What is Your Prospect Thinking When?

So let’s see how the customer buying process comes together against your sales process, given the advent of the internet and social media.

You must keep your customer buying process at the forefront of your mind before every action you take with your prospect! We’re using this customer buying process:

1. Unaware of any need and blissful.
2. Starts to realize a problem or challenge.
3. Determines a need and begins to evaluate solutions.
4. Performs research on potential solutions. Interviews potential providers.
5. Makes a selection.
6. Finalizes contracts.

I cannot tell you how many times in my career I’ve seen the average sales pro launch a tactic that’s meant for Step X and they are at Step Y. The most common tactic is a “feature dump” of products/services at steps 1-2. As they say in the world of texting, “ohmigod”!! There is no way a prospect at the early stage of their buying process will listen to that. A better tactic might be to show them how you’ve helped other clients in their industry with potentially similar challenges, without one mention of your product/service.

Challenge: If you can get through an entire sale process without ever mentioning one feature of your product, you are the consummate sales pro and you deserve a raise and higher commissions! You are a Solution Seller!

Here’s another mis-applied tactic at the wrong time. We might tend to reference our competitors during Steps 1-3. “Lay traps” as I like to call it. The prospect isn’t even thinking about potential solutions and competitors yet! You’re done. Take a long walk off a short pier!

If you don’t “dance” with your prospect and follow their lead while they move through their buying process, you’ll be left on the dance floor all alone. Your challenge is to address the prospect’s need at every step. If they are at Step 2, help them see what a solution to their challenge will accomplish for them and their organization. If they are at Step 4, take your competition out by “laying traps” at Step 3 (more on “laying traps” later).

Now, what about the internet? While the buying process has not changed and never will, in my view, because it is human nature, certain tools like the internet will alter your prescribed tactics in order to align best with that customer buying process. Consider the following:

1. The internet is an incredible research tool that educates the prospect – remember, “Knowledge is power”!
2. Internet tools such as email, WebEx, GoToMeeting etc. take the face-to-face element from our prospect interaction. If you’re outside sales, this can be a real challenge. (See the last paragraph for a humorous anecdote on “outside sales”!)
3. Social media “spreads the word” like nothing in our history - we’ve come a long way since Paul Revere, eh?!

So what does this mean for you and your organization? A lot! You’d better be changing your sales process and tactics to meet these developments. Let’s talk more on that tomorrow.

Humorous Anecdote: I once interviewed a sales candidate for an outside sales position. He told me he wanted to be in “Outdoor Sales”! I tried to qualify his answer several times, and each time he came back with “yes, Outdoor Sales”. Hmmmmm………problem is, we weren’t selling golf carts, landscaping or shrubs.