B2B NewsPet industry newsConverting Commitments in Late Stage Sales

Converting Commitments in Late Stage Sales

-

- Advertisment -spot_img


Trust is a critical part of any relationship, and that is especially true between salespeople and their prospects. Prospects are much more likely to travel through the sales process and land at the buyer’s table if they feel they are being accompanied, and perhaps even guided, by someone who has their best interest in mind.

It must be remembered that building trust with buyers is a process. Trust is not something that salespeople can earn in one conversation or sales pitch. But through the employment of specific customer-centric strategies, salespeople can build the type of trust that results in the closing of more deals and the retention of loyal customers.

Align Efforts Around the Customers’ Needs

It may sound over simplistic, but the first step salespeople should take to build trust with buyers is simply understanding their pain points. What problem is the buyer facing that would lead them to seek out a solution (i.e., your product or service)?

Too often, salespeople approach the conversation with far too many answers and not enough questions. When the door for conversation opens, salespeople quickly launch right into claiming to know precisely how to fix whatever problem the buyer is facing rather than asking thoughtful questions to get a true understanding of the issue the buyer has and how they seek to remedy it.

This scenario does nothing to build trust with the buyer. In fact, it does the opposite by undermining the buyer and making them feel incompetent and unheard. On the flip side, approaching a conversation by first asking questions that get to the root of the buyer’s problems builds trust, firmly cementing the salesperson as a trusted advisor wanting to help rather than a pushy salesperson just looking for a sale.

Another way salespeople can build trust by aligning their sales efforts around their prospect’s needs is in how they approach conversations around their product or service. Oftentimes, salespeople can focus so heavily on the benefits of their product or service that they overlook why the buyer would even want to purchase it—or perhaps if they should (or could) even purchase it right now. Salespeople should be asking buyers why they are interested in their product or service to begin with. Does the buyer have an idea of how their business will improve if they purchase your product or service? Or perhaps even more importantly, does the buyer have any idea what will happen if they don’t solve their problem with your product or service? Instead of continually pushing the product or service, salespeople who have taken the time to get to know the buyer and their needs can use that knowledge to illustrate how their product or service can make the buyer’s life better—and perhaps how that solution is needed even quicker than the buyer realized.

Provide Tangible Reasons to Trust You

Continuously talking about the benefits of a product or service doesn’t position the salesperson as a trusted advisor or guide. What can do that, however, are tangible, proven results. Research shows that 92% of B2B buyers claim they are more likely to purchase a product or service after reading a review or case study. This frame of mind is something most every buyer can relate to. Buyers are drawn to examples—tangible evidence of the before state and the improved after state—that prove results can and do happen with the particular product or service.

When a salesperson provides reviews or case studies to their prospects, it not only shows firsthand that their product or service delivers results, but it also establishes trust. It continues to illustrate that the salesperson can be viewed as the trustworthy advisor, someone who is attempting to solve the buyer’s problem rather than someone just looking to make a sale.

Set the Stage for Upstream Conversations

Aligning sales efforts around the prospect’s needs, understanding their pain points, and providing tangible results like reviews or case studies become even more important as the decision begins to move up the corporate ladder. This is for two important reasons.

One is that the prospect must be sold on the product or service being the solution before they will ever take it to their boss, and for good reason: Their reputation (and perhaps even their job) is on the line. If the prospect hasn’t been given everything needed to trust you and your product or service as the only solution for their business, they will never take it to the rest of their team to try to finalize the deal.

Secondly, rarely ever is the first person sellers meet with the decision maker in the deal. Research shows that 64% of C-suite executives are the final decision makers in B2B purchases. Executives approach the sales pitch with a different set of priorities. They are much more focused on transformational change that will occur with your product or service, how the product or service will optimize their business and why the time to purchase is now. As speaker, author and host of The Sales + Leadership Show Phil Gerbyshak perfectly puts it, “Make sure they understand that this isn’t just a procedural change. That it isn’t just so the person in the front office can save 15 minutes a week. It’s so your whole business is changed so that you can do better and do what you want to do. That you can focus on the good stuff.”

In conclusion, building trust throughout the sales journey is the only way salespeople can successfully guide their prospects to closing the deal. This starts with investing time into understanding the buyer, their problem and why they are seeking a solution. If salespeople will devote time and energy into understanding their buyer and then provide tangible results on how their product or service can deliver, they can better speak to the urgency of what will happen if the buyer doesn’t adopt a solution and position themselves as the trustworthy partner to achieve real transformational change.

 

Our podcast, The Centricity Podcast, is dedicated to helping small and mid-market businesses thrive and develop the sales and marketing acumen to move the needle. Tune into our episode with Phil Gerbyshak to understand the importance of trust and how why-now questions can help build it.





Source link

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest news

“研学热”:一场“旅游+教育”的神奇化学反应

东南网8月26日报道(本网记者郑琦/文)日前,福建省文化和旅游厅评选出福建中青国际旅行社有限公司、福建智行研学教育科技有限公司等23家“优秀研学旅游服务机构”。省文旅厅将通过发挥优秀机构的典型示范效应 Source link

18个项目260亿!绍兴城市推介会走进港澳

“由衷期待双方以此次推介会为契机,持续深化经济、科技、教育、文化、体育等各领域沟通交流,努力打造更多标志性合作成果。”12日-14日,2024“港澳·绍兴周”在香港启幕,绍兴市委书记温暖率市代表团赴香 Source link

这种“教育”竟能做出撩动人心的美食?

30岁裸辞去蓝带学厨艺,毕业后仅仅用了2年的时间就一举成为百万粉丝的美食博主。这一次我们邀请到了美食博主徐人宇Vincent,以及蓝带国际大中华区董事总经理、澳大利亚蓝带学员商凌燕女士、蓝带巴黎学员侯 Source link

撒网预热进行时,小轮车推广进校园

伴随着奥运会资格系列赛·上海的临近,城市体育节撒网预热期的推广活动日益火热。4月以来,不同主题的运动项目进入商圈、学校,让更多人体验到这些城市运动项目的乐趣。近日,“极限宝贝bmx初体验骑进校园”系列活动亮相上海市黄浦区 Source link
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

撒网预热进行时,小轮车推广进校园

伴随着奥运会资格系列赛·上海的临近,城市体育节撒网预热期的推广活动日益火热。4月以来,不同主题的运动项目进入商圈、学校,让更多人体验到这些城市运动项目的乐趣。4月30日上午,“极限宝贝bmx初体验骑进校园”系列活动亮相上 Source link

话说杨浦丨“赛艇女孩”,你在哪里?

上海海洋大学的历史可上溯至1912年成立的江苏省立水产学校。2006年,位于杨浦区军工路的上海海洋大学前身——上海水产大学,积极响应上海市教委号召,成功组织了“阳光体育大联赛”。宣传、动员过程中,学校 Source link

Must read

Lady Gaga and Cardi B Meet at the Grammys

What was expected of her was the same thing...

Jennifer Aniston’s Ex Justin Theroux Wishes Her Happy Birthday on Instagram

What was expected of her was the same thing...
- Advertisement -spot_imgspot_img

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you