What it says on the invoice is different than what customers really buy when they choose our products or services. Customers certainly want products that work and services that deliver expected results, and that’s what they pay for. However, when choosing to buy from us versus our competitors the customer’s considerations are much more personal than features, functions and things that show up on balance sheets and income statements. People making the final decisions are considering more than products and services.
Until you uncover customer’s personal wins you’re only skimming the surface when selling them on you, your company and your product. They’re making a commitment on behalf of their company and even if they’re the owner it’s important that we understand all that they expect from us. The personal motivation for buying (PMFB) is what we need to uncover through selling engagements and they fall in five categories: safety, simplicity, reward, recognition and revolution. Decision makers won’t often articulate their PMFB but they will always display it. It’s up to us to recognize it.
Safety – Some people are buying with the main intent of reducing the risk of something bad happening to them. These are people who hate surprises, and who want things to go exactly as planned. You could argue that all of us want safety when making a big purchase but this isn’t the main driver for all people. Indicators when we have someone looking for safety are requests for guarantees, deeper understanding of past work, references and they tend to ask a lot of ‘what if’ and ‘how do you know’ questions.
Simplicity – Some people are buying just to make their life easier. They want to off load work so they can get to the gym or have dinner with the family, at a decent hour. They want to hand off a project with confidence it will get done. These people sometimes don’t care how we get the job done but just want to make sure we deliver the desired results on time. This means we sometimes don’t get any more detail than what the final result looks like. Things to look for are people who get antsy if they need to answer many questions for you. These people will lay out the deliverable then expect you to figure out the details.
Reward – These are people expecting something good to happen for them should our product or service succeed. Bonuses, raises, promotions or new jobs are typical targets for these people. These people want to be very involved while our company delivers products or services. Things to look for are people who are clearly on a timeline. Whatever it is that we are selling has to be delivered by a certain date in order for them to get their reward. The catch with people in this category is that they might be the first to abandon us if something goes wrong.
Recognition – Some might ask, “Isn’t this the same as reward?” It is not. People in this category simply get satisfaction from recognition that they have contributed. Their motivation is to be the strongest contributor to a company or team. Some in this category will be senior enough that they just know when the work is good and others will be looking for affirmation from superiors. Unlike those working for the reward, these people just want to be valued. Things to look for are people who others go to for coaching or help. They will typically be very open with information because they just want everyone performing well.
Revolution – These people want to lead significant change. They are the ones who aren’t fully satisfied by just solving a problem but want to create a legacy. They are talking to us because they think our product or service can help them achieve that. These people want their rewards and recognition but what really drives them is the opportunity to do something never done before. Things to look for are people who aren’t satisfied with incremental improvement. These people will use words like create, innovate, and change..
A very important part of selling is to determine quickly which PMFB is driving decision makers and influencers. Understanding the five things people buy, along with features and benefits, allows us to present the totality of what your customer is looking to “buy” versus just what they “pay” for.
This post is an update of a previous entry – addressing a topic which needs to be revisited often.
©2013 Rick Wong – The Five Abilities™ LLC
