Customerizing is learning to think as customers think. It means understanding your solution as value received, not just value added. It is viewing life from the customer's perspective. It is developing a customer value focus. It is even more specific than looking at your product or service the way market segments view it. It means understanding your solution the way different levels of decision makers view it.

A level-one buyer is a transaction buyer. Typically, this is a purchasing agent or someone who processes requisitions for other people. Level-one buyers typically focus on transaction issues—price, delivery, packaging and lead times. Another way to understand this buyer is to think “logistics.” A logistics buyer generally thinks short term, as in acquisition. This buyer wants the purchase to run smoothly and seamlessly.

A level-two buyer is a user, maintainer, operator or reseller of your product or service. This buyer is more focused on the functional and operational characteristics of what you sell. Level-two buyers want something that is safe to use, performs to specs, and makes his or her life easier. You appeal to a level-two buyer when you think “usage.”

A level-three buyer, the high-level decision maker, is the person who can say “yes” to your number. If the person creates a budget or approves spending, this is a level-three decision maker. These high-level decision makers typically operate at the top of an organization or are business owners. They view your solution as profit or cash flow. They buy partnerships, not products. They think in terms of resource utilization, leverage, and employee and customer satisfaction. If your solution helps this person gain competitive advantage, you're talking their language.

Every account includes all three levels of decision makers: logistics buyers, user/influencers, and high-level decision makers. Your challenge is to identify all three buying influences and fully penetrate the account. You may discover that one person fills all three roles at smaller accounts. Be attentive to how this person thinks—more like a level-one, two or three decision maker?

Most salespeople call at levels one and two, but fewer than 10 percent penetrate level three. Whether it's intimidation, fear of offending lower level contacts, or confusion over how to do it, most salespeople fail to penetrate their accounts at the highest level. And that's a shame, because that is where most funding comes from.

Selling a product at levels one and two is easier if you can sell your concept at level three. Imagine walking into a price-shopping purchasing agent's office with the blessing of the level-three decision maker. Better yet, how would it feel to tell your product story to a level-two buyer knowing that the level three has already bought the concept and approved the funding?

Value-added salespeople penetrate their accounts thoroughly: early to help shape buying criteria, deep to create pull for their ideas, and high enough to create funding for their solution.