Earning the coveted ‘vendor of choice’ label is an important milestone in any sales campaign. However, it doesn’t guarantee a sale. It only makes it possible to sell something. As your customer considers their options for a source to buy from, they will probably ponder some of the following aspects about each source, and the specific products and services offered by each. They’ll also be asking themselves some of these questions:
- Vendor Relationship: ‘Who do we already know and trust that can provide this solution?’
- Reputation/Stability: ‘Will this vendor be around to support us after the sale?’
- Functional Fit: ‘Does their product or service have all the functionality we need?’
- Technical Fit: ‘Does their product or service meet all of our technical requirements?’
- Total Value Package: ‘Which vendor offers the best total package: high value and low risk?’
- Delivery: ‘Can this vendor deliver what we need on time and on budget?’
- Prioritization: ‘Of all the sources we could buy from, which one is the best?’
If we were to look at the Source Decision all by itself, and not in relation to the other three decisions discussed earlier, we might conclude that this is where the sale is made. But over the years I have observed that winning the Source Decision only gives you the chance to win the other three. And more important, if we are focused solely on winning the Source Decision, we will end up spending most of our time talking about our ‘B,’ rather than the customer’s ‘C.’
In fact, I have observed that if we don’t seek to fully understand how our client has made, or will make, the decisions that relate to Resources, Course, and Action, we are perceived as a ‘vendor’ at best, and are sometimes not considered to be ‘partner’ material. Some might call me crazy, but I contend that . . .
The best way to win the Source Decision is to help your customer to make the best possible Resource,
Course, and Action Decisions.
Then we are truly adding value to our customer’s buying process.