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The Mind of the Customer
Written by: Harry HaydenArticle Overview: Providers of key business or mission critical solutions must engage and connect with their customers on a higher level. A standard supplier relationship will simply not generate or sustain that vital degree of trust.
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The Mind of the Customer
Providers of key business or mission critical solutions must engage and connect with their customers on a higher level. A standard supplier relationship will simply not generate or sustain that vital degree of trust.
To gain sufficient credibility and mindshare (not to mention business), they must get inside their customers’ minds to understand the bigger picture. The bond must be one of mutual respect and value contribution.
Picture if you will this typical face to face engagement between a supplier of business critical solutions and a prospective customer. Then consider the implications of what is at the forefront of each individual’s mind:
“This deal could make all the difference and get my sales manager off my back! Can’t wait to do my pitch - I need to close this guy down as quickly as I can. If needs be I can move on price - we’re too expensive anyway ..”
“I need a supplier to understand our specific situation and come up with a viable solution. I hope this guy isn’t going to start selling like the others - if he jumps into his pitch or offers discount, it will be a very short meeting ..“
If this engagement is to prove successful, one party is going to have to change their mindset and approach in order to understand things from the others point of view. This is pretty unlikely to be the prospective customer.
The client will care little about the salespersons’ vested interest and the salesperson must therefore move to understand theirs. It is only through this in-depth understanding that a winning proposition can be developed.
This does not mean kowtowing to the client, merely understanding where he is coming from and working to facilitate this appropriately into the sales strategy. A mutually beneficial outcome must remain the prime objective.
Successful salespeople leave their egos, targets, commission plans and personal challenges outside of every customer engagement. They retain total focus on winning good business by addressing customer’s needs.
Their objective is always to find the best “mutually beneficial” solution to the business challenge their customer faces. They must create a win / win situation or withdraw from what would likely prove to be bad business.
There is a time and a place for everything and premature pitching is the Achilles heel of too many salespeople. How can you possibly pitch a valid solution, before fully understanding the problem and all its dependencies?
Serious business people do not want “selling to”, they want “contributor suppliers” that really understand them and their requirements, providing constructive input and proposing relevant solutions to meet their needs.
The power of a well timed and considered pitch that takes the customers' big picture into account, whilst addressing the primary business issues should not be underestimated. It puts others in the shade to secure the business.
At this point you are not “selling” to the prospect but bringing specific answers to address their considered needs. This is far more effective than the scattergun of a premature pitch that could be perceived as desperate.
The concepts outlined may appear to be common sense. Yet the reality is that most key business solution providers find it impossible to achieve or sustain such an approach in the absence of suitable external guidance.
Article Tags: credibility, egos, forefront, good business, key business, mindset, mission critical solutions, mutual respect, personal challenges, pitch, point of view, prospective customer, sales strategy, salespeople, salesperson, supplier relationship, targets, vested interest, viable solution
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About the Author: Harry Hayden RSS for Harry's articles - Visit Harry's website Business Coach | Business Growth Strategy for SME Leadership When you work in the business it's hard to also "work on" the business. The former demands an operational focus, the latter a strategic one. Business pressures mean operational reasoning often dominates strategic thinking to impede business growth strategy. As your business coach, I can help you strike a viable balance to achieve consistent growth. Sales Management Coach | Sales Management Strategy Sales Coach | Sales Strategy for Growth Click here to visit Harry's website Forecasting Fiction or Reality Towards More Reliable B2B Sales Forecasting And A Better Business to Business Sales Strategy Intuitive Decision Making Compelling Business Vision Statements Key to Sustained Business Growth Sales Incentive Plans Drive Sales Behaviours |
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