One of the biggest mistakes a salesperson can make is to think that a client only buys on price.
4 Types of Buyers
Recognise that there are four types of Buyers:
1. Price Buyer
2. Value Buyer
3. Relationship Buyer
4. Relationship/Value Buyer
One of the biggest mistakes salespeople make is to focus their efforts on price.
They think they are always selling to the Price Buyer.
Salespeople do this for many reasons.
Usually they do not have any sort of relationship with the client, have not positioned their product or service as unique, and do not offer additional options.
One of my client’s salespeople, for instance, identified a customer she thought bought on price, and made an appointment.
She presented a discounted option with lots of flexibility.
It seemed like a fair deal to her.
The buyer immediately recognised that this was a price sell, so he proceeded to negotiate an even better bargain for himself.
The salesperson returned to her company complaining that the customer had been unreasonable by pushing her for a better deal.
My reaction was, “Good on them.” The salesperson had positioned the price before the story.
Ask questions that open up a relationship
If she had spent time asking questions and getting to know the client, she might have actually triggered something else in the buyer’s mind.
She assumed that this client was a Price Buyer, when perhaps he was not.
Open up the sales space
By telling a story, getting excited about the opportunity to work together, it allows what I call a “sales space” to grow.
A sales space is where people make decisions about the person who is selling them something.
That space includes discovery questions asked by the salesperson, and gives both parties the chance to get to know each other.
The Buyer might think to herself, “I actually am warming up to this person. There is more substance there than I thought, and they are not trying to sell me straight off. Could I work with this person? Are they real and genuine? Do they give me confidence?”
Value is what your client wants
I believe that value is truly what your clients want you to bring to the table; the salesperson or businessperson must understand what the Buyer values.
Next week I talk about six ways you can add to your proposals to get your clients away from price and into value.
Good Selling.
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Mike Brunel started mikebrunel.com after being a successful entrepreneur and founder of NRS Media. He co-founded NRS Media in Wellington, New Zealand, expanded it into a global powerhouse in media sales and training, and was eventually responsible for opening offices in London, Atlanta, Toronto, Sydney, Capetown, and Bogota. He has hired hundreds of salespeople around the world.
He made a lot of mistakes when it came to hiring his superstars. Check out his How to Hire A Super Salesperson Each and Every time – It’s packed with tips and ideas on how to hire great salespeople. Don’t ever Hire Bad Salespeople Ever Again. Promise!