Engage early in buying process

Let's repurpose a messy diagram that I drew earlier, but which has got some really important messages for a modern salesperson.

One 

We start off with understanding the customers buying process. This is where we should start these days thinking of all the steps that they are going to go through to buy the thing that we're potentially selling.

This is where the customer is going to start thinking about the fact that they need to do something.

They might move on to the elements where they're going to work out how they're going to do that

They might start to spec up what that's going to look like, what that solution is.

Then start to look for some options, put out a tender, make a decision, negotiate, and start to apply that and implement it.

Typical buying process.

Two

A smart salesperson will make sure that their sales process is aligned to this, that they're doing stuff which is assisting the customer along the way.

Three

In other words, what we're doing here is we're understanding the buying journey and making sure we're with the customer as they wend their merry way along it. 

Four

What we see quite often is that a salesperson is waiting for the tender. They're waiting for the customer to say, “Hey, look! I'm thinking about buying this”

Their response “Brilliant. I've got a chance here. They like me. They want to buy from me.”

Lots of things have happened to get to this point.

Potentially have done it on their own. So they're biased towards what they've already worked out what they're going to do.

Or they've been doing it with somebody else.

Five

This is why this figure of 10% that I've heard from procurement professionals comes into play, and this is your chance of winning if you've not really been involved.

Now I know everyone's going to say - it's different in my case. We're brilliant. We'll impress the customer. We've got a better relationship

If you haven't been involved along this journey when they're putting stuff out to tender. You have a much, much lower chance of winning something and in many cases it's just too late.

Believe me, don't believe me, but this is what people in this position are saying.

Six

So what we going to do we are going to think about. Who should we be targeting then? Who are the most attractive opportunities that we've got, the ones which have got the best perception of us?

These prospects that we're going to want to work with.

Seven

We can start to engage in this process.

Our job as a salesperson is to get in there early.

Earn the right to have the conversation around the things that might be stimulating their thinking to get them even into this process.

That's your job. Shine a light. Bring a perspective.

Something that's interesting. That triggers the idea that this should be a journey that they're on with you

That is what modern selling is about. That's what we're trying to do.

VALUE Framework

And that's how the VALUE framework that we work to is set up to align us with those different parts of the selling and buying process.