Adrian Slywotzky Quotes

“The concept of selling solutions isn’t wrong. It’s based on a valid recognition of the enormous unmet needs most customers have.

But very few companies have figured out how to implement the concept profitably. Most failed attempts to deliver solutions have suffered from one of two common flaws.

First, many are uncompelling or undifferentiated in the customer’s eyes. Sometimes the word solution is simply code for a consultative selling process or an attempt to pitch some kind of service agreement along with the product.

Sometimes the solution is more significant, but undifferentiated. Take outsourcing as an example. Many companies have moved to take over and run some customer function, such as the mail room or call center, and then struggled to make money.

The reason: In most cases, this is simply a cost-of-capital or -labor play, based on the notion that the contractor can run the operation more cheaply than the client firm. The function’s role in enhancing the customer’s business scarcely changes.

Not surprisingly, this purely cost-based value proposition leads to rapid downward pricing pressure and service commoditization.

The other major problem with many attempts to create solutions is their complexity. Once a company has developed a compelling solutions offering, reaching and serving the customer often requires the creation of a highly skilled delivery force that is hard to scale up.

The result is a small, marginally profitable operation that clings to relevance on the periphery of the business.”