RSSWhat do Sellers Need to Understand – and When?
Oct 19, 2009 Sales Related, Top Posts
As a sales professional, you learn early on that your need to ‘understand’ a buyer. But what, exactly, do you need to understand?
On the sales end of the equation, you NEED to understand the prospect’s situation to make sure you are placing the appropriate solution in the right place. This same data will give you ability to fine-tune your presentation and pitch to ensure the buyer understand how your solution will fit in their environment. You also need to understand the buyer’s vision, and criteria for Excellence.
There is no way to truly understand anything else.
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Tags: buyers, gps, issues, need, new skills, partner, seller, understand, vendor
Buying Decisions: What Happens Behind-The-Scenes
Sep 14, 2009 Decisioning & Change Management, Top Posts
For some reason, it’s very difficult for sales people to think beyond ‘need’ and ’solution:’ We tend to think that because the buyer’s need matches our solution, and because we’re professionals who ‘care,’ the only thing buyers need to do is choose our solution.
But if it were that easy, buying decisions would get made more often in our favor. We certainly would not lose as many sales as we do. The problem is that the buying decision is so, so much more complex than we can imagine as we stand on the outside looking in.
Sales mysteriously treats an Identified Problem (my word for ‘need’) as if it were an isolated event. But it’s not. There are ramifications to any change, and the ramifications are ones only buyers can see from the inside and we will never be privy to.
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Tags: buyer, buying decision team, buying decisions, identified problem, isolated event, need, sales, seller, solution
What Is The Job Of A Seller?
Aug 7, 2009 Sales Related
I have a question: if your job is to get people to buy your solution, why do you spend so much time doing stuff that doesn’t bring in business?
I recently spoke with a sales guy who told me that for two years he’s been making appointments to do presentations for a relatively small ticket solution, and then waiting for a year before 30% of the the buyers purchased. His biggest challenge was getting the appointment. Do the numbers and it turns out that the first 90% of the prospects wouldn’t give him an appointment.
Why would anyone work so hard just to close 3% of their prospects? And why is he getting paid to waste so much time and resource? And And, why does he keep doing it that way if it’s a failed prospecting model?
Why? Because these sorts of low numbers are expected. Because that’s what sellers do. Because they’ve never learned the process of helping buyers manage their behind-the-scenes decisions they need to make.
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Tags: appointments, buying decisions, decision facilitator, offline, prospects, seller
Adding Buying Facilitation® to Consultative Sales: Friends
Dec 4, 2007 Decisioning & Change Management
As per my realization that the Buying Facilitation Method needn’t be juxtaposed with consultative sales, and is indeed an add-on skill, yesterday I introduced you to 3 of my consultative selling friends, Tony Parinello, Jacques Werth, and Jerry Acuff. Today I’m going to introduce you to 3 more folks – very different, and equally wonderful, to the first three.
Tags: buyer, Buying Facilitation®, consultative sales, decision making, decision process, seller, speaker
