Decide or Defer?

• Executive “Why Now?” Messaging Research

Tim Riesterer Nick Lee, PhD

Chief Strategy and Professor
Research Officer Marketing and Sales Performance
Corporate Visions Warwick Business School
@TRiesterer @nj_lee
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Decide or Defer?
• Executive “Why Now?” Messaging Research

“One of 15
scientists whose
Tim Riesterer Nick Lee, PhD
Chief Strategy and
work will shape
Professor
Research Officer Marketing and Sales Performance the future”
Corporate Visions Warwick Business School London Times
@TRiesterer @nj_lee
Customer lifecycle messaging

Why Change? Why Stay?

Customer Acquisition Customer Retention

DEFEAT STATUS QUO BIAS REINFORCE STATUS QUO BIAS

Customer lifecycle messaging

Why Change? Why Stay?

Customer Acquisition Customer Retention

CHALLENGE CHALLENGE
Customer lifecycle messaging
Latest test

Why Change? Why Now? Why Stay?

Customer Acquisition Customer Retention

 “80% of B2B decisions
made by a person with
VP-level title or higher.”

IDC
Customer lifecycle messaging
NEED HELP!

Why Change? Why Now? Why Stay?

Customer Acquisition Customer Retention

 Invisible forces How people frame
that shape human value and make
decision making choices

Neuro Behavioral Social Decision

science Economics Psychology Sciences
Methodology

Frameworks and Skills

Exclusive Simulation Testing

Existing, Proven Science Concepts

Customer lifecycle messaging
Latest test

Why Change? Why Now? Why Stay?

Customer Acquisition Customer Retention
 Why Now #1
Executive Emotions Test
 Prospect Theory

2-3X stronger preference to Value

avoid loss vs. acquire gains

= “Loss Aversion”
Outcome

Loss Gain

Prefer taking risk that might

mitigate a loss
= “Risk Seeking”
Test Scenario
• You are an executive at an automotive
manufacturer facing some difficult economic times.

• Your CFO has presented you with a plan for how to

reduce costs involving plants and people

• There’s an outside vendor with a plan that

presents a risky plan with some significant upside
if it works
Status Quo framed as a “gain”

Plan A
Save 1 out of 3 plants
and 2,000 jobs

Plan B
33% chance of saving
all of the plants/jobs
66% chance of saving
none of the plants/jobs
 Status Quo framed as a “gain”
Plan A
74%
Save 1 out of 3 plants
and 2,000 jobs
More than 70% increase in “persuadability”
26%
Plan B
33% chance of saving
all of the plants/jobs
66% chance of saving
none of the plants/jobs
Status Quo framed as a “loss”
Plan A
55%
2 out of 3 plants lost
along w/ 4,000 jobs
45%
Plan B
33% chance of losing
none of the plants/jobs
66% chance of losing
all of the plants/jobs
 Status Quo framed as a “gain”
Plan A
74%
Save 1 out of 3 plants
and 2,000 jobs
More than 70% increase in “persuadability”
26%
Plan B
33% chance of saving
all of the plants/jobs
66% chance of saving
none of the plants/jobs
Status Quo framed as a “loss”
Plan A
55%
2 out of 3 plants lost
along w/ 4,000 jobs
45%
Plan B
33% chance of losing
none of the plants/jobs
66% chance of losing
all of the plants/jobs
 Why Now #2
Story Framework Test
 System #2 (Slow)
Designed for Analysis
Rationale, Logical
Justifies Decisions

System #1 (Fast)
Designed for Survival
Emotional, Intuitive
Makes Decision for Change
Situation Background
You are an executive at a food processing company that cleans,
sorts and packages vegetables.

You have traditionally served large vegetable producers using

large-scale equipment that can process several tons of
vegetables per hour.

However, the most promising growth market is organic and

specialty food production, and unfortunately, you do not have
equipment suitable for the small batch requirements of this
“small-producer” market.

You will be meeting with a company that makes smaller-scale,

more flexible equipment that could help you enter this new
market, and they present the following story as to why you
should buy their equipment.
Test Conditions
We created six messaging elements:

• Business Issue: External factors and business initiatives

• Loss: Details about your loss to be avoided
• Gain: Details about your potential positive gain

• Unconsidered Needs: Introduces unsuspected threats

• Heavy ROI: Solution w/hard #s and detailed ROI breakdown

• Change Story: Business change story with light ROI

Test Conditions
We created six different frameworks with different messaging configurations:

