As companies focus on content creation and delivery, the marketplace is being flooded with high-quality information. In fact, most of the companies I mentor have reported they are lost in a maze of options, choices and noise. The problem buyers (especially B2B) see is that there is too much high quality content information and that information from different suppliers is often trustworthy but contradictory.
So what can a salesperson do to break that information logjam and help the customer to see that they do not need to settle for a less ambitious solution, or base offering and instead, purchased a premium offering without regret? The answer is to guide the buyer through the information maze using common sense to allay their skepticism about the seller…Use common sense when engaging customers with information.
Research into customers has revealed three distinct information content sharing approaches:
- Giving: Salespeople who take a “giving” approach follow the maxim…more is better. They believe comprehensive information is generally better and promptly responds to requests from customers for information.
- Telling: Sales reps who rely on “telling” are very forward with providing information and their opinions. They share their own perspectives with buyers and base information on extensive personal experience & knowledge.
- Common Sense Engaging: Salespeople who take the common sense approach carefully share information to guide customers toward a clearer, more rationalized view. They guide buyers to evidence by prioritizing simplicity over comprehensive detail.
A common sense approach can secure a commercial advantage through a series of unique, information-related behaviors:
- Connect to relevant resources. Diagnose customers’ information needs and provide curated sources and tools to help customers feel they know all the relevant information.
- Clarify information complexity. Reduce the complexity of the information environment by filtering and processing information for customers.
- Collaborate on customer learning. Help your customers evaluate the quality of information and arrive at their own understanding of difficult issues.
Companies should encourage their salespeople to be far more aware of and prepared to help customers make sense of the purchase, depending on the outcome the customer is trying to achieve during the purchase process. For more common sense sales thoughts, sign up for a free mentoring session.
Copyright ©John Trenary 2021