Tweet

Mars and Venus – Part V. Buyers and Sellers Want to Close the Sale for Different Reasons.

Guest post by: Peter Lawless

Article Overview: Do you remember that last significant sale you made? Do you remember the buzz you felt from the exhilaration of closing? So what did your buyer feel at that stage? Do you know precisely why they felt the way they did? If you can not tell me for certainty, the real reason they finally made the decision to purchase, then maybe this article could help you close significantly more sales.

Mars and Venus – Part V. Buyers and Sellers Want to Close the Sale for Different Reasons.

Sellers generally sell Forwards

Unfortunately most sales people focus on the contract signature or the close date. This is normally due to pressure from their bosses, Commission plans or indeed outside investors.

Sales people and business owners need to make quota. And in many cases their entire focus is on the close, the contract signature.

So they are selling forward to the contract signature. Most sales methodologies also seem to focus entirely on the close. This is how most compensation plans, where sales people get a percentage of the sale have their focus.

Have you ever watched a high board diver? They go through a series of complex manoeuvres and manage to finish entering the water without a ripple. The perfect outcome to a great dive!

Having spoken to a high diver, I asked them what they focused on during the dive, was it the finish?

The way a good salesperson would focuses on the process of a sale the diver focuses on the individual stages of the dive. Each movement must be carefully choreographed and accurately undertaken. It is the combination of all properly executed actions that leads to the perfect finish.

If the Diver was to focus solely on the outcome, he might miss one of the crucial link points in the whole process, and thus blow the finish. The exact same is true in the sales process.

It is essential for the sales person to focus on all of the stages in the sale as they relate to the purchaser's buying process. By concentrating on the end-point of the contract signature, they could miss one of the steps and more importantly their focus will have been considerably different to the buyer's intent.


Buyers generally buy backwards

The buyer on the other hand is thinking about taking ownership. The contract is just one of many steps that they must undertake before they actually obtain that which they are hoping to purchase.

As opposed to the sales process the buying process would have the following key steps

* The buyer becomes aware of a need, want or pain
* They look for ways to meet their criteria
* They identify a number of possible solutions
* They evaluate each of the identified solutions based on criteria such as:
* Fit for purpose
* Value over a period of time
* Cost
* Quality
* Previous experience, either their own or another owner
* Relationship to the seller
* They create, normally with the seller, a plan for ownership and eventual use
* They agree to make the purchase
* They implement the plan, including any other actions, in addition to the specific purchase that need to be completed
* They make use of their purchase

While these are very generic steps, I am sure that you can see how they could be applied to nearly all purchases.

Does your sales process take into account what the buyer wants?

Related Articles
  Mars and Venus Part I. Sales people are from Mars, Buyers are from Venus - Introduction
  Mars and Venus Part II. "Moving towards" or "Moving away from".
  Mars and Venus - Part III. How does Venus know they got it right?
  Mars and Venus – Part IV. What makes sense to buyers?
  Business Brokers - How to Deal With Them As a Buyer?

Article Tags: business owners, compensation plans, contract signature, good salesperson, high diver, investors, manoeuvres, purchaser, quota, ripple, sales methodologies, sales person



Related Forum Posts
Re: Differences between men and women entrepreneurs - I appreciate what you've shared, Wendy. I understand what you mean about men needing a sounding board that they usually don't get from other men. I can't help but wonder if this is society that teaches them to hold their tongue and be brave to one another, while all along, they would conquer even greater enemies if they had that extra support from one another. No wonder executive coaching has given such great results in the business world. As far as the cave, I've been known to retreat to my own cave when I've gone into self protection mode. However, I would say I've experienced more "Venus" than "Mars". We may have some general gender differences, but each one of us is unique and special in our own way. This is why I feel that each one of us needs to focus on succeeding at being ourselves and not try to fit into anyone else's box. The reason I brought up this thread about what makes us women different is because some women find it a relief to hear that they are not the only women who struggle in the ways we've talked about.
Re: 10 Reasons Who Startups Fail & Book Recommendations - Great post,but please edit the headline. I presume it is "10 Reasons Why Startups Fail & Book Recommendation
Re: Are You Complying with the FTC? - A lot online marketers will run to Cyprus and other Islands to do their businesses. FTC rule or no rule the Internet is a global thing and still a wild wild west. Buyers should be careful and do due diligent before buying anything online
Patent information - I'm also interested in Part 2. Thanks.
Patent Process - Interesting to hear your experiences with the patent process - what's Part 2?


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Executives and Elevators Perfecting That Pitch

The Digital Diet by Daniel Sieberg

10 Steps to Excelling at Franchise Sales

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.