WIIFM starts with your customer or prospect. Many sales people just don’t get it.

1. WIIFM
by Tom Stocker
WIIFM. A profound acronym for “what’s in businesses and it didn’t appear many of
it for me”. It covers them were marketing very effectively either.
many areas of your
business, but starting The sales manager for the equipment
from the source (your division knew he needed to do something
customer or prospect) fast. New leads were far and few between
and working its way and his salesmen were cold calling and
upstream sometimes (a working their own contacts with little
lot of times) looses its success.
focus quickly. The easy answer to WIIFM
is more sales. But the ability to make it My initial recommendation for him was to
happen timely is significantly more leverage the parts and service business to his
complex. This article will focus on your advantage. I had made several observations
customer’s WIIFM and why your sales every time I sat in his office.
WIIFM can only be satisfied by satisfying
customer WIIFM. • The phones in the customer service
area were continuously ringing, for
Sometimes, we can make recommendations parts inquiries and orders.
that don’t solve our internal WIIFM right • The Company’s service backlog was
away, but doing the right thing for the other healthy and building. They had
party regardless of the solution can pay big several capabilities competitors
dividends in the long run. However, I am didn’t have.
continually amazed by the number of • The salesmen didn’t have access to
executives who don’t get this. information about who ordered parts
or services within their territories
I recently worked with a client on their and what the parts or service were
growth strategy. Due to the recession and for.
lack of liquidity, their customers stopped
buying the high-priced precision equipment The strategy I had in mind was to use the
they were selling. This was not just an parts and service business as a way to get his
internal problem. Nationally, all of their salesmen into more customers’ facilities to
competitors were in the same situation. establish better relationships and to find out
Even in the best of times the company sold what else they may need in lieu of new
twenty or so in a year. equipment.
In addition to new equipment sales, they had The WIIFM I was trying to convey was not
a reasonable service and parts business that to try to sell these customers new equipment
wasn’t experiencing the same downturn, right now, but to understand what else that
although the company wasn’t paying much customer may need. Was the equipment
attention to this business. Many of their they were fixing on a preventative
competitors had similar service and parts maintenance program? Could it be
upgraded using more company products to
10 Larkspur Road, East Greenwich, RI 02818 401-451-9799 www.OwnersEdgeLLC.com

2. provide better utilization or extend its useful order to solve your customer’s WIIFM and
life? What other equipment did the your own WIIFM successfully, you need to
customer have that the salesman might be consider several important things:
able to recommend for calibration, service,
maintenance or upgrades? • You must understand both what your
customer wants now and their future
I thought this strategy was a “couldn’t miss” needs.
idea. It was brilliant! How else to become This will allow sales the
the customer’s best friend, solve the WIIFM opportunity to suggest solutions
for the customer’s immediate needs and be that solve both.
in the back of their minds when it was time • You must be able to provide more
to buy new equipment? Everyone in the attention than your competitors.
sales force had to be excited, right? They You or your company already
would be heroes! has a relationship with this
customer. Your competitor has a
Wrong. The sales manager didn’t think his cold call.
sales force would be very receptive because • You must monitor how your
his salesmen were not compensated on the customers’ needs change.
parts and service business. New equipment Understanding the direction of
paid big commissions. That was their focus. change provides the opportunity
to offer products and services to
I suggested he call his salesmen together.
satisfy those changing needs.
After he laid out this bold new strategy idea
• Old paradigms must be broken.
and all the wonderful leads it could generate,
Customer WIIFM must be the
the first question asked was WIIFM. They
company culture.
couldn’t see how parts and service could
This may entail reinventing your
solve their personal WIIFM because it
business.
would mean earning lower commissions by
selling parts, services and upgrades. In fact, You can’t do any of these things if you can’t
if they were successful in this strategy, they establish a relationship with your customers.
could save the customer from buying new By paying attention to them, contacting and
equipment indefinitely. Then they would following up on purchases and having
never have a chance for the large conversations about their strategic direction
commission. will reinforce the long-term relationship
with customers. Trust, confidence and sales
Here are the key big-picture points I found
will follow, thus satisfying your personal
the sales manager and his salesmen were
and company’s WIIFM.
missing by staying within their “box”. In
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About the author; Tom is the Managing Director of Owner’s Edge, LLC, a strategic planning advisory and consulting firm for small and mid-
market businesses. Contact Tom directly at 401-451-9799 or tstocker@OwnersEdgeLLC.com.
Owner’s Edge, LLC is a business advisory and consulting firm specializing in helping business owners work on their businesses. The Firm
works with both growing and underperforming small to mid-market companies. For more information about how we can help you drive
operational excellence visit our website at www.OwnersEdgeLLC.com.
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Additional articles written by Mr. Stocker can be found on our website in the “publications” page: www.ownersedgellc.com/pages/pubs.php.
Owner’s Edge, LLC 10 Larkspur Road, East Greenwich, RI 02818 401-451-9799 www.OwnersEdgeLLC.com