Lesson for the customer solution criteria message. Contrary to what you're probably thinking, this solution message is not about you. Instead, the solution perspective comes from the personas viewpoint. They have a problem that needs to be solved. There are any number of choices or alternatives available to them. How will they decide what to consider?
Inevitably, they will have or they will develop a criteria checklist. Regardless of which vendor they select, they will have a set of conditions that must be met. Sure, there are trade offs to be considered that in the perfect world, the checklist will act as their agenda and you want to be on it. So the solution message is your opportunity to exercise some thought leadership and suggest to the persona what criteria she should be considering. Don't make this a long list. Too much information kills the message.
Limit the list to three things, three things that are critical importance to the persona, and three things that you can slam dunk the competition. Here's a hint. Remember the benefits and competitive differentiation you drafted in the positioning statement. Make careful note of those items because they will help you form your criteria list of what's most important to your persona. If you haven't already done so download the positioning statement template. refer back to the online course mastering product positioning to review the template and examples if you need to.
Let's take a look at a few examples. Remember the engagement messages we reviewed in lesson three? The solution criteria message marks the next part of your story. Here's how each of our story exists. Apple's continue to unfold. for Amazon.
Their solution criteria message was the following. People expect books at a reasonable price. Books should be priced affordably, the books you want should always be available from the classics to the new releases. Consider how simple this message is. Also notice that Amazon that company nor information on how their service is delivered is included here. The story continues to be about the persona and their disappointment that books cost too much.
Here's how fly right story continues. Its solution criteria messages the following frequent flyer business executives like you need to arrive at your destination feeling their best. Passengers want to land feeling energized, immune from sick passengers and minimize jetlag symptoms. Notice that the entrepreneur has now set the bar high for his jetlag. Hear. This begs the question, what alternatives are available today that might meet this criteria.
Again, the name fly right does not appear in the solution criteria message. Remember our contact center technology company? our engagement message was online retailers are missing revenue opportunities on their website, and they don't even know it. Their story continues with this solution criteria message. You need the ability to be at your web visitor side where you can easily identify repeat visitors instantly. See the visitors path through the website to discover their download and engagement history and engage them in a relevant timely chat online or live dialogue to answer their questions and provide assistance in real time.
Through the engagement and solution criteria message we are forming a bond of trust Understanding, we are building empathy that we understand their problem and what they're trying to achieve. These are critical messages that most b2b companies overlook. But they are essential to forming a connection with your target audiences. And finally, we have our social media monitoring company. Remember their engagement message was listening to and comprehending customer feedback takes too much time. The story continues with this solution criteria message.
You need a way to quickly sort through the feedback, turning it into actionable insights. Wouldn't it be great if you could collect customer feedback across all touch points in real time and identify the root causes? Wouldn't it be great if you could automate this task so you don't require an army of analysts? Wouldn't it be great if you could instantly discover opportunities to upsell and cross sell relevant products and services. The solution criteria message expands the hook you planted in the engagement message. You can almost feel your target audiences leaning closer to you to agree with your solution criteria.
Yes, this is exactly what I need. The solution criteria message is your opportunity to exercise some thought leadership and suggest to the persona what criteria she should be considering. Through this message. You are showing them your thought leadership. You are a subject matter expert and opinion leader you are offering to assist them in their buying process by offering a criteria they can use to measure all possible alternatives.