How Do Our Buyers Buy?

Most companies I work with are not typically struggling to close deals - they have no deals to open. They lack a qualified pipeline. Is this you? 

If so, it is easy to hit the desperation button and provide knee-jerk reactions to the situation, offer discounts and take calls with just about anyone. We need a process. A systematic, predictable set of steps lacking emotion that advances you and your buyer along the buying phases.

At a high level, we can consider the Buyer's Journey in 3 phases:

Awareness - Consideration - Decision.

Our buyers travel through these areas while making a purchasing decision. What I highlight is, what if they are not aware? Ironically, this makes up 97% of buyers.

Are they unaware that they actually have a problem? Unaware there is a better, quicker, more efficient way? Our role is to meet them where they're at.

How can we present new ideas and new ways of thinking about existing or pending problems they didn't know they had?

We are a few steps ahead of them, guiding them along a journey, informing them of possible landmines, setbacks and widening gaps if left unattended. Whenever someone effectively pointed this out to me in my business, I didn't feel I was being sold to. I considered them helping me. They educated me on the risks of continuing on my current path.

Financial risks, goal attainment risks, strategic risks, what other areas of my business may be impacted and the short - and long-term effects of this. When we really start thinking about it, our brain goes down a rabbit hole of "Wow, I really need to look into this." 

That is Step 1 - you've got them to pause and consider a new perspective, not a deal, just a different way of looking at the situation. The alternative is, "We're good, and we've always done it this way."

This is what top performers will do… Plant the seed. Introduce new ideas and potential risks and allow our buyers to think it was their idea. Why is this critical? Well, if I tell you straight out that is the problem and I have the solution, we are unfortunately conditioned to think of a typical salesperson trying to sell me something. This may not be the case, but this is the perception of our buyer. When we as sellers, can tee up the idea, share stories of others in similar situations, and share trends and insights that align with their role, and their stage in the business they start to connect the dots, this looks a little like us, or could be if we do nothing. When they do, it is magic. They are happy and proud they came up with the idea, ownership and accountability come with this. Now that they have realized there may be a better way, our role is to help them see it by co-creating the solution. 

Work together, sharing expertise to shrink the gap between where they are and where they want to be. Our solution is the bridge that brings them to the other side. But how do we get to talking about our solution? We lead them TO it Not WITH it.

Here are 3 ways we can move our prospects from the Unaware to the Aware phase that will have an impact on your pipeline:

1) Sell the Problem. What is happening in their industry that if left unaddressed will turn into a catastrophe? Some like to sell an opportunity or a goal, if your prospect has a goal you can align with, start there. However, the loss aversion theory suggests people are 2x more likely to avoid loss than they are to realize gain. They don't want to lose something. The problem they are facing will potentially impact other areas of their life, business, and loss.

 How can we shine a light on this? Make the invisible visible? Bring to the surface what they are not seeing. What triggers are happening in their role, business, and industry? This is where AI can be our friend, let it do the work and we can incorporate it into our messaging. Are new regulations being adopted, has there been a change in leadership or a new product? New players in the market? What are their buyers doing differently that is causing them to react in a new way? Think beyond our buyers. What about our buyer's buyers?

Bring this to the forefront otherwise, It makes it very easy for your prospects to choose the status quo. There is no discomfort here, it is easy to say "Call me back in 6 months" or "We are working on other priorities right now" These typical objections can be avoided. Dig deeper. What is the impact of these triggers on them? Their team?

Company? Reputation? What emotions are attached to it? As an individual what can't they do? We highlight the COI and the cost of inactivity. What happens if they choose the status quo? What are short-term and long-term risks? Financial, how does the competitive landscape change? Impact on shareholders? It is our job to go here, this addresses the question of Why Change and Why change now.

2) Align the problem with their business priority/ objective. This is an approach I used my entire 20-year corporate career in medical device and software sales. Where others were chasing features and benefits and further commoditizing themselves, I went high. High in the organization chart, spoke with the C-suite to understand what priorities they were focusing on this year. At

the end of the year, what 3-4 initiatives were they responsible for? They were already working towards these and not alone, typically with other task groups.

This allows you to multi-thread, and ensure you are dealing with more than one person. You also gather different perspectives and impacts of the problem based on the various roles, giving you clarity on the bigger problem, Above the Line focus. You are seen as a strategic partner, not a vendor. When you align the problem, you are focusing on and ultimately

your solution with the priority they are working towards you are helping them do their job. They are trying to Solve for X, and part of your solution contains X. They are working towards this anyway; how can your solution help them get closer to achieving their goal?

3) Look at KPIs, data doesn't lie. What we can't measure we can't manage. When we are selling the problem, often time in our buyer's head it may not seem as big as it actually is. They may be downplaying it as they don't have the bandwidth or desire to solve it now. How can we truly know what we are dealing with and the impact?

It may have spread into other areas of the business we are unaware of. Calculate the size of the problem. How much is it costing them monthly, quarterly, or annually? Is it preventing them from entering new markets, or damaging their reputation?  Understanding what KPI is impacted by this challenge is a good way to quantify the problem and get actual vs perceived impact. Most leaders manage activity metrics vs outcome metrics, when done correctly one should feed the other. When you have a set number of calls/meetings/ demos required per week, what activity metric is impacted when these activities are not achieved? What outcome metric do they influence? When we don't hit one, we don't hit the other. The number of deals in the pipeline, average deal size, and Sales cycle may be impacted. What outcome KPIs impacted sales revenue, win rate, and overall NPS score based on the experience we provided?  

When we can attach to a KPI we expose the true size and impact of the problem. 

In summary, as sales professionals we must meet our buyers where they are. If we are too far ahead our message doesn't resonate, they are still unaware, in denial. In their mind, they don't have a problem, why would they need a solution? If they are sophisticated and in the Consideration phase, gain some background information as to what got them to that phase and keep going. They have momentum and are energetically moving to where they want to go, go with them and guide them along the way. 

What one thing will you do differently that will help move your prospect into the Awareness phase?