How to Win Over Any Decision-Maker and Make the Sale
A true decision-maker makes critical business decisions for very personal reasons. You know this to be true because didn’t you buy a blue jacket instead of black because you feel you look better in blue? Did you buy your iPhone because it’s cool and has all your music? Or did you get it because your analysis showed it to be the most secure phone?
In B2B, the bigger the decision, the more likely personal motivations come into play. Decision-makers will still need to justify a transaction with data but ultimately, they still turn to people with whom they want to work.
Providing these things to a decision-maker will improve our chances of winning the sale:
- SAFETY. Customers who worry that things will go wrong often seek out the safest decisions. Guarantees are a common ask from people who hate mistakes more than anything. Company cultures that prompt risk-averse behaviour can sway decision-makers to follow suit. Or, perhaps the decision-maker is a more cautious person, fretting over decisions. In either scenario, you’ve got to present your product or service as the safest bet, bar none.
- SIMPLICITY. Where you find harried, stressed employees, you’re also going to find leaders who want to help. Good leaders will buy solutions that will simplify everyone’s life. Buying from you means rejuvenating employees and improving work/life balance. When your customer wants simplicity you’ve got to take charge. Asking for guidance creates more work for the customer who is trying to cut back. The customer buys from you because you just get the job done.
- REWARDS. Some customers measure their success by the number of rewards they garner. These customers will buy from you if they believe it’s going to help them get a reward. They are looking for things like promotions, a bonus, or some other kind of prize. An easy way to spot this kind of customer is to listen: They will describe “wins” as personal ROI they get.
- RECOGNITION. These are the mentors, coaches or experts who don’t need or even want public rewards – they want to help the team win. Other employees will mention them when talking about who they turn to for help. Offer help and support so that they can be better experts, mentors, and coaches.
- REVOLUTION. These are change agents that often fill turnaround roles. They jump in when things break and thrive on cleaning up messes. They’ll want to buy from you when they know you will help them make important, legacy creating change.
To learn more about selling the personal reasons people make important business decisions, go to thefiveabilities.com. You can also find these and many more nuggets in Winning Lifelong Customers with The Five Abilities® which you’ll find wherever you buy books online.
What big decisions have you made for personal reasons? Comment below.
©Rick Wong, The Five Abilities® LLC