In many industries, demonstrating successful applications to prospective new customers is an effective tool for moving inquiries to quotes to orders. When done right, a customer can see a problem similar to their own which you have successfully solved and see the benefits from that solution. This helps solidify their return-on-investment calculations and commitment to the project.
Of course, published articles perform the same function, but the work required to get an article published is significant, and the lengthy articles themselves can often be too much to read for a prospect early in your sales pipeline. Additionally, such articles require the cooperation of the original customer, which is challenging due to time constraints and sensitivity to revealing company information. Many publications prefer to avoid “blind” case studies where the specific account is not named, so the story will not be accepted without customer involvement.
The application profile tool described here can be created in under an hour and does not necessarily require the agreement of the customer; with this tool, a “blind” profile can be nearly as effective as one which names the customer. Furthermore, they can be organized in whatever manner is appropriate for your company; for example, by the process the customer performs (machining, grinding, metalforming, etc.), the type of solution offered, and the industry the customer serves (automotive, aerospace, energy, etc.). This approach helps in allocating these profiles to appropriate web pages and makes for easy keyword-driven search for customers or selling agents.
I’ve attached a template for application profiles (see the second slide for the template), as well as an example of its use (third slide).
Header: Obviously you will want to make the tool look professional, so apply a company header similar to what you use on your website or other presentations or literature.
Title: Give the profile a useful title, ideally describing what makes the solution unique and the customer, if permitted. What makes the solution unique should be defined in terms of benefits to the customer, not technology or features of the product.
Classification: Classify the profile by whatever characteristics are important for you; in the example it’s industry, process, material employed, and the products used in the solution. It is best to have predefined choices for these categories and not make it a “free-for-all”, so that solutions for a specific, say, industry remain grouped and accessible in one search (and one doesn’t have to look for both “heavy equipment” and “mining equipment” to find relevant profiles, for example).
Situation: Describe the situation the customer faced before they contacted you; typically this is their “pain”, though in some cases they may not have even realized they were having an issue or had better solutions available (thus it could be an “unknown pain”). Try to emphasize the actual financial costs the customer experienced from their problems.
Solution: Explain the elements provided to the customer as part of your solution, emphasizing your “points of difference” with competitive offerings, where possible.
Key Features: Explain what about your value proposition made the solution possible, sticking to just one or two key points. You are looking for a “wow” factor here, again trying to emphasize what created your ability to solve this problem. Look beyond product-based features; it may be an organizational capability you possess, such as application know-how, ability to provide a complete turn-key solution, etc.
Customer Benefits: Explain as clearly as possible what the customer gained. It is most effective to list specific financial gains such as cost savings or increased revenue. Obviously you need to avoid revealing confidential information, so some general figures may be necessary. If you don’t have specific financials, provide some estimates, but be able to back them up with documentation (based on web research, for example).
Outcome: Take a longer-term view of the benefits the customer gained, such as the payback they achieved, time that they have had the solution running, or similar information. Customer quotes are powerful here, as is any information about future business you gained with the account from proving your capabilities with this solution.
Photo: If you don’t have a picture of the specific application, use one that is similar, or at least a photo of the products employed.
To create an initial population of application profiles, ask your regional sales managers to each submit five ideas with rough details. I have found that they are usually more than eager to do so knowing they were getting this selling tool in return. Creating these profiles has led to ideas for articles, one of which, focused on the alternative energy segment, will be published early next year. This tool can also summarize articles from the past, as it provides a quicker read for customers while emphasizing key points (and you can link to the online versions of the articles, should the customer want more detailed information).
In addition to providing these to regional sales managers and representatives, include them in presentation decks, and put them on your website – they are flexible enough to be used on pages describing applications, industries, or products. They also provide great ideas and content for blog posts. You can make their visibility more widespread by using social media services like Slideshare. They are also useful for small tabletop displays at trade shows and within your own facility to drive pride in seeing successful solutions provided to customers. Keep your eyes open for new opportunities to create profiles, summarizing any new application you come across, especially when it aligns with a growth initiative for a specific industry.
Application profiles are a powerful and simple tool for educating customers and sales resources, offering a wide range of flexibility in how they can be used.
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