B2C and B2B insights

There is this wrong belief that insight selling is something new. It isn’t. Not in B2B or B2C. In the latter, we as consumers are exposed to insights all the time: for example, when we are looking for products in the supermarket ‘On Special” or browsing booking.com for accommodation that suits our special needs (aren’t we all using these filters?). We make better decisions not only because we discover the information we didn’t know (insights) but also because we are influenced by reviews from other people’s experiences (again, insights)

In B2B, we have been selling insights as solutions- for decades to customers who didn’t know that there were better options to their problems. From a buyer’s point of view, effective insights provided value in several ways: assumptions were challenged, mistakes avoided, and implications better understood. Many of our solutions caused these Aha..moments: “Oh, I didn’t know this was possible- or, “Wow. I didn’t know you offered that “. The fact is that you don’t know what you don’t know until someone tells you or lets you in on information you didn’t know.  

What insights are valuable to prospects?

The question is, what type of insights are most valuable to buyers now ?. In particular when you meet prospects for the first or second time.

Rule number one; it needs to be relevant and valuable. Your information needs to help with whatever your buyers are busy with. Rule number two: Your insights should not be about your products, solutions or as a PowerPoint slide deck stating Why You? Instead, Insights nowadays needs to address the question of Why Change?

Context. Your insights need to provide context about business challenges your prospects are facing. In that way, they are learning something they were not aware of. But what is that exactly? What do you see that they don’t? What do you know better than them and is insightful?

Before we go into that, be aware not to underestimate your prospects: they are also following market trends and figuring out how to adapt and take advantage of them. They want to stay ahead of their competitors, and they have been crushing their brains on what and how. Your task is to help them see a different perspective.

What you know better than anyone else is how market-driven trends interconnect with their challenges and your knowledge and experience. You know how your prospects can benefit from market dynamics. Because of your experience, you have ideas how risks can be turned into opportunities. They don’t know this yet because they have been looking elsewhere.

Keep insights real and practical.

Prospects will find you insightful if you know for example how

• You can turn average websites into money-making machines.
• They can generate additional income when adapting to a different business model.
• Better compliance can avoid higher unforeseen costs for them
• Business challenges can be overcome because you have helped other customers in similar situations
• Your business acumen can bring a different perspective to your customer growth and profit challenges.

When you are selling insights to prospects, where are you in the Buying Process? In Change to Who? Change to What? or in Why Change? How insightful are you?

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