Have you been in a situation like this before?

Carrie sells corporate clothing – branded t-shirts, jackets, and oxfords. She has spent a long time building up a reputation among her clients as a great supplier who always delivers.

One day, the buyer at Carrie’s best client was replaced without her knowledge. She got an email from the new buyer, Nick. He said that he has compared Carrie’s pricing with a competitor, and has decided to stop ordering from Carrie due to her high prices. Carrie knows that this competitor is using sub-standard quality materials, and that their products often fall apart after a few weeks.

Carrie calls up Nick immediately and asks for a meeting. He says he is busy with all the work, but has ten minutes to speak on the phone. She appeals to her longstanding good relationship with the company. He doesn’t budge. Then she tries to tell him how her products are of much higher quality. “A t-shirt is a t-shirt, right? I’m not looking for something fancy.” he says.

Carrie is running out of moves. She feels that she is down to three options:

1. Cave on the pricing and hope for bigger deals later on.
2. Start using lower-quality materials, and bemoan the sorry state of the market.
3. Walk away from the client and hope someone else will come along who appreciates better quality.

 

Do you see yourself in this situation? Do you feel like you are always at the whim of uninformed clients? Do you feel like you are in a race to the bottom? Do you often find yourself asking, “Where are the people who still appreciate quality?”

Maybe they’re waiting for you to teach them.

If these scenarios are familiar to you, you need a stronger relationship in the Evaluator ARC. In this ARC, customers are sizing you up against the competition. If your Ideal Audience can’t distinguish between the quality of t-shirts, speakers, or software, which one are they going to pick?

The cheapest one. Every time.

You can’t blame them; you would do the same if you didn’t know better.

A better option than the three listed above is to choose to educate your audience. Make them smarter, more discerning, and more astute. Sometimes, instead of finding your Ideal Audience, you have to create them by educating them.

When you objectively and helpfully teach your audience how to recognize quality, they will make better decisions. A smarter audience always benefits the company who offers a better product.

If you are selling trash, it’s in your interest to keep the market dumb. And you hope that the people who are actually selling quality things don’t rock the boat by telling people what the difference is.

Or to make it more personal – they are praying that you don’t start educating their customers. If you feel that you are at the mercy of the cost-cutting companies, imagine turning the tables and having an audience so well-informed that they demand those companies start offering higher-quality goods. Sounds nice, doesn’t it?

Back to Carrie.

Carrie has two main problems. One is that she sees Nick as an adversary instead of as a potential member of her Ideal Audience (well-informed buyers at large corporates looking for quality branded clothing).

Second, she’s not meeting Nick’s biggest need. He doesn’t need nicer jackets or better-stitched hats. He needs to impress his boss.

Carrie needs to go back and figure out a way to bring Nick into her Ideal Audience and meet his need.

Carrie can create a helpful buying guide for new purchasers. She can list out the most common items and some helpful info about the difference between 5.3 and 7.1 oz. cotton. She might also make some notes on when it is okay to choose the cheaper option and when they shouldn’t risk it. As soon as she hears of a new purchaser coming in, she immediately sends a fresh copy of her branded buying guide.

At the same time, Carrie can also start a YouTube channel where she does weekly video reviews of products. She adds her personality and helps buyers know how to get the most for their money. She can expand beyond clothing and invite other suppliers to do reviews on her channel on stationery and other corporate gifts.

Now, Carrie has a better-informed Ideal Audience and an incredibly valuable media platform. Once Carrie has a large enough following, can you imagine how eager manufacturers would be to have her review their products? Eager enough to pay.

Did she meet Nick’s need as well? At his next meeting with his boss, Nick looks pretty smart when he starts talking about why the Dri-Mesh is the best choice for the upcoming marathon run (in which the CEO is participating). And who do you think is going to supply those shirts?

 

If you start feeling at the mercy of an uninformed market on your way to zero margins, stop and take a breath. Maybe educating your audience is the perfect solution.

Remember that a smarter audience will benefit the one providing the highest value (that’s you).