Inside the Mind of Your Buyers

Posted by Amber Gilliss on Feb 2, 2012 in Relationship Marketing | 0 comments

No two customers are the same. To a small-business owner, that truism means paying close attention to what motivates people to buy. Customers approach buying with their own agenda, says George W. Dudley, chairman of the Behavioral Sciences Research Press, a Dallas, Texas-based research and development firm focused on sales productivity. For example, they could be shopping for specific product features, hoping to build a long-term relationship with the seller, or seeking a strong commitment to reliable service.

That means you should tailor your sales technique based on the primary reason your customer wants to buy. “We have our preferred selling style and it’s one we have built up with layers over time,” says Jeff Tanner, professor of sales and marketing at the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University. “I don’t always see entrepreneurs trying to understand the need from the buyer’s perspective.”

Here are six ways to close a sale by focusing on what motivates your potential customers to buy.

1. If the buyer is detail-oriented, then showcase the features of your product. Sometimes a customer just wants the facts and might be turned off if you ask lots of questions about his needs rather than give him information, Dudley says. These buyers will be well informed, having researched your offerings and those of your competitors. So pay attention to cues. If the customer’s office walls are covered with data charts or he asks for quantifiable results, chances are he’s most interested in the details of your product or service rather than the relationship he’ll have with you.

2. If the buyer doesn’t know what he needs, then be an advisor first. Some customers don’t know exactly what they’re looking for. That’s what Carrie Chitsey learned not long after she started 3seventy, an Austin Texas-based mobile customer-relationship management company in 2008. Initially, Chitsey concentrated on selling the technology her company offered, but eight months into running the business, she realized her customers often didn’t know what they needed. Such potential buyers require more guidance, particularly with technologies and other products they’re not well versed in, Dudley says. Now, instead of focusing on a particular product, Chitsey’s company advises customers and develops service platforms for them. “We were purely selling technology, and we changed it to more of a needs analysis,” Chitsey says.  [more...]