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An answer every salesperson needs.
“Why do people buy?” is a thousand times more important than “How do I sell?” No, let me correct that … it’s one million times more important than “How do I sell?” No, let me correct that … it’s one billion times more important than “How do I sell?” Get the picture?
I have just spent three days in our studio interviewing the customers of my customers, asking them “why they buy.” And the answers are a combination of common sense, startling information, overlooked issues, and incredible opportunity.It never ceases to amaze me that companies will spend thousands of hours and millions of dollars teaching people “how to sell,” and not one minute or not ten dollars on “why they buy.”And “why they buy” is all that matters.
You may think you know why they buy, but you probably don’t do anything about it. Proof?
Let me share with you the early warning signals that prove you may not have a clue as to why they buy.1. You get price objections.
2. You have to send bids or proposals.
3. They claim to be satisfied with their present supplier.
4. No one will return your call.
4.5 You are complaining that the economy is slow.
If these sound familiar to you, you may be in the big club.
I am going to present a collection of elements as to why customers buy. They are in no particular order, but they are valid reasons, which were given to me straight from the mouths of customers, from every type of business.
1. I like my sales rep.NOTE WELL: Liking Is the single most powerful element in a sales relationship. I got a quote the other day from someone claiming to be a sales expert. It started out saying, “Your customer does not have to like you, but he does have to trust you. “What an idiot. Can you imagine the CEO of the company, when making a buying decision, saying, “I trusted that guy, but I sure didn’t like him.” Like leads to trust. Trust leads to buying. Buying leads to relationship. That’s not the life cycle, that’s the life cycle of sales.
2. I understand what I am buying.
3. I perceive a difference in the person and the company that I am buying from.
4. I perceive a value in the product that I am purchasing.
5. I believe my sales rep.
6. I have confidence in my sales rep.
7. I trust my sales rep.
8. I am comfortable with my sales rep.
9. I feel that there is a fit of my needs and his/her product or service.
10. The price seems fair, but it’s not necessarily the lowest.
11. I perceive that this product or service will increase my productivity.
12. I perceive that this product or service will increase my profit.
12.5 I perceive that my salesperson is trying to help me build my business in order to earn his. My salesperson is a valuable resource to me.
Well, there are a few reasons to get your thought process going. If you discover yours, selling will be a snap. Go, do, now!
“Jeffrey,” you whine,“Tell me how!”
OK, here’s what to do.
1. Call six of your best customers.
2. Invite them to a seminar about how to build THEIR business
3. Offer GREAT food.
4. Tell them that there are also 15-20 minutes worth of questions you want to ask them about how to strengthen your relationship.
5. Craft six questions about how you meet their needs and what they look for in a vendor/partner.
6. RECORD the session. Video is best, but audio will do. Then listen to the recording 100 times.
I have given you some answers as to why customers buy. But the bigger question is: Why do YOUR customers buy? Think you know? Want a cold slap in the face? YOU’VE NEVER EVEN ASKED THEM! It amazes me that this answer is so obvious, yet so overlooked.
* Post was edited: 2004-09-06 10:56:00
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