1. Business Issue + Loss + Solution w/ Heavy ROI

2. Business Issue + Gain + Solution w/ Heavy ROI

3. Business Issue + Unconsidered Needs + Solution w/Heavy ROI

4. Business Issue + Loss + Change Story

5. Business Issue + Gain + Change Story

6. Business Issue + Unconsidered Needs + Change Story

Results

1% higher
Results

1% More
Results

4% Increase
Results

2% More Urgent
Results

9% More Likely
 WHY NOW STORY MODEL

Business Solution
Issue Response

Unconsidered
Identify a key
industry trend and
Needs Present How You Business
align it with a
Can Resolve the
Unconsidered
Impact
company’s
Needs and Enable
acknowledged
them to Realize
strategic initiative Show the Unexpected their Goal
Flaws Or Limitations with Share a Preliminary
their Current Approach Calculation of
That will Keep them from Quantified Impact Your
Responding Effectively Solution will Provide
 Winning Condition
Business Issue + Unconsidered Needs + Heavy ROI
Growing consumer demand for organic foods, especially in the “ready-to-eat” category presents a great opportunity
for processors, like you, to expand.
However, this market has unique requirements and cost pressures that you need to consider if you want to enter and
BUSINESS ISSUE
compete effectively. First, your large processing machinery is not compatible with the unique needs of the organic
producer, who requires frequent changes to accommodate a greaterIdentify a key industry
variety of vegetables to be processed, and
trend
smaller batch sizes. Second, your current labor and material costs are and
too high align
to be price it with a in this market.
competitive
company’s
Investing in our smaller-scale, flexible equipment should position you acknowledged
to get at least a 1% share of the growing small-
producer market, generating $10 million in new revenue. Improvementsstrategic
in automation initiative
technology should also provide
you with a 2% savings in labor and material costs. This 1% increase in sales and 2% cost savings should improve your
operating margin by 29%.
With all these factors considered, we estimate this will generate an ROI of 78% in your first year of investing in our new
smaller-scale processing equipment that will enable you to enter the organic produce market. This means you’ll be
making money on this equipment by year two. These results are typical of the results documented by dozens of other
processing companies using our equipment.
 Winning Condition
Business Issue + Unconsidered Needs + Heavy ROI
Growing consumer demand for organic foods, especially in the “ready-to-eat” category presents a great opportunity
for processors, like you, to expand.
However, this market has unique requirements and cost pressures that you need to consider if you want to enter and
compete effectively. First, your large processing machinery is not compatible with the unique needs of the organic
producer, who requires frequent changes to accommodate a greater variety of vegetables to be processed, and
smaller batch sizes. Second, your current labor and material costs are too high to be price competitive in this market.
Investing in our smaller-scale, flexible equipment should position you to get at least a 1% share of the growing small-
producer market, generating $10 million in new revenue. Improvements in automation technology should also provide
you with a 2% savings in labor and material costs. This 1% increase in sales and 2% cost savings should improve your
UNCONSIDERED NEEDS
operating margin by 29%.
Show the Unexpected Flaws Or
With all these factors considered, we estimate this will generate an ROI of 78% in your first year of investing in our new
Limitations with their Current
smaller-scale processing equipment that will enable you to enter the organic produce market. This means you’ll be
Approach That will Keep them
making money on this equipment by from year two. These results
Responding are typical of the results documented by dozens of other
Effectively
processing companies using our equipment.
 Winning Condition
Business Issue + Unconsidered Needs + Heavy ROI
SOLUTION RESPONSE
Growing consumer demand for organic foods, especially in the “ready-to-eat” category presents a great opportunity
for processors, like you, to expand. Present How You Can
Resolve the Unconsidered
However, this market has unique requirements and cost pressures that you need to consider if you want to enter and
Needs and Enable them
compete effectively. First, your large processing machinery is not compatible with the unique needs of the organic
to Realize their Goal
producer, who requires frequent changes to accommodate a greater variety of vegetables to be processed, and
smaller batch sizes. Second, your current labor and material costs are too high to be price competitive in this market.
Investing in our smaller-scale, flexible equipment should position you to get at least a 1% share of the growing small-
producer market, generating $10 million in new revenue. Improvements in automation technology should also
provide you with a 2% savings in labor and material costs. This 1% increase in sales and 2% cost savings should
improve your operating margin by 29%.
With all these factors considered, we estimate this will generate an ROI of 78% in your first year of investing in our
new smaller-scale processing equipment that will enable you to enter the organic produce market. This means you’ll
be making money on this equipment by year two. These results are typical of the results documented by dozens of
other processing companies using our equipment.
 Winning Condition
Business Issue + Unconsidered Needs + Heavy ROI
Business Impact
Growing consumer demand for organic foods, especially in the “ready-to-eat” category presents a great opportunity
for processors, like you, to expand. Share a Preliminary
Calculation of
However, this market has unique requirements and cost pressures that you need to consider if you want to enter and
Quantified ROI Your
compete effectively. First, your large processing machinery is not compatible with the unique needs of the organic
Solution will Provide
producer, who requires frequent changes to accommodate a greater variety of vegetables to be processed, and
smaller batch sizes. Second, your current labor and material costs are too high to be price competitive in this market.
Investing in our smaller-scale, flexible equipment should position you to get at least a 1% share of the growing small-
producer market, generating $10 million in new revenue. Improvements in automation technology should also
provide you with a 2% savings in labor and material costs. This 1% increase in sales and 2% cost savings should
improve your operating margin by 29%.
With all these factors considered, we estimate this will generate an ROI of 78% in your first year of investing in our
new smaller-scale processing equipment that will enable you to enter the organic produce market. This means you’ll
be making money on this equipment by year two. These results are typical of the results documented by dozens of
other processing companies using our equipment.
 WHY NOW STORY MODEL

