Buyer-Centric Ethical Sales

We all work for a customer focused organisation, right? 😉

So how come we don’t hear enough about buyer focused Sales? If the customer comes first, the future customer has to come second, right? But how many Sales Leaders actively work towards putting the prospect first? How many develop processes to extend the customer-centric approach into their sales organisations?

But what does Buyer-Centric Sales mean in practice. Here at SOAR, we believe in Buyer-Centric sales processes, where listening, understanding and responding appropriately are the best way to achieve long-term success. So let’s explore what that can look like.

Let’s dispel the first myth about being Buyer-centric. “Oh that’s so reactive, so passive. We want aggressive, dynamic sales people.”

Putting aside what most leaders mean by aggressive is no what most buyers want, let’s break that down. Leaders mistake listening for being reactive. Being Buyer-Centric still means being pro-active, doing the research, adding value in communications and drawing out the real stories. Learning that my prospect has lost 3 top Sellers this quarter, and asking what my Buyer feels the problem was, is a proactive move. Learning that they think it was reducing territory, and having an offering that keeps top sellers pipeline filled with the right amount of good prospects, is proactive. Learning it was the competition offering higher wages and sending a link to a great Forbes article that helps with that is proactive.

But listening is hard. We have all heard that most of us listen to respond, not understand. I know I’ve been guilty of it before! One tip to help you listen to understand is to slow down. When your prospect is talking, catch yourself coming up with answers, and stop. Start listening again. Take notes on what is being said. Take 2 seconds after your prospect stops speaking (you’ll be surprised how often they haven’t stopped speaking!) Confirm you understood (this will buy you time to formulate a response, or uncover you misunderstood, both excellent things for your process. Then respond with strength, examples or questions that add value, and uncover more.

There is lots more to unpack about Buyer-Centric Sales (we could write a book) but these three things will get you started for sure!

Listen Intelligently
Understand Deeply
Respond Appropriately

I have to thank Mark Kosoglow for the inspiration this week. If you don’t know Mark, check him out and give him a follow, in our opinion, he's a brilliant thinker at B2B Sales, Customer Success, SaaS revenue generation. Find him here https://lnkd.in/gX4HS_Sa