How aligned are you with your customers?

When I spoke with Raymond, he was confused.  “I thought he was ready to commit to the order” he said, “but when I presented the final promotional contract, he said he was still considering another offer”.

Raymond and his buyer obviously weren’t aligned in their separate perceptions of where they were in the buyer-seller journey.

Most of the reasons sales fall through is that the sellers perceptions and a buyers willingness to commit are misaligned.

Achieving alignment can be difficult.

In the last post, I discussed how creating buyer personas can assist you in your selling. By assessing the motivations, behaviours and needs to buyers you are better able to pitch your offer with the buyers needs.

Today i’d like to introduce the concept of the buyers journey, and in a subsequent post describe in more detail what that journey is.

Frequently, Sales Reps are busy pitching their products without listening to their Buyers.  They sometimes seek a commitment while the Buyer is still defining their problem.  This is “misalignment” with the Buyer’s process.  This is how a Sales Rep will lose the deal to the competition. Especially if the competition is listening to what the Buyer needs.

How alignment can be achieved?

Understand therefore, where YOU should be pitching your product in your selling process and match this to the buying process.

buyer seller alignment

 

Don’t worry if you don’t understand each of these sections, i’ll explain them later in a separate more detailed post.

I found that “market visits” or “Ride Alongs” with Sales Reps on live sales calls provided tremendous insights for me as a manager. I have conducted hundreds of them and Raymond’s dilemma- described above-  is precisely what happened on many visits. In this case  I was along to ink the final deal, and Ray was embarrassed I didn’t get to do the ceremonial signing. But it did provide me with an opportunity to coach him on both understanding the buyers journey and the need for buyer-seller alignment .

The Benefits of Alignment

Sales people that follow a Sales Process aligned with the Buyer’s process are more successful. Based on Sales Benchmark Index research, B2B companies and their Sales Reps see the following benefits of buyer-seller alignment:

  • Close 1/3 more deals
  • Reduce sales cycle time by 50%
  • Increase average deal size by 2X

These are tangible benefits to you to have your sales process aligned with the Buyers process, and this insight is often missed in many sales training courses, where the focus is making the sale, rather than enabling the Buyer to buy.

5 Best Practices to Align with the Buyer

Successful sales people gain a deep understanding of the Buyer’s decision-making process as a route to success. Then they precisely align themselves with the Buyer.  Synchronising their message with the exact questions the Buyer is asking at that moment.

Buyers don’t care about your product.  They care about solving their problems. Follow these 5 best practices to ensure you are aligned with your Buyer.

1. Understand the Buyer’s Journey.  Typically there are 8 steps an individual takes when they make a buying decision- and the next article will uncover these steps in more detail.  It is critical you understand the steps your buyers take.  Know what questions they ask themselves all along the way.  Anticipate the pieces of information they need.

2. Listen to the Buyer. The Buyer will tell you exactly what’s on their mind maybe not directly but by using verbal and non-verbal cues. They will exhibit readily observable behaviours. We also have a series of questions to ask yourself to discover where a buyer is in the process and when they are ready to move to the next step.These cues and behaviours point to where they are in their decision-making process.

3. Align with the Buyer.  When you listen and observe, you can tailor your message.  So if the Buyer needs help defining their problem, don’t rush to get a contract ready.  Focus on the needs of the Buyer, not your bonus. This Buyer-centered approach assures you speak in terms relevant to the Buyers real problems. Not only will you earn their trust, you will provide a better solution.  You will demonstrate the value of your product and maintain or improve your margin.

4. Help the Buyer move to the next stage. This is a BUYING process, not a BROWSING process. Buyers have a problem that needs a solution and your role is to help them move this process so they have a real sustainable solution implemented.  Understand how to move the buyer into the next stage of the buying journey to make progress.  Each step in the process has a means of moving on. Your role in sales is to move them forward by providing them with the necessary information to conclude one phase in the buying process and move to the next. The questions you need to answer to ensure you move to the next stage at the right point will be reviewed in the next article.

5. Provide Leadership. Throughout the process you need to continually add value.  Your insights should be specifically relevant to the Buyer’s situation to add value and to move them onto the next step in their search for a solution to their problem. Lead the Buyer to a purchase of YOUR solution over that of your competition because you know your solution is better for the buyer.

As I’ve said, in a subsequent article I’ll review the steps of the buying process, the questions that a buyer needs answering, and how you can move them to the next phase. Please share your stores about misalignment with buyers and sellers I’m sure we’ll all enjoy them.

One Reply to “How aligned are you with your customers?”

Comments are closed.