What Influences Your Prosepects Decision to Buy?
"One of the concerns I had about calling on key decision-makers
was determining what I was going to say. My experience had been
selling much lower in the organization and I considered myself
pretty effective at the standard features and benefits
presentation. I knew that this wasn't going to be enough if I
was fortunate to get the attention of the top person.
Over time (and more than a few botched attempts) I was able to
determine what was important to these senior level executives.
Although it varied somewhat depending on who I was talking with,
the key areas of concern included; increased efficiencies,
growing market share, reducing expenses and increasing
shareholder satisfaction. Once I figured this out, I was able to
align the benefits of my products and services with what was top
of mind with the senior executive. It was a subtle rather than
dramatic shift in how I sold. I truly think it made me more
effective. If nothing else, it raised my confidence level that I
was communicating on the same level as the person I was talking
with. This made me, at least in my own mind, equal in stature to
the top person." Tim Lang, Professional Services
The more you know about the individuals on your account the more
effective you'll be at managing the account as a whole. The more
knowledgeable you are about this particular account the more
you'll be able to make accurate judgements about the issues that
affect other companies in the same industry. For example, if
managing supply chain relationships is an issue for your client,
it's possible or even likely that this may be an issue for other
companies in the same industry. If nothing else, it will give
you a bona fide reason for calling other companies to determine
if they are facing the same issues. Having assisted one company
in an industry goes a long way towards establishing your
credibility with others in similar fields.
Although your long-term strategy should be to become an industry
expert, it's important to remember that sales is an intensely
personal process. Companies don't really buy from companies as
much as people buy from other people. The client really isn't
Citibank; it's Nancy who's a senior executive in the finance
department. Thus, it's very important that you have a deep
understanding of what motivates your decision-maker.
Business success and personal achievement are usually
intertwined. This is important to keep in mind during the sales
process, since individuals usually will not agree to a business
decision unless they feel that it's both in their own personal
interests and in the best interests of their company. As an
extreme example, getting a prospect to buy a product that could
result in the elimination of his job is a highly difficult sale.
Prospects are most likely to buy products and services if, 1) it
helps their company achieve its goals, and, 2) helps them as
individuals achieve a personal goal. We refer to the first as
business results and the second as personal wins. We need to
discover what constitutes results and wins for everyone who has
influence on our account.
What might a result be for the decision-maker? It could be
increased efficiency, greater market share or an increased
percentage of repeat customers. Other results might include
greater employee utilization, reducing the cost of sales, or
lowering expenses. These are all business results that are of
importance to decision-makers.
The more you can tailor your communications to the specific
needs of your audience, the more effective you'll be. For
example, if you discuss technical specifications and ease of
training with a senior level decision-maker, she probably won't
particularly care. Conversely, if you talk about how your
product fits into the broad business objectives of the
organization, a lower level manager might find the discussion to
be intellectually interesting, but it won't relate to the
specific reasons for why he should buy your products. Successful
communication of results depends upon tailoring what you say to
meet the business interests of the person you're speaking with.