If you deal in complex solutions or big-ticket items, your customers probably don’t have a defined process for buying what you sell. They don’t do it often enough to develop a process, so you will actually be helping them to discover their own internal buying process as you go. Sometimes, we know the things that our clients will have to do to buy better than they do. We sell every day. We can see a pattern, client after client after client, of the things that companies typically have to do in order to buy the types of products and services we sell.
When all is said and done, we need to be flexible enough to do whatever it takes to get the deal done, as long as it is legal, ethical, and a worthwhile business investment for us to do so. Therefore, if we were to depict our sales process most accurately.
We should be willing do whatever we need to, in whatever order or sequence required, to help our customer do the things they need to do to buy . . . and then use what they have bought to achieve their desired business results.
As we work with our customers to help facilitate their buying process, we should keep a few things in mind:
1. We Should Try Never to Do ‘Something’ for ‘Nothing’
I’m not suggesting we become greedy here. But if we invest our time and money to do things for them-like driving or flying several people in to do a demonstration-it’s only fair that they have the right people in attendance, isn’t it? I’m not even insisting that they have to match everything we do for them with something they do for us. Sometimes I just wish they would do something for themselves! We may need to ‘negotiate’ or bargain with them at some point in the process to make sure that when we do what we are supposed to do, they will do what they are supposed to do.
2. We Have the Right to Choose to Do What We Do, Based on Whether or Not They Commit to Do What They Need to Do
Just because our customer wants us to submit a lengthy proposal, doesn’t automatically mean that we have an obligation to do it. If they’re not willing to let us speak with any of the people involved in the decision, how can we be certain it will provide the capabilities they need in order to achieve their goals?
If we can’t find out whether or not they have the urgency and the means to buy, but they just want us to slip an elaborate proposal under the door and hope they like it and call us back, it may not be worth doing. If our prospect isn’t willing to do the things they need to do along the way to make sure that our joint undertaking will be successful, you and I need to think pretty hard about whether or not we keep doing the things we need to do.
3. We Are Ultimately Not Responsible for What They Do or Don’t Do
If you embrace this approach to selling, it is actually quite liberating. When you realize that you can’t control your customers, and that all you can do is try to understand them and positively influence their behavior, it allows you to relax a little bit and disengage emotionally. We’re not responsible for their inability or unwillingness to take the next step they need to take in their process. Yes, we work like crazy to figure out how to get them to take it. But if we do everything we can possibly do to help them, and they still won’t move forward, it’s not our fault. We might need to move on and start helping somebody who wants our help.