If you are reading this article, one thing is for sure: You are involved in sales at one level or another. You might sell or support products, services or both, but what you do directly or indirectly involves sales.
In its most simplistic form, selling is persuading or convincing a potential customer to purchase (and keep purchasing) a product or service. It involves understanding customers’ needs, presenting the product or service as a solution, addressing concerns and closing the sale. The “keys to the kingdom” of sales centers on not only understanding your product but, more importantly, understanding the customer, their process and their reasons for buying.
Can Appear Elusive
These “keys” can appear elusive and might seem tough to understand. However, the following will help guide you in your quest.
One of the most written-about topics today involves a buyer and their decision-making process. When adopting the buyer’s perspective, there is (almost) universal agreement on five fundamental points:
The customer determines they have a problem that needs solving.
- They search for information from a plethora of sources.
- They list and evaluate alternatives.
- They purchase.
- They evaluate after purchasing.
Buying generally falls into one of two basic categories: simple or complex. “Simple buying” often involves consumables and items that are lower risk. In many cases, this can be thought of as programmatic buying.
“Complex buying” increases the scope and risks, and it requires more due diligence, involves more stakeholders and has more impact on the company. Simple buying and complex buying take different sets of skills for both the buyer and seller.
At first glance, the process might seem simple, but it is far from that. For a seller to earn the business, especially in complex sales, they must gain insight into the internal processes of the companies, and the minds of the people, doing the buying. This upfront work serves to prepare the salesperson for success.
Steps Along the Way
- Consider all the paths to purchase. These paths cover all the interactions with your company. Examine all the elements of the company (e.g., profile, marketing, websites, sales, operations) to gain a full picture before moving forward.
- This next one is tough but critical. Study and understand the stakeholders’ and buyers’ personas, along with their thoughts and emotions about their roles and participation during the purchase process. You need to uncover their wants and needs, as well as their thought processes, to determine what’s occurring from every possible point of view.
- From an overall business perspective, you need to create an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) for each vertical you serve. This defines the type of buyer who is likely to benefit most from your product and services. This allows you to focus on them.
Competition between companies for sales boils down to a battle of who best understands the customer and their concerns and who is willing to adapt to that reality. In our seminar, entitled “Analyze This, and the 5 Ps,” we provide extensive research around the 5 Ps: product, price, program, process and people. What we found was that today’s customers do not perceive many technologies and products as being disruptive. Most products look the same to the customers. A 4K display is a 4K display and a mount is a mount. Prices and programs “float” and seek uniform levels. Again, there is rarely much difference.
What studies show is that process and people determine those from whom a customer buys. Process refers to how “easy” a company is to work with in all respects; people refers to those who come into contact with customers. Customers seek good products and competitive pricing and programs. But, most of all, customers want a state of trust and an emotional bond with those with whom they are doing business.
Neil Rackham, the godfather of sales training, teaches us that people don’t buy from those who only know their products but, rather, from those who understand their problems.
Three Points to Ponder
In a Psychology Today article, “People Don’t Buy Products or Services – They Buy Emotions,” Dr. Liraz Margalit offers three points to ponder:
- Businesses are coming to understand that competition is no longer about products or services but about experiences.
- Peak moments are those extraordinary experiences that trigger emotion.
- These moments involve a “human factor,” in which the company often goes above and beyond for customers.
It all boils down to this: You must have a good product and competitive pricing, but what makes the difference in sales today is what you know about your customers, how you treat them and the trust that you build.
Alan C. Brawn, CTS, DSCE, DSDE, DSNE, DSSP, DCME, ISF-C, is principal of Brawn Consulting.
