog post on costs of change and why they matter so much.

If you are getting this part right - clearly identifying the problems your customers are having and how your product / service solves those problems as well as the impact of solving those problems - then you can sell successfully to any company, regardless of their size or your own.

Because you offer what few competitors do - a solution to your customer's problem.