Prep the user to sell for you to the decision maker by anticipating the latter’s objections. There are different members of the buying centre of an organization and it is not a given that you will immediately sell to the right one. This is because the right one could be plural-in fact in B2B selling, it is plural. And going straight to the decision maker does not necessarily mean the sale is a given. For instance, the executive CFO may approve the use of your PDQ machine at his hotel, but it is the clerical receptionist that will determine whether it will be used or not. So you will need to drop your pride and sell to the ‘irrelevant’ too.
Prep the user to sell for you by educating him
So. As I was saying. Anticipate objections and prep the user on how to address them with the decision maker. But that’s his job you say? You must be a novice in selling then, so listen up. Do the buyer’s job to accelerate the sale. One of the ways to do so is to help the user ‘sell’ for you if you can’t do so yourself. “This VAT payment is increasing the cost,” the user says. The user here is a Sales Manager seeking sales training for his team. The experienced seller responds, “Unfortunately, VAT is a legal requirement.
When Finance raises the issue of cost, let them know they can knock off that VAT amount against what you are already charging on your products. Meaning they’ll remit less to KRA. Tell them that; they will understand.” And just like that the Sales Manager is empowered as evident in the spring in his walk as he heads to the decision maker to convince him to loosen the purse strings.
Make it easy to access the decision maker
“Tell you what,” the mortgage seller tells the husband who qualifies for it but from experience the seller knows, without the wife’s nod the sale won’t happen. He also knows that the man in the husband is too proud to admit this and it doesn’t help that the wife does not come to the office with him. So, he anticipates objections and subtly preps the user on how to address them with the decision maker. “We are hosting our prospective buyers at the site this Saturday. Here. Take this invitation card for you and your wife. We can talk some more on site.” The wise seller here has helped the buyer overcome an objection without even stating it. He has also found a way of accessing the elusive decision maker.
Shift perspective, eliminate risk
The SME owner notices the bank relationship manager is hesitant. So he prods: “Is it my listing on CRB that is the problem?” “Yes,” the RM responds. “The credit team will look unfavourably at this and likely deny you the lines of credit that you need.” (Lines of credit are a type of loan). The roles are now reversed; in this case, it’s the salesman that needs prepping. So the business owner says, “You know us and know we are sound. You also know why the listing happened and it has nothing to do with our character. Of course your credit department won’t see it as such. So, when pitching to them, ask them to start with the zero risk product. Bid bonds. We are happy to make our relationship with you performance based, and they will be the ones to determine performance. Is this OK?” The RMs hitherto sullen face suddenly lights up. “Yes, that can work.”
Anticipate the buyer’s concerns and objections before the sale, and prep the user on how to overcome them with the decision maker.
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