SalesSHIFT E-zine September 2009: Are You Making it Difficult for Buyers to Choose You?

ARE YOU MAKING IT DIFFICULT FOR BUYERS TO CHOOSE YOU?

Last week I was in the "oral care" aisle of my local drugstore looking for a new toothbrush. You'd think this would be simple. Instead I stood there paralyzed by choice. Let me give you a sampling of the options that confronted me.

There was the cross action... the power whitening... the spin-brush pro clean...the spin-brush swirl...the gyro clean ...the 360 actiflex...the sonic....the advantage arctica ... the grip assist... and the power pulsating. The only thing that was pulsating was my head. I left without buying.

Our customers have a similar smorgasbord of sellers vying for their time, offering a myriad services, all of them with the "perfect" solution to the buyer's pressing business problem. And while choice can be a good thing, it can also be a burden.

Busy buyers crave simplicity. So the best question you can ask yourself when trying to gain access to a new client or grow an existing account is,

"How do I make it simple
for the customer to choose me?"

Here's some input to get you thinking..

Tighten up your prospecting messages.
If your messages are full of traditional features (professional staff, quality service) or general benefits (we'll save you money), you are making it really hard to choose you.

For two reasons ...

Firstly, citing "professional staff" is like Oral B saying "we clean teeth". Duh? It's a base expectation.

Secondly, general benefits make you sound like everyone else. Doesn't everyone "save the buyer money" these days?

Specifics sell. Do the work up front to find out what is a priority to this customer. Lead with this, and talk about specific benefits in relation to what matters to this customer now.

Focus on what your customer wants to buy, not what you want to sell.
Do your 50-page proposals include everything but the kitchen sink when the customer only needs a two page concept paper? Are you trying to sell the deluxe version when the customer only needs the base model?

Stop complicating the buying decision!

I recently watched two reps pitch the same service to a customer. Trevor was eloquent, very experienced, and had an arsenal of information about everything he could do for this client.

Steven was less polished but his presentation was concise. It focused on the two biggest client priorities and specifically how his company would address these issues now.

Guess who won the business?

Never forget that the selling continues without you.
What do I mean?
I mean you often have to rely on your contact - let's call him John - to make the internal pitch to other stakeholders. John is unlikely to possess a deep understanding of your offering's point of differentiation or your savvy sales skills.

If you want to make it easy for the unseen decision influencers to choose you, then fully prepare John to make the sale on your behalf. How do you do this? Find out the key buying motives for each individual involved in the purchasing decision. Then arm John with everything he needs to be an advocate of your solution in context of what motivates the others to buy.

Don't take happy customers for granted.
Even happy customers look at options. That's the power of choice. I eventually purchased an "electric-powered" toothbrush. I didn't go out looking for this considerably more expensive option. I was quite satisfied with the low cost "wrist-powered" model. Until someone I respected gave me all the reasons why "electric" was a better choice for me.

Even your best customers will eventually take you for granted and become vulnerable prey to your competition. So stay close to them and make it your mission to continuously find, and demonstrate, value in ways that are important to them.

Respect how your customers want to buy.
Every time we run customer focus groups for our clients we hear the same pet peeve, "Why don't sellers answer our requests for information accurately and fully the first time?"

Buyers are developing tight rules for purchasing decisions as a means to making decision-making less burdensome. Each purchasing decision has its own set of criteria and conditions. And, while you might not agree with them, you need to understand and respect them.

Bottom line - if you don't respond in full to their requirements ... you are making it hard to choose you.

Finally, remember every customer has his or her own unique set of criteria for each purchasing decision. Never assume you know what these are. My husband purchased a toothbrush last night. He made his decision in five seconds. His criteria - it's a brush and it's cheap - it will do the job.

Good selling!