Having selected a prospect you know, we are now going to look at the buyer behaviour model in detail. In Part 3 we will be looking at the buying process from the seller's position and considering the sales techniques most appropriate to help the buyer to make a decision to buy your products. . For now, let us look at this process of buying. You may have noticed from the title of this chapter that we are not starting from the first point the Trigger. We are starting from the second step, the need, and will then go back to look at the first step in chapter 10. The reason for this will become apparent later.
Probably the hardest thing for any company or salesperson to accept is that "nobody needs your product". In fact most prospects don't really care about your product, they often cannot even remember where they bought it. Your product is a solution to a need, problem or desire. At the time of purchase it was the most appropriate for a number of circumstantial reasons, most of which have nothing to do with the fact that you believe it to be the best, cheapest, most comprehensive or whatever.
Last year it is estimated that around 250,000 8 mm drill bits were sold in the UK and yet not one single person needed an 8 mm drill bit. However 250,000 people did need 8 mm holes. We do not buy products, we buy what they do for us; we seek ways to satisfy our needs and desires or solve our problems.
Think about the last purchase you made. It might have been a railway ticket or a tank full of petrol: it might have been lunch: it might have been a new coat. Why did you buy? - Was it to get home or get to work or was it to enjoy a relaxing break? Was it to satisfy your hunger or was it to experience an exciting taste? Was it to protect yourself from the cold or to look and feel good and give your self a lift?. Same product in each instance, but to satisfy entirely different needs.
No matter how good the products you purchased, to other people they may be entirely useless. To you lunch may consist of "succulent slices of roast beef in its own juices", unless, like me you are a vegetarian, in which case it could look like "a pile of partly burnt animal flesh in a pool of blood". Sorry if that has just put you off your lunch, but can you see that both descriptions are equally valid. The important point to recognise is that the need in this instance is satisfaction of hunger - roast beef may be one solution, but it is not the need.
Now look at your product - What needs does it satisfy? - What problem or desire would someone wish to satisfy that might lead them to choose your product as a solution. You may find that there are a number of reasons for choosing your product that fit broadly into one or more of the five basic needs identified by psychologist, Abraham Maslow.
The basic physiological need to survive - the need for air, food, warmth, shelter, touch, sex, avoidance of pain.
This is really the need to protect ourselves from the need to face survival needs - protection from predators and dangers including insolvency and redundancy, food for tomorrow, permanent shelter. In today's world security often means a source of income or in a word, money.
This does not mean sexual relationships (those needs are basic physiological needs). Here we mean the need for companionship, friendship, community, working with people. The sense of belonging we have as social animals.
This is to do with the need to have recognition from our family, peers, neighbours, friends, colleagues, etc. The need to be seen to achieve, to be important, to matter, to look good.
The need to do our own thing, to be who we want to be, to fulfil those deep inner drives and dreams like travel, learning, physical achievements, noble achievements etc., for no other reason than "because we want to".
These according to A H Maslow are Man's five basic needs. They have of course been grossly oversimplified here, but the important factor is the order in which we satisfy these needs. We generally always satisfy the lower order needs first. Survival before ego. There will be exceptions, but they are not really important in the context of our considerations.
If you are trying to sell a coat to someone who is cold, the first priority will be to satisfy their survival need. That will generally overcome the ego need. True, many people are prepared to suffer considerable discomfort in the name of fashion, and occasionally that is taken to the point of putting life at risk, but I hope you will agree that generally these are extreme exceptions and the rules will apply most of the time. .
Most of us will look for a coat which firstly will keep us warm (survival needs) and second will last the winter (safety needs). It may also be one which will achieve acceptance from our friends or at least avoid ridicule (social need). We may want to say something about our success with an appropriate label and be fashionable (status need). We might even go for something unique that is outside of current fashion, but fits our own very personal style (self fulfilment).
The higher the need for survival the lower the importance of the higher needs. If your overriding need is to save your life because your suddenly find yourself unprotected in sub-zero temperatures, who cares what the coat looks like - even a pile of sack cloth will do!. In terms of commercial needs, there is a good illustration of this. as a result of the recession. If your prospect works for a company on the brink liquidation, what kind of impact do you think that will have on buying decisions? The prospect will be making survival decisions. You may need to be cautious with such a prospect, particularly if you are not being paid in advance.
So let's look at the needs and desires of the prospect you selected in chapter 8. On the BUYER BEHAVIOUR MODEL WORKSHEET complete the NEEDS section, To do this try to put yourself in the shoes of your prospect. Imagine you are that prospect. What need, problem or desire would you experience for which the product or service your company sells is a solution. Do not make the mistake of looking at the benefits of your product and fitting them to a problem. If there is more than one need list them all. Remember that most of your prospects may not even know your product exists. They may never have heard of your company. or they may be heavily biased towards an alternative or competitive solution.
It is also important to distinguish whether your prospect is the end user of the product or a reseller of that product to an end user. If the prospect is a reseller or retailer, their needs are very different from the end user's. Your prospect will be concerned with how their business profitability and turnover can be improved by retailing or reselling your products. How well your product meets the needs of their customers will be important, but credit terms, quantity discounts and promotional support are likely to be even more important.
Here are examples of what I mean. I will continue to use these four examples throughout this entire part of the book so that we can follow the examples through. You may not entirely agree with the detail of the examples , especially if you actually work in one of the fields I have chosen. Their purpose is to stimulate your ideas and to provide a range of illustrations to enable you to complete the exercise for yourself. So if you disagree with my suggestions, make a note of what you would do instead.
I need a regular source of income if I should become disabled. The solution might be disability insurance.
I need to improve the efficiency of my sales force. The solution might be a sales and marketing computer system.
I need to increase my retail sales during a traditional summer down turn. The solution might be a new barbecue range.
I need to reduce the cost of assembly of a new product range, The solution might be to automate part of the line.
Reading a book on sales may prove inspirational and motivational. It may stimulate lots of good ideas that you can put into practice to improve your sales, but, if you just rely upon reading the book it will probably get forgotten.
This is not a text book. On the other hand it is not intended to be a passive book either. Perhaps that is my background as a sales trainer coming out. I have included a few exercises to help you apply what I have written in your daily work. It will take only a couple of minutes, at the end of each chapter, to note down your thoughts about a selected prospect and his or her needs. That will help you to take out of the book the thoughts and ideas that are relevant to you and make use of them. Once you have tried the process of assessing a prospect's needs a couple of times, you will begin to find that you are doing it automatically.
Doing the exercises will change the way you handle your sales presentations and improve the rapport you establish with your prospects. As a result you will tend to make more sales without really trying, because your prospects will want to do business with you. Simply complete the NEED section of the worksheet by answering the question - If you were the prospect, why would you want to consider your company's products? The answer will be "Because it will help me to...... or because it will enable me to ....."
As I mentioned earlier we have missed the TRIGGER section - don't worry, we are going to deal with that in the next chapter.
