Act Personable

Let's play a quick word game.

I say "salesperson," and you say ----?

Being in the profession, the terms that come to mind in this word game hopefully are positive. Perhaps "career" or "professional" came to mind. Maybe you went with "persistent" or "purposeful" or "relevant." (Bonus points for these key "What Buyers Want" behaviors!)

If you are a seasoned professional or even just getting started in your sales career, it is logical that terms we want our customers to use in describing us individually should also be the same ones that we're likely to use in describing an ideal salesperson.

But try this test on someone not in the business of selling and the answer may not be so positive. "Pushy" is a common adjective used to describe a salesperson. "Loud" is another, along with "talks too much" or "fake." Sometimes their experiences guide the choice of adjectives, but it may very well be the media, too. Sales people are not often portrayed in a positive light in movies and TV.

So what can you do to help erase that media stereotype or get people to at least occasionally think of salespeople in a more positive light? Be personable. The buyer is looking for evidence that the seller has similar values and is "like-minded." These internal similarities improve the odds of positive interactions.

Most sales training stresses that you seek to find ways to bond with your prospect, i.e.: compliment the children in pictures on his desk or ask about his golf game when the office décor indicates he or she is a golfer. Those are superficial connections, but if done with sincerity it can come across as personable and not a forced attempt to bond.

To step it up and become a trusted seller, listen to what the buyer wants. Does he want prompt delivery? Does he want you to be able get things done back at the office or in your warehouse? Does he want honest and timely communication?

Listen for those clues and use them to be more personable in your comments. "I hear you, Bob. It is important to me, too, that the warehouse meet your deadline and I will work closely with them to see that it happens. I won't let them disappoint either of us."

That's both good listening and it shows you have a common value in expecting good service. Anybody walking in to the buyer's office can see he plays golf; it is not so easy to see his attitudes and values. Building connections is part of being personable, friendly and becoming someone with whom the buyer can relate.

Go ahead and point out the cute kids and ask about the golf game. Just remember that what buyers want is a salesperson who is trained not just to note the obvious but who is interested in building a dependable, professional and personable relationship.

Why Do B2B Buyers Fear Making A Purchase?

I have a friend who is a senior level purchasing decision-maker for a national organization. Like me, he's in his fifties and has been interacting with vendor partners for over twenty years. From time to time he is prone to outbursts. Not violent outbursts, just stress induced verbal projections at which time he'll shout, "vendors! They're all just a bunch of lying whores!"

Now, my friend is generally a very kind man. But once or twice a year he'll get burned by a "seller's commitment gone wrong". And because I've also been a senior level decision-maker, I find a great deal of humor in his editorial on the current state of b2b buyer/seller relationships. (As a side note, I have no misperception that many senior level salespeople don't feel the same way about their customers!)

But, the point here is that my friends' commentary is exactly why b2b decision makers have a hard time making a purchase decision. The reality is that virtually every b2b buyer has been burned at some point by poor after-sale product/service performance. They've been letdown by the gap between what they thought they would get and what they actually got!

People with b2b purchasing authority typically have many other duties and obligations besides working with vendors. Their main job may be in managing operations, accounting, marketing, production or some other department. So they have bosses to manage and subordinates to look after as well as their on-going administrative duties. Post-sale drama takes up their time, costs them political capital within their organization and is often their major source of stress as resolution is out of their control.

So what do buying decision makers do to alleviate the stress of making a purchase? (Besides swearing?) Easy: they look for the decision that is the easiest to defend in the event something does go wrong.

• They go with vendors they've used in the past because "gosh, we've never had a problem with these guys before!"
  
• They pick the lowest price provider so they can argue that any money saved was put aside to deal with the eventuality of a problem down the road.
  
• They buy from a referral so they can spread the blame around or at least add to their justification for which they selected.
  
• They'll say "well I just gave these folks a trial order in the hopes that we could expand our line-up, I guess they failed the test!"
  
• 
  

In short, they look for any help in justifying their partner selection.

