Understand the worries of the buyer and use them to sell

What the buyer worries about

Look at it from the buyer's point of view. Someone doing the job properly must always be on the lookout for products that will do the job more efficiently, at better cost and from a reliable supplier. They must meet the company's quality standards and be available at the right time and in the correct quantities. Once the buyer has found a supplier that meets perhaps very exacting require ments, it is human nature to stick with that supplier rather than be chopping and changing about. Unless you can offer some very cogent reasons why the company should change, then the status quo will prevail.

What we loosely term 'the buyer' may well not be the person of influence. Some department stores now have 'controllers' above buyers, who determine initial strategy and look for new products. They decide what is sometimes called the 'range plan' that sets the trend for their image and merchandise. Once this has been settled the more mundane decisions of quantity and delivery are handled by our friends the buyers. Every company is different, with increasingly more sophistication entering the world of the professional purchasing manager.

The more complex and expensive your product, the more likely it will be that several people, and layers of management, will want to have a say. A new computer system may involve a whole host of departments with differing needs and specifications. Such a contract may take years to negotiate and design. You must try to understand how the buying process works for each target company and perhaps the strong internal politics and pressures on the decision-making process. Your initial approach could well be fairly low down the ladder – perhaps a shopfloor supervisor who actually has to use your kit – but you must attempt to influence the key person. The user and buyer must be separated and distinguished. Each has different motives. The user, who may not be paying for it, probably wants the best, the most expensive. The buyer, who may be on a profit scheme (or it may be his or her own company), will look harder at cost benefits.

To turn to simpler examples, children are usually the focus of TV ads near Christmas, to the dismay of their parents. Not terribly subtle blackmail. The appeal is directed to users, not buyers. Recent research has disclosed that even purchases for the home and car are influenced by your children – and holiday venues even more so. Advertisers should bear in mind that, for example, the Sun is read by 26 per cent of boys under the age of 16 (I wonder why) but only 4 per cent read the Telegraph. It won't be long before direct mail hits those in this age group, and because they don't get many letters at present, the attention span is likely to be high. At the same time they are perceived to be perceptive and cynical about marketing. The good salesperson takes this kind of thing into account.

Learn to listen

When you're talking you're not listening, when you're not listening you're not learning. A good salesperson is a good listener, not necessarily just a good talker as popular assumption has it. How many hear without listening? You listen to promote dialogue, for buying indicators and points you can pick up for leads and decisions.

Many salespeople have their set patter which defies interruption. They have to go through the routine, trotting out all the selling points regardless of the buyer's reaction. This is particularly apparent from call centres, here or abroad, where it is soon painfully obvious that the caller is reading from a script and any deviation can throw them entirely. Don't fall into that trap.

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