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Closing Challenges & The Buyer Engagement Process

Guest post by: Greg van der Linde

Article Overview: Buyers are savvy. A buyer’s purchase process and tactics present a number of closing challenges for sales reps. Sales reps that understand buyer tactics and negotiation methods are in a better position to implement the buyer engagement process.

Closing Challenges & The Buyer Engagement Process

The "No Close" Close

Closing is the end goal for sales reps. The close should never be forced. It should also never be a surprise. The best form of closing is not having to close at all. Closing is the natural progression of an effective and interactive buyer engagement process. It is derived from a rep being aware of, and properly aligned to, the buyer's purchase process as it makes its way through the sales process. While being aligned is important, it is not enough.

Reps must also be aware of the buyer's purchasing ability and tactics:

• Informed Buyers
• Buyer Purchasing Tactics
• Buyer Negotiation Tactics

Informed Buyers

Many reps make a fatal assumption. Reps assume that buyers do not have a purchase process. Buyers have learned and been taught to buy just as sales reps have been taught to sell. Buyers spend just as much time training, attending coaching sessions, and working on their skills as rep do. While larger buying organizations may spend more time and money on formally developing their buyers, smaller companies also focus on the buying process. Every dollar counts in these organizations, and they work hard to ensure they can get the most out of the deals they agree to.

Informed buyers have their own pressures, concerns, and needs to attend to:

• Buyers are under constant pressure to get the best deal for the solutions offered by competing reps; buyers must get more for less.
• Buyers have a specific purchase process to follow.
• Buyers must be concerned about the solution they choose.
• Buyers have specific needs that must be met.
• Buyers need to make sure their business & personalneeds are met.
• Reps have to offer the correct fit for a buyer's organization.
• Reps must ensure they take into consideration the buyer's personal needs.
• If a buyer selects the wrong solution, time and resources will be wasted.

Buyer Purchasing Tactics

Just like sales reps have a number of sales tactics and approaches to resort to during the sales process, buyers have a number of purchasing tactics:

• Buyers have multiple suppliers: Buyers will make it appear as though reps are the only supplier they have under consideration. The reality is buyers have a number of supply options available and they will seek the possible solutions with each rep and supplier.
• Know what they want to accomplish: Buyers perform pre planning just as rep do before a sales call. Buyers know exactly what they want to accomplish during their interaction with reps. Buyers know exactly how much they are willing to pay, and what they are willing to concede from suppliers for the right solution for their situation.
• The nature of the bid: Depending on the nature of the bid, buyers can either create a very competitive head-to-head environment, or a less common, isolated approach
• Buyers put reps head to head to initiate a price war: A price war often forces reps to concede more to buyers to secure the deal.
• Buyers isolate vendors for maximum buyer benefit: This keeps reps feeling that they are the number one option and that they are always readily available. Reps will always feel the buyer is fully engaged in the sales process. The buyer never lets reps know how they measure up. This makes it difficult for reps to determine how they measure up to the competition. Reps must think about who is involved. If a deal seems to be too good to be true, then it usually is.

Sales reps that use the buyer engagement process are more likely to overcome these tactics due to their focus on:

• Buyer's perspective
• Building trust
• Alignment
• Creation of a win/win environment

Buyer Negotiation Tactics

Reps must be aware of the buyer's negotiation tactics. Reps that can quickly identify these tactics will be able to fight through them, maintain their alignment with the buyer, and further build the deal's momentum. There are three major negotiation tactics that all reps should be aware of:

• Competitor tactics:Buyers will bait reps by communicating that they are going to do business with a competing vendor.
• Price tactics:Buyers use competitor pricing information to negotiate with reps individually to get the best possible price for the solutions being offered.
• Feature tactics: Buyers feature-drop competitor's solutions when speaking to sales reps in hopes of obtaining a greater number of features for the same price
• Timeline tactics:Buyers know that reps have a timeline to meet targets and close deals (end of month, quarter, year, etc). If a buyer knows a rep is coming close to a deadline, they will try and leverage this to their advantage.

While these tactics can become stressful and distracting, sales reps must always differentiate themselves, and circle back to the value of their solution based on the buyer's needs and business objectives.

Bottom Line & Business Impact

Reps that understand the buyer engagement process know when buyers are using tactics to leverage their position to their advantage. They will not be forced to prematurely concede to a buyer's demands, and will ensure that the close is part of the natural progression of an effectively negotiated deal.

Related Articles
  The Close
  Best Action Commitment
  “Seven Strategic Tips For Selling Professional Services Brand, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach”
  Effective Negotiating
  Understanding Sales Purpose and Foundational Structure
  Closing the Sale: Location, Location, Location...
  Closing the Sale
  Know the difference between buyers and decision makers
  The Buyer Engagement Experience
  It Doesn't Matter How Many Leads You Have! If You Don't... ~ 20K+ A MONTH SECRET
  Are you or your employees engaged with your organisation?
  The Value 2 (Squared) Equation
  You have a buying process problem, not a selling problem
  5 Types of Questioning
  How to Use Inspiration or Desperation to Sell More
  Do You Always Have Trouble Closing Sales?
  The Four Major Steps in Sales
  Sales Agreement
  Sales Agreement
  When selling a business check the business buyers credit history

Article Tags: buyer engagement process, challenges, closing, negotiation methods, sales reps



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