They Ask, You Answer, 2nd Edition

23 The Competition

Now that we’ve discussed the power of The Big 5 in detail, the question, of course, is whether or not your company is willing to address this new way of thinking.

Sadly, despite the overwhelming evidence that has been shared in this book, most people and organizations will not take such a transparent, buyer-centric approach to their sales and marketing efforts.

The question is, “Why?”

Why won’t more organizations follow this incredibly simple model of They Ask, You Answer when it’s so very obvious that buyers and consumers expect to have this information?

As I’ve consulted with so many businesses and brands around the world during the past eight years, I’ve discovered there are three fundamental factors that dictate whether businesses are willing to be world-class listeners and teachers versus taking the opposite approach—a more traditional, closed-minded company-centric model—to growing their businesses.

I call these three factors the “Triangle of Influence”:

• Competition
• Bad fits
• Customer

Imagine an upside-down triangle that has three distinct sections, as shown in Figure 23.1. Each section represents a group that affects how willing a company is to address a particular subject in their sales and marketing process—especially online.

Figure 23.1 The Triangle of Influence.

The top section is the largest and most influential factor influencing a company’s ...