Getting Into Your Buyer's Shoes

Copyright (c) 2006 Progress-U Ltd.

The story

A few weeks ago, I met Chris* at a networking event. We
chatted about what his company was doing and what my
business was all about. He quickly realized that his
company's online solutions could be beneficial for us and
said, "Charlie, we should really meet soon so that I can
show you our solutions that can lead you to more business."
We had fairly good rapport and my company was then
currently considering improvements to our online approach,
so I was willing to respond to his suggestion.

A few days later, Chris called me and we set a meeting.
During the meeting, he showed me a brochure with all his
company's solutions and kept asking whether this or that
solution would be of interest to me.

We finally nailed down one area of immediate interest and
three areas for future consideration out of the list of
around 10 solutions. Then I asked a few technical questions
that Chris could only partially answer, so he suggested
that I meet one of their software engineers for further
clarifications. This was fine with me, especially because
the engineer provided me with more satisfactory answers.

Before I left, Chris promised to send me a quote for the
more immediate requirement, including some of the options
that were briefly mentioned by the engineer. I received the
proposal a couple of days later, and after a few more days,
Chris called me to check if I received the quote and if
everything was clear.

Let's see which aspects of Chris's approach are in line
with the "Stop Selling!" approach, and then I'll discuss
what a person with the "Stop Selling!" mindset would have
done differently:

In line with "Stop Selling!"

The responsiveness and reliability that Chris displayed was
perfectly fine and gave me, his potential buyer, the
feeling that his is a credible, trustworthy company.

Even if Chris did not have full technical competence, it
was not an issue for me as a buyer - I appreciated his
efforts in having the engineer answer my questions.
Furthermore, the situation assured me that in future
dealings, he wouldn't suggest solutions unsuited to my
expectations, and that he would understand my expectations
in the first place.

The way I was received at his office was very welcoming and
certainly immediately improved the already existing good
rapport - an important basis for building trust.

What I would have done differently

It actually started at the networking event. As a potential
buyer, I found it way too premature for Chris to claim that
his company's solutions will lead my company to more
business. If he would have shared that his company's
solutions helped other companies similar to mine, it would
have been much more attractive and believable to me.

Also, instead of saying "can show you our solutions", I
would have preferred if he said something like "I would
like to discuss with you what you are doing today and what
your potential is for more online business in the future."
This way, he would have focused on my interests
(potentially more business) as opposed to his (their
solutions that he wanted to sell).

During our meeting, Chris immediately presented his company
brochure with his company's products to see whether any of
them would interest me. I would have preferred if he asked
about my business first and what kind of online solutions
we already had in place. He could have helped me discover
which aspects of my current solutions work for me and which
aspects create difficulties. Also, we could have developed
a vision for my online business for the next couple of
years and then together work out a plan on how to get
there. His company's products could have been tools to make
this plan a reality, and if they turned out unsuitable or
insufficient, I would have been grateful for his
suggestions on who else could help complement their
solutions. As a next step, we could have discussed how to
create the cash flow from the online business to pay for
the necessary - perhaps high-cost - tools. Eventually, it
could have even ended up in a strategic partnership with
his company.

Chris was not able to deepen the trust to a level that
would have made this kind of exploration possible. To me as
a buyer, it was quite obvious that his main interest was to
sell any of their products even though he didn't do it in a
pushy way. Instead, we stayed at the product level and in
situations such as this, customers end up either buying a
small solution, which will lead to some improvements, or
buying nothing at all.

Conclusion: If you are focused on selling your product
rather than on the best possible outcome for your potential
buyer, you might miss out on great opportunities and will
become a mere product consultant. Instead, if you coach
your buyer through his best buying decision, you will not
only create first-class relationships but will also expand
the potential for doing business with your prospective
buyers.

----------------------------------------------------
Charlie Lang's mission is to change the image of sales
through the completely buyer-oriented Stop Selling!
approach. He is a passionate and professional executive
Coach, Trainer, Public Speaker and Author of over 100
articles related to leadership, coaching, change management
and innovative sales. For more info visit
http://www.progressu.com . To receive his complimentary
monthly articles on sales or leadership, visit
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