If you’ve been in sales for long, you’ve probably heard people talk about “sales processes.” You might even work under one.
There are dozens of different “sales processes” being used in the marketplace. Some are pretty decent, some are basic, and some are extremely cumbersome. The good ones are simple and easy to follow. The best, however, mirror the buying process. The buying process is much more important than any seller-driven “sales process,” since the buying process reflects how your customer wants to buy, and how your customer makes buying decisions. Anytime you work with a “sales process” that doesn’t mirror and match your customer’s buying process, you’re trying to push a rope uphill. Winning at sales requires understanding how customers buy, and working with them to help them do so.
With that in mind, let’s look at the most basic of buying processes. I say “basic” because nearly every significant purchase made involves these steps at some level, in this sequence. One other note of significance is that some, or all, of these steps can be conducted by the buyer working alone, or can be accomplished by the buyer working in concert with a salesperson or salespeople.
- The buying process starts with motivation. Something (or someone) provokes a decision to investigate a purchase. This is where the “resolution” becomes crafted; for instance, if you’re selling telephone systems, something or someone has provoked your buyer to think, “Maybe we should buy a telephone system.” When salespeople think of activities like Prospecting, qualifying, and Appointment setting, these all fall under “motivation.”
- From motivation, the buying process moves to investigation. “Investigation” is the process by which the buyer’s needs and wants in a purchase are divined and prioritized, and applicable goods and services are measured against the needs and wants. Sales-driven activities including Discovery (or Questioning, or Needs Analysis) and Presentation fall under the Investigation phase. When this phase is complete, the buyer will have likely settled on a product/service (or “plan”) that he or she wants to evaluate for purchase.
- Next, the buying process enters the evaluation phase. This phase is simple, and involves answering a few questions: How much does it cost? Can I afford it? When can I get it? Will that work with my time frame? Essentially, the Evaluation phase means evaluating the product or service’s features and benefits in relation to the buyer’s desired budget and terms.
- Finally, the buying process hits the decision phase. The buyer takes all the available information, distills it into a few key buying issues (or “voting issues” using our debate analogy), and decides either to make a purchase (affirming the “resolution” and choosing a “plan”), or not to make a purchase (choosing the “negative”).
That’s it. Your “sales process” can have four steps or fourteen (or more, which I’ve seen), but if it doesn’t match the buyer’s buying process – or worse, if it creates obstacles to the buyer completing his or her buying process – you greatly reduce your chances of getting the sale. For this reason, one of the things we want to understand backwards and forwards is your buyer’s buying process.
Now take it a step farther, and start thinking about your business. How do your customers want to do business with you? When you get a handle on what your customers want in a buying process, you can design your sales process around it – and if you do, you will be far ahead of your competitors. Here are some ideas to help you get started (remember to think from your customer’s viewpoint, and not your own):
What information should you get from your customers before you recommend your products or services? Every good sales interaction requires questioning and discovery by your salespeople, but if you’re not asking the right questions, you’re wasting your breath.
What information does your customer want to know about your products or services? Be careful here: Often, the information we’re proudest of (and want to convey endlessly) is meaningless to your customers.
How does your customer want to purchase? Trying to force a contract on a customer that wants to buy transactionally is bad. In fact, it’s just as bad as wanting to SELL on a transactional basis when the customer wants a long term commitment.
How does your customer want to receive your product? One of the easiest ways to blow a relationship is to make it difficult for your customers to handle your deliveries.
