Closed Won OS · 1 of 6 · Market and offer
Aim
From market estimates to every account scored.
What stays with your people
Your judgement about which market to serve, what to offer and what to charge.
What is changing, in two directions
Agents coming in
A buyer's agent matches a need to suppliers by stated facts: who it is for, what is included, what it costs.
Your work moving to agents
Agents research and score every account against your profile, and keep the list current.
The problems we see
Each one with what you keep, and the questions buyers ask on the way to fixing it, answered.
Your work moving to agentsOur ideal customer profile is a slide.
What you keep: The profile itself. The thinking behind it was right.
- We did the profile work. Why are we still guessing who to call?
- A profile describes a type of company. Selling needs names. The work was sound and it stopped one step short of a list.
- What turns a profile into something we can use on Monday?
- Have agents check every company in your market against it and keep one file on each. The profile becomes a ranked list your team works from.
- How do we know the ranking is right before we bet a quarter on it?
- Run it over the deals you already won and lost. If your best customers land at the top, trust it. That test comes first.
Your work moving to agentsWe size our market once a year.
What you keep: The annual plan and the judgement in it.
- Our market number comes from last year's plan. Does that matter?
- It tells you how big the market is. It says nothing about who is ready now. Companies hire, raise money and change leaders every week.
- Can the list stay current without hiring an analyst?
- Yes. Agents re-check each account on a schedule and note what changed. Your people decide what a change means and who gets a call.
- What does that take to set up, and who looks after it?
- It is set up once against your profile. Then you run it, I run it for you, or agents watch it and you get a monthly note.
Agents coming inAn agent cannot tell who we are for.
What you keep: Your positioning and your voice.
- Our positioning tested well with people. Why would an agent miss it?
- Copy written to move a person often leaves out the facts: the size of company you serve, the problem you solve, the price. An agent matching a buyer's need looks for those and moves on.
- Do we have to give up our voice to be readable by an agent?
- No. Keep the voice. Add one plain passage: who it is for, who it is not for, what is included, what it costs. People skim it. Agents depend on it.
- How can I see what an agent concludes about us?
- Ask one, or run the check. It reads your site as an agent does and says who it thinks you serve. The gap between that and your own answer is the work.
Agents coming inOur offer cannot be compared.
What you keep: The conversation about the final price.
- We price every deal on a call. Is that a problem now?
- When a buyer asks an assistant for three options, it compares what it can find. A page that says only 'contact us' gives it nothing to put in the table.
- How do we show a price without boxing ourselves in?
- Publish a starting price or a range, what is included and what changes it. The range gets you into the comparison. The final number stays a conversation.
- Will a public price cost us deals?
- It moves the sorting earlier. The buyers who call have seen the number and stayed. My own price is on my site for that reason.
What is in Aim
- Ideal customer and segments
- Market and offer
- Pricing
- A scored target list
Each area can be bought three ways: we set it up once, we run it for you every month, or agents keep watch and each month you hear what changed and what to do next. Most start with the two-week assessment.
The free check for Aim
You enter your site and one line on who you sell to. You see what an AI agent says you sell, to whom and at what price, beside your own answer. It is being built. Until it is ready, send me a line about Aim and I will answer it myself.