If you want to get more new business, or a bigger share of your current customers business, then you need to be the safest choice. Not the cheapest choice, the most dependable choice.

Prove that you have the power, influence and desire to protect your clients from post-sale trauma. Prove it through the actions that you initiate with your customer base every day. I'll share these with you in future articles. If you want to know more now visit www.whatbuyerswant.net

 

Actions Speak Louder Than Words in B2B Sales

I've written of the inconsistency of how b2b salespeople focus their energy in selling versus what buying decision-makers actually are looking for from a vendor. Sellers are taught to focus on pre-sales activities and buyers are looking for predictors of how well they'll be supported after they make the purchase.

Sellers focus on presenting product or service features and making support commitments (words—often lots of words), and the customer is trying to predict performance (actions—or lack thereof). In making predictions, buying decision-makers have learned that words are not enough; every salesperson is well armed with those. All sales people know how to make promises!

What buyers look for are actions. They look for activities that allow them to predict that they are important to the seller, and that the salesperson has the chutzpah to see their commitments through.

Every decision-maker with buying authority has had the same experience. Usually it happens early in their career. They establish an emotional connection to a salesperson based on personality profiling. "Oh, Joe is such a great guy, he reminds me of my buddies at college, he'll never let me down!" And then he does! Joe makes the sale and is out on his next conquest. The buyer has a disappointment with the product and Joe is nowhere to be found.

Buyers want to avoid post-purchase trauma at all costs. Post-sale support failures cost them time and political capital. They learn early to look for the seller that will be there after the purchase and help them deal with any and all potential service disappointments.

So what helps the buyer predict good post-sales behavior on the part of the salesperson? Actions!

• Actions that demonstrate the seller cares about the buying organization and has a history of success.
  
• Actions that predict the seller is predisposed to post-sale support and understands the buyers internal organizational stressors.
  
• Actions that show power and influence within their own organization so they can see through on their commitments.
  
• Actions that show respect for the decision-maker's time.
  
• Actions that help the buyer win support from co-workers and internal customers.
  
• Actions that position the seller as trustworthy.
  

  
   

In short, there are specific actions that help the buyer get over their fear of making a purchase. Without those actions, the buyer is left with defending their purchase because they got "the lowest possible price". If you don't want to be the low-price guy, then be the 'best possible partner' guy and demonstrate exceptional post-sales support behaviors!

Post-Sales Behavior Key to Winning B2B Sales

As the SVP of Purchasing for a national buying cooperative, I've worked with hundreds of professional decision makers in evaluating salespeople from some of the most prestigious companies in the country. I can tell you with certainty that successful companies selling to other businesses, do not send in shoddy representatives.

 

The salespeople that enter a business looking to extend or begin a b2b relationship are good-looking, articulate, well-trained, personable folks who are comfortable in business settings communicating with other professional business people. Yes, there are minor differences in personality types and corporate culture matches, but generally, professional salespeople can make the client comfortable with them on a personal level fairly quickly. The days of a corporate representative's stereotype being overbearing, pushy or crass are largely over.

 

And that's the rub with professional salespeople. For the most part, the individuals on any sales team can easily move to a competitive sales group and you'd never know the difference. In fact, I was involved in numerous committee style vendor review panels. In these panels, a representative group of our cooperatives' decision-makers would hear presentations from up to six prospective vendor teams in a single day. At the end of the day our committee would have dinner together to 'download' our impressions of the days presenters.

 

It was common to have someone from the committee remark how similar the presentations were. In fact, one gentleman challenged the group, "If you recorded every presentation that day and bleeped out the company names, who here could tell the difference between the presentations?" Upon momentary contemplation of the question, there was a wave of laughter that swept over the room. After much discussion it was agreed that every presentation was remarkably similar. Same tone, same style, same general information with very similar 'here's why our customers choose to do business with us' commentary.

 

The reality is that pre-sales interactions with virtually any reputable company are very similar. There is very little chance to separate yourself from your competitors with words alone.

