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Matching the Right Type of Salesperson to Your Customers

Written by: Peter Gilbert

Article Overview: The most successful sales managers recognise that all good salespeople must have certain vital skills and motivations. The degree and type required, however, will vary according to what customers need in order to use the product or service. The best strategy is achieved by matching salesperson skills, focus, and motivation to best serve these needs. Market and customer analysis by The HR Chally Group has identified four distinctly different types of customers. They, in turn, respond most positively to four different types of salespeople: - Closers - Consultants - Relationship - Display (Friendly Order Takers)

Matching the Right Type of Salesperson to Your Customers

The most successful sales managers recognise that all good salespeople must have certain vital skills and motivations. The degree and type required, however, will vary according to what customers need in order to use the product or service. The best strategy is achieved by matching salesperson skills, focus, and motivation to best serve these needs.

Market and customer analysis by The HR Chally Group has identified four distinctly different types of customers. They, in turn, respond most positively to four different types of salespeople.

Understanding Market (Purchaser) Types

Truly new products are typically purchased either by technical experts (who must buy new technology to remain expert) or (more frequently) by visionary "gateswingers" or “early adopters” who have never used that product--–- for example, the state-of-the-art dermatologist who buys a new style laser for removing skin blemishes but hires an expert to operate the equipment. Even so, most brand-new products must seem exciting yet be simple enough to understand the benefit. The gateswinger, then, doesn't want 20 different features from which to choose.
The new "system" buyer is an inexperienced but real user. This could include a financial services buyer who must select asset managers. It could also be a computer system user. Once this person becomes knowledgeable on usage, he or she becomes an experienced and more controlling user of the established system.

Commodities buyers have become so totally experienced with a product or service that the purchase and usage are completely standardised and often delegated as a routine function ... when was the last time you asked how to use an electric pencil sharpener?

Understanding the Basics of Customer Needs
Customer need is largely driven by two factors:
1. Complexity of using a product/service
2. Experience or expertise in its use or application
In Chally research, we have found that intuitive gateswingers need an emotional appeal stimulated by "closing" salespeople in order to buy.

Inexperienced but real users have both substantial technical and application support needs and purchase and delivery needs that must be met by a "consultive" sales approach in order to use their system.

Experienced and demanding users no longer have high technical and application support needs. However, they continue to have pressing purchase and delivery needs that include a major personal component with a "relationship" salesperson to provide ongoing support, advice and service to ensure that the product or service actually delivers the value that was promised.
Typically, only two needs predict commodity buying behaviour from "display" salespeople (friendly order takers): price and convenience.


CUSTOMER NEEDS

Determining Customer Needs
Actually identifying and analyzing customer needs, those that influence buying behaviour and those that predict buying behaviour, is an emerging research science being pioneered by The HR Chally Group. It is a sophisticated process involving scoreable executive interviews that lead to quantifying qualitative, open-ended data.
Matching the Right Salesperson
Matching the right salesperson to customer needs, then, requires an understanding of the four types of salespeople:

A Closing Salesperson is required if a product is new and truly unique based on state-of-the-art technology, or is otherwise unfamiliar to the prospect. Customers are completely inexperienced in product usage. However, a decision to buy is fairly simple because it must be more intuitive and it's usually only the top corporate executive or someone with total authority who is able to buy. The primary needs driving customer interest are the desire for a unique competitive advantage, and that the buyer is innovative and a trend setter.

A Consultive Salesperson is required if a product is an advanced, high-tech "system" that must be integrated into the customer's present operation. These systems often replace older, established systems. They provide more cost effectiveness or expanded capacity. Customers are typically inexperienced in the new technology. The purchase decision is complex, since it represents a change from current operations and involves multiple decision-makers who must decide on different feature and option alternatives. Customer needs include design assistance, basic use and benefit education, installation, employee user training, and service support throughout implementation. Large ERP or CRM systems would be good examples.

A Relationship Salesperson is required if the products are consumables, component parts or subassemblies to be used in larger systems. The product technologies are well understood by the customer, but features and options typically change with different customers and orders. Customers, themselves, are experienced with the products. However, the decision to change suppliers is complex, involving multiple people and trust in the new supplier's service capability and commitment. Customers need assurance that product specifications can be met and capabilities exist to respond to variations in product specifications and their delivery needs. Supplier loyalty will guarantee a long-term relationship.

A Display Salesperson is required if products are standardised, commodity products or services. Customer companies are completely experienced in the product's uses and applications. Decision complexity is low since only one or two administrative or purchasing buyers make the decision, and features and options are standard. Only two needs typically impact decisions: price and convenience (of orders and deliveries).

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Article Tags: asset managers, computer system, customer analysis, customer need, dermatologist, early adopters, electric pencil, emotional appeal, hr chally group, motivations, new style, pencil sharpener, purchaser, sales managers, salespeople, salesperson, skin blemishes, successful sales, technical experts, understanding market



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