Although armed with a carefully crafted list of 10 “unique” benefits to customers, a supplier of sophisticated network security systems learned they had lost a million dollar contract to a competitor with almost exactly the same list of benefits, but a 10 percent lower price.

Another company offering comprehensive Enterprise Resource Planning solutions emphasized their superior ability to promote operating efficiency. After losing a large sale, they were surprised to learn the customer wasn’t especially interested in efficiency. Instead, customer executives had bought into a competitor’s offer of flexible, modularized SAP solutions–a perfect fit for the firm’s strategy of growth by acquisition. By then, it was too late for the original vendor to explain that they could match and even exceed the competitor’s flexibility. …more at Turning Value into Customer Requirements – Inc.com

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