 

So if most salespeople look the same before the sale is made (in the courtship phase if you will), how do buyers decide with whom to do business? Professional decision-makers use a formula to predict how well the salesperson will support them after the sale. That's right, buyers focus on what happens AFTER the sale.

 

And that is the disconnect between most sales training and the sellers subsequent performance. The salesperson is taught to focus on one-to-one communication styles, presentations and pre-sale meetings. The buyer is judging them on how well they predict the salesperson will perform after the sale is made. Two completely different scales.

 

Why do buyer's focus on the seller's post-sales behaviors? That one's easy. Because that is were the good salesperson pulls away from the pack. Pre-sales skills (selling features and making promises of post sale support) are easy to learn and express by most people. But having the power and influence to see their promises through are not so easy.

 

In fact, that's the real lesson I learned as a professional with buying authority: every salesperson knows how to make promises. It is the exception that can prove they have the internal influence to see them through! Successfully position yourself as a person that can benefit the buyer after the sale is made, and you'll set yourself apart from the competition and improve your sales results.

 

I'll tell you how to accomplish setting yourself apart in future articles. If you want to learn more now go to ww.whatbuyerswant.net

4 Keys to Delivering Bad News to your B2B Customer

No matter how effectively you plan, or how effective you manage your accounts, the day always comes when you have to call a customer with bad news. A product didn't ship, or there was a delay in manufacturing, or someone just dropped the ball. No matter what the reason, delivering the bad news often falls on the sales person.

Being prepared to deliver the news in a professional manner is the mark of a good salesperson. In a business-to-business selling environment, delivering bad news should be done with an eye on protecting the relationship you have carefully built with the customer. The two key elements in building trust with a buyer are to be adaptive and responsive and this is truly put to the test in handling problems.

A cornerstone of the What Buyers Want philosophy is that business decision-makers are most concerned with a salesperson's post-sales behavior, and problem responsiveness is the most important behavior they look for in awarding trust.

1. Expeditious information
   

   If you really want to infuriate your buyer, let them find out the bad news from someone besides you (especially if they find out from someone in their own organization). When you contact the buyer to share the news, demonstrate your courage and integrity by cutting straight to the chase. Make sure to have a prepared list of information in front of you detailing the problem, because your buyer will have lots of questions…and expects answers quickly.
   

   
    

2. Options
   

   If there was ever "one truth" about buyers, it is that they love options; give them as many options as possible. Before you make that dreaded call, come up with a prepared list of options that your boss has approved. Despite the fact that something terrible has happened, it shows that you are working hard on their business and trying to fix the situation, instead of leaving them to dangle in the wind.
   

   
    

3. Know why the problem occurred and the steps taken to assure that it won't happen again
   

   Show the buyer that your company has taken steps to ensure the mistake won't be repeated in the future. Also, make it clear that you've thought through the situation. Explain your solution. Show that your firm is doing its best to minimize the impact to the buyer. Waive or delay buyer costs when possible; obtain cost breaks, if applicable. Provide suggestions about how to "position" this news to others in the organization.
   

   
    

4. Sincere apology and a request for clemency
   

   Say you're sorry, and then hush. Don't elaborate further; give the buyer time to absorb the sincerity of your statement. Lastly, close the conversation by asking the buyer for his ongoing support.
   

   "Jim, I'd like to know if I can count on you to accept my apology and continue to work with me to keep our business relationship moving forward"
   

   Then, zip your lip. As difficult as it is, do not speak until the buyer digests what you've said and voices a response.
   

 

Why does it matter how you deliver bad news? When you do it the right way, the buyer eventually reaches a point where it's difficult to continue seething.

 

"What Buyers Want" in a tough situation are honesty and a sales person with the integrity to deal with problems head on. With the additional focus on being adaptive and responsive, these tips always work well for the trusted business-to-business seller.

Developing Top-of-Mind Awareness

Some sales trainers teach that persistence is a horrible idea. If you start to suspect that the buyer is just "kicking the tire" the sales person is often instructed to cut the prospect loose. My experience finds that philosophy is not applicable in the B2B marketplace.

