Each part of your sales presentation needs to be focused on getting you and the customer thinking about the outcomes they are going to receive when they buy from you.
This is a key reason why I push hard to find out as much as I can about the customer’s customer.
Who is it your customer deals with?
Why do they buy from them?
What are the benefits they’re gaining?
Key is in keeping the discussion in a downstream mode.
When I say “downstream mode,” I’m talking about what happens to what you sell after you sell it.
Regardless of what you sell, there is a downstream. If you sell office furniture, the downstream is in how it is used in the office and what do the people who use your furniture actually do? This is critical. It has nothing to do with the product features. It’s all about the outcomes the customer is going to receive from the people using the furniture.
If the furniture is going to be used in the Accounts Receivables Department, don’t you think it’s important for the employees to be super productive? Sure it is! The more comfortable they are as they sit at their desks, the more revenue they can bring in.
This is one example, but you can take whatever it is you sell and do the same thing.
Move the discussion to an outcome-oriented discussion. For the customer, the opportunity is huge, because they in turn will benefit even more from what you sell.
In B2B sales, the customer never buys anything. They only invest.
With that being said, the only investments they’re going to make are going to be those where they can achieve a significant return on investment. The bigger the outcome, the bigger the return on investment. The bigger the return on investment for them, the more they will be willing to pay you for what you sell.
It’s all about the customer’s outcomes.
Copyright 2013, Mark Hunter “The Sales Hunter.” Sales Motivation Blog.
One Response
Great post Mark. I really like what you said about buying “in B2B sales the customer never buys, they invest”.
I’ve think I have always thought about my clients as making investments in me and in my company but I have never heard it put quite like that.
That is one I will take with me.