What Is a Compelling Reason to Buy?
A compelling reason to buy is not an elevator pitch (although it should be): Sales thinks of an elevator pitch as explaining what the product does, whereas a compelling reason to buy explains the benefit that the target audience will realize with your product. And, as the name implies, it is a more compelling way to capture interest.
The concepts behind a compelling reason to buy can be found in Geoffrey Moore’s product development and marketing standard, Crossing the Chasm. I’ve simplified those concepts to create an easy exercise that I use with clients—whether startups that need go-to-market messaging to enterprises that have lost their focus. The exercise ensures that any messaging I create will help capture the attention of the target audience.
Why You Need a Compelling Reason to Buy
Without a compelling reason to buy, a potential buyer is left having to try to make sense of what your product does and how it can help solve their problems. In our busy world, that takes too much work and will often result in missed opportunities because the prospect doesn’t have the time or the right information to connect the dots.
You need to do the work for them and make it crystal clear how your solution can make a positive impact on their day-to-day life.
For many companies, it’s a matter of putting themselves in the shoes of the buyer, figuring out their burning problems, and matching up your solution to how it solves those pains. For some startups, this is a much more critical exercise in determining if your product can sell. You can’t make a business a success if your solution is a “nice to have.” If you are a startup founder or someone looking to work at a startup, make sure there is a compelling reason to buy that matches up to a burning pain that makes companies reallocate their budgets.
How to Create a Compelling Reason to Buy