Not why customers buy, but why prospects become customers

Prospects buy from your company because they establish a belief that your company offers the best value for their money. Customers buy from you for the same reason. But what key factors move a prospect with questions into customer with beliefs?   When you can identify these factors, you’ll get sales performance improvement.

Part of the answer is features and benefits. But what is it that finally moves the prospect from an awareness of the benefits you offer to a belief that he will receive those benefits from your company?  One benefit he must believe in is value, which includes price. Price is a stated fact. When you quote a price, that’s the price he will pay. But what little things (or big) will comprise the value you offer?

In addition to price, value includes strength or durability; it includes delivery or availability; it includes service or support, and it includes performance or facilitation. All these factors may be included in the sales presentation, but what makes them believable? Everyone has at least some testimonials. What is going to cause each buying influence to believe in your product and your company?  Determining these factors requires sales process analysis.  When you identify these factors, you will get productivity improvement.

Just to make your sales management job harder, each buying influence may have different factors that result in believability. And at least some of those factors will be hidden, or not obvious. It’s not a matter of just telling the truth, it’s a matter of what little things can go wrong – or will go right. It’s a matter of gaining confidence in your company, and its ability to deliver value. No supplier is perfect, so what are going to be your company’s imperfections?

What does your prospect know about your company when your salesperson walks in the door? What preconceived attitudes or beliefs does he have? What is it that is going to cause each buying influence to commit to your company? There’s a point at which every buying influence turns from negative or neutral to positive. There’s a point at which each buying influence believes that it will be worth the effort to exchange a known supplier for an unknown one.

Again, those factors may be different for each buying influence. What can you do to identify their concerns and reveal their decision criteria? The answer, is going to be different in almost every case. Thus, for effective sales management these questions must be asked, and then answered, in every case. For suggestions on how to answer these questions. ask for Knotes and Comments 201 (“Sales As A Production Process”) and 205 (“The Easiest Way To Increase Sales”).