As a SVP of purchasing for a national company, it was the persistent salesperson that won my business. How did they do this? They developed top-of-mind awareness, so when I was ready to talk to them, I knew who they were, where they were from and what they were selling.

The American Marketing Association says 27 touches are required before people will buy anything new. It takes an average of 5 'touches' just to get an appointment, yet 50% of salespeople give up after the first touch. here are some actionable tactics that you can pursue that will help your message be relevant to a buyer without appearing like the proverbial "pain in the posterior."

You can't develop top-of-mind awareness with a buyer unless you provide frequent "reminders" that you exist. The very best salespeople have worked long and hard to establish a strong working relationship with their buyers. Make contact about once every two weeks in the earliest stages of prospecting. Keep in mind some of the other key communication behaviors in these early calls: be targeted, be relevant, and be purposeful. Using tactics outlined in "What Buyers Want" keeps persistence from crossing the line into irritation.

After developing rapport with your buyer, reaching out to your buyer once every couple of months should be adequate to maintain top-of-mind awareness if the timing for a sale wasn't quite right when you initially were prospecting.

Whether it's due to caller ID or just a busy buyer, expect to reach your prospects voicemail an average of three times before getting through, so...be persistent! Since you should plan on being put through to voice mail, consider it a free advertisement. It's an ad that makes your buyer aware of who you are, what your company does and what you can do for them. (See our article on targeted communications for more on voicemail messages.)

Finally, persistence does not mean you shouldn't vary your methods of contact. Until you know for certain how your prospect prefers to communicate with you, it's best to cover all your bases by changing your method of contact. Plus, by changing communication vehicles, it's a great way to demonstrate your persistence without crossing the line to irritant, or worse yet, a pest. Two voice messages, a follow-up e-mail message, a customized letter or package sent via snail mail or another voice message "touches" the buyer differently than call after call with virtually identical voice messages.

"What Buyers Want" is a sales rep that is persistent in his communications, reflecting commitment to their buyer and his needs.

To find out more about "What Buyers Want," check out our website at www.whatbuyerswant.net

Grabbing your buyer's attention: Purposeful communications

The customer always needs to feel like there is momentum in the relationship, and knows where things stand at any given time. Some of the best sales persons that I've had the pleasure of working with always ensured that each piece of communication had a stated purpose for occurring.

A phone call might confirm an upcoming appointment or may provide follow-up information from an earlier face-to-face meeting. E-mail can also confirm a meeting or reinforce information, but may provide more specific details than a quick phone call. With an identified purpose, I know that sales person is not going to waste my time.

Imagine two voice mail messages that the customer picks up one morning.

Message number one:

"Hey Bob. John from Acme Tools here. Sorry I'm calling after hours but I've been on the road the past week and phone time has been hard to find. I wanted to catch up when you have a minute, so...give me a call tomorrow when you get a minute, OK? I'm at 555-555-5555."

Message number two:

"Hi Bob. This is Tom Johnson from Baxter Tools. When we spoke last week I promised to check on the price of some components on the R-17 for you, and I just got that information late today. Call me anytime tomorrow and I can go over the details with you. I'll e-mail you the information, too, before I head out this evening. You can reach my direct line at 211-555-5555. Thanks, Bob."

If I'm returning one of those calls, Tom has my attention. It's brief, tells me why he called and also provides an e-mail to confirm his message. John might get a call back, if time allows, but I really don't know why he called and I may easily decide to wait for him to call me back instead.

Let's not forget that some sales people like a personal touch- it doesn't always have to be all business. If a customer is a baseball fanatic for their local team, throwing in a game comment in a voicemail or e-mail won't derail your purpose in calling-as long as that purpose is still clear and the message brief. If Tom added this to the above message, has he fouled out or still likely to get to first base? (No second base jokes; I don't know Tom that well yet.)

