From the morning coffee we buy, to where we go out for dinner, we all make buying decisions everyday. But have you ever stopped to think what factors crept into that process? If I asked you right now could you tell me the reasons why people buy? Moreover, could you create a sales training program or activity around it? Well after this post you will be able to answer all of those questions.
The fact of the matter is that there are a plethora of resources and opinions available on this subject. People argue that there are 5, 10 even 20 different reasons why we buy. While I do not disagree with any of them I do think that for the purposes of creating a sales training program you can narrow the focus to two broad categories — Gain and Pain.
Gain. The truth is that pitching gain to a client is tough. Its tough because you are selling the promise of something that may or may not happen if they buy your offering. You need a good relationship and a certain level of trust to close a sale based on the potential of gain. So how do we get that utopian world of trusted partner? Sales Training Tip #3 — Know thy Client, thy Position & Be Available — be a valuable resource and make yourself available to your client and not only when you stand to benefit. Understand what makes them tick, what they want out of their career and most importantly what power they have. It is important to present the organizational and individual benefits to each person throughout the process. Crucial in relaying gain is understanding the players within the organization — one sales training exercise is to select 1-3 clients/prospects and create a company hierarchy from existing contacts. Knowing who needs to sign off and how your offering benefits each of them will speed up the sale.
Pain. As I said earlier gain is hard, it requires time and trust. Pain on the other hand is much easier because a problem already exists. You are no longer pitching a theoretical ROI, you are providing a welcomed solution. The trick is not getting distracted by what a client wants to fix but rather what they need to fix. Sales Training Tip #4 — Want does not Win Sales. This is a cliche and yet somehow still one of the biggest mistakes all sales people make — assuming they know what their clients need. Ask questions, a lot of questions and don’t stop when you hear the predefined answer you were waiting for. Don’t stop until the client says “I need X”. One of my favorite sales training exercises to drive this point home is Jeopardy Role Playing. Like most role playing scenarios break out your learners into pairs, one customer and one salesperson. Then put a timer on each salesperson and see how long they can go without discussing features or solutions. They must, like a jeopardy player, always answer in the form of a question. Whoever goes the longest without cracking wins.
In summary, while clients buy for a variety of personal and business reasons, they all point back to pain or potential gain. Know who your clients are and be their business partner — not just another vendor. Moreover, never assume you know what your clients want or need, ask, ask and ask again. When you do those things you put the client first and that only leads to bigger and better sales.