Business Solution
Issue Response

Unconsidered
Identify a key
industry trend and
Needs Present How You Business
align it with a Can Resolve the
Unconsidered
Impact
company’s
acknowledged Needs and Enable
strategic initiative them to Realize
Show the Unexpected their Goal
Flaws Or Limitations with Share a Preliminary
their Current Approach Calculation of
That will Keep them from Quantified Impact Your
Responding Effectively Solution will Provide
Customer lifecycle messaging

Why Change? Why Now? Why Stay?

Customer Acquisition Customer Retention

DEFEAT STATUS QUO BIAS REINFORCE STATUS QUO BIAS

Why Now Messaging and Content
An Expanded Offering
 WHY NOW STORY MODEL

Business Solution
Issue Response

Unconsidered
NEW! Needs Why You? Business
Impact

Why Change?

Traditional 2-Day
Workshop NEW!
NEEDS

CAPABILITIES
 NEEDS

Identified

CAPABILITIES
 NEEDS

Identified

Specified CAPABILITIES
 NEEDS

Identified

Specified CAPABILITIES
 NEEDS

Identified

Specified CAPABILITIES
Commoditized Conversation
 NEEDS

UNKNOWN
Identified STRENGTHS

Specified CAPABILITIES
Commoditized Conversation
 NEEDS

UNKNOWN
Identified STRENGTHS

Specified CAPABILITIES
Commoditized Conversation + COST
+COMPLEXITY
 NEEDS UNCONSIDERED
NEEDS

UNKNOWN
Identified STRENGTHS

Specified CAPABILITIES
Commoditized Conversation + COST
+COMPLEXITY
 Urgency and
NEEDS UNCONSIDERED Uniqueness Lives
NEEDS Here

UNKNOWN
Identified STRENGTHS

Specified CAPABILITIES
Commoditized Conversation + COST
+COMPLEXITY
 WHY NOW STORY MODEL

Business Solution
Issue Response

Unconsidered
NEW! Needs Why You? Business
Impact

Why Change?

Traditional 2-Day
Workshop NEW!
 WHY NOW STORY MODEL

Business
Issue NEW Pre-Workshop Research Effort
Industry Analysis

• Uncover Top External Factors and Industry Trends

• Determine the Key Business issue(s) from These Trends
• Collect Industry Facts/Stats that Support Trends and Issues
• Review Current Communications Materials
-Thought Leadership
-Customer Cases Studies (typical ROI/Business Results)
• Perform a Competitive Landscape Review
-Compare competitive claims against identified differentiation
-Identify potential gaps (positive and negative)
 WHY NOW STORY MODEL

Business Solution
Issue Response

Unconsidered
NEW! Needs Why You? Business
Impact

Why Change?

Traditional 2-Day
Workshop NEW!
 WHY NOW STORY MODEL

NEW Post-Workshop Exercise

Business Case

• What Results can Customers Expect

• Review Business Metrics from Money Flow
- Income Statement
- Balance Sheet Business
• Identify Likely Outcomes that can be Measured Impact
• Confirm Strategic Alignment
• Determine Three (3) Story Forms
- Quantitative
- Anecdotal
- What if you could…? (Conservative Estimate)
 WHY NOW STORY MODEL

Business Solution
Issue Response

Unconsidered
Industry Analysis Needs Why You? Business
Impact

Why Change?
Business Case
Deliverables – Why Now Playbook
• Messaging
– Business Issue Overview (Industry Analysis)
– Why Change Story (Unconsidered Needs)
– Why You Story (Solution Response)
– ROI Story (Business Case)

• Sales Enablement Assets

• Integrated Sales Coaching Videos
Customer lifecycle messaging

Why Change? Why Now? Why Stay?

Customer Acquisition Customer Retention

ENGAGEMENT 1 ENGAGEMENT 2

Two Messaging Engagements

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