"Hi Bob. This is Tom Johnson from Baxter Tools. Did you catch the Phillies last night? That was a great game- wasn't sure they could pull it out in the ninth, but they did it! Anyway, when we spoke last week I promised to check on the price of some components on the R-17 for you..."

if Tom knows his customer likes baseball, the comment seems reasonable-quick, and it relates to the customer but doesn't bog down the message with an instant replay of the game. (writing from the home of the Kansas City Royals, I rarely have sales people dwell on recent games so please note these are purely hypothetical examples based on ancient memories of a team with a winning record.)

What Buyers Want: A reason for your communication. Whether it is a face-to-face meeting, a phone call or e-mail have a point and get to it. Your customer will be much more receptive to your next call when they know you respect their time and can keep to the designated point.

For more information on What Buyer's Want: please visit www.whatbuyerswant.net or e-mail me at mark@whatbuyerswant.net

How to grab your buyer's attention: Making your communication relevant

Top salespeople succeed at getting noticed. They know how to get the buyers attention and create awareness because they make every single encounter relevant to the prospective buyer. your ability to present information in a concise, clear and to-the-point manner is what most affects message relevancy. Why? Concise, clear communications stand a better chance at being read, regardless of their timing. Here are some ways to make sure that your message is relevant to the buyer.

The first tactic to ensuring that your message is relevant is to keep all of your informational exchanges brief, clear and to the point. In your exchange, use executive summary formats, grouping like points together and label similar information with short, easy-to-read subheadings. Another great way to be relevant when sending hyperlinks is to send your prospect a specific link, rather than a web address and making them find the information on their own.

The best salespeople "translate" their marketing group's messages to make them precisely relevant to the specific audience they want to reach. This includes industry jargon, coding and specific terms that should stand out in your communication.

Lastly, showing your product is relevant to the prospective buyer is to use stories. Relevant stories work! Choose stories that are relevant to the buyer's situation and that support the message you need to relay. Interestingly, studies have shown that relationships begin to develop when people disclose information about themselves to other people.

For more information on What Buyers Want; please check out www.whatbuyerswant.net and click on the products tab to see actual clips from a recent seminar in Kansas City!

A1, What Buyers Want

Ever heard that saying "For want of a nail...the war was lost?" it suggests that if you focus too hard on the little mundane details, you may lose sigh tof what's really important- winning the war! Buy I'm here to tell you that sometimes it's the little details that really matter in building and managing business relationships and the "little things" can put you ahead of the competition when dealing with a buyer.

Bueyrs are busy enough before you walk in the door or give them a call. If you can save your buyer even a little more time and effort, not only will they be appreciative, they also will remember that effort in the future. If you're sending out a booklet or catalog bigger than a couple of pages, write a quick personal note adn make the message relevant.

Put your note on the inside cover or shoot the buyer a quick e-mail saying "Tom, the products you're interested in are on pages 45-49, the rest of it is worthless to you. I'll call you later on in the week to discuss details of our products on those pages, have a great week. -John Doe." Hardly any of the salespeople that called on me did this, and the ones that did had a huge advantage when I came to choosing my rep.

In addition, a personal note increases the buyers curiosity and the odds that your material will be read sooner than later. When I received a 60-page catalog filled with junk I didn't ask for and no note from the seller, the catalog found its way to the far end of my desk where, to borrow from Verizon, it was forever lost in "the dead zone."

Another little detail often overlooked: prepping for common buyer questions. Buyers often ask themselves these questions every time they receive a communication from a rep. Before the buyer has time to wonder the vast possibilities of answers to these questions, make sure you have a response lined up for them, and don't wait for them to ask, make sure you tell them in your introduction.

1. Why am I receiving this communication?
2. How did you get my name? (If it was a reference, make sure to name the reference so the buyer knows you are recommended by a trustworthy source)
3. Do I know this person? (i.e. you! Have you met before, Been at a meeting together?)
4. Is this product important to me, the buyer?
5. Is there any reason I should pay attention?

Make it easy for the buyer to see the relevance of your communication and your message will get read. These little things may not win you the way, but it keeps you in the battle.

What Buyers Want: reassurance that time spent with you today can pay dividends tomorrow.

For more information about "What Buyers Want" or to sign up for our newsletter, please check out http://www.whatbuyerswant.net