The Truth About Buyers

Not long ago, I overheard a salesperson make a comment which, taken out of context, sounded appalling. He said, " Buyers are liars." Whenever I hear something brief and incisive, I stop for moment and think, "Truth? Or just a catchy rhyme?" This time, however, I had to admit: There is a bit of truth in what that salesperson said.

There are many reasons why buyers mislead:

• Buyers don’t want to give up control of the negotiations to the salesperson.
• They don’t trust the salesperson.
• they don’t feel comfortable with the salesperson.
• They don’t want to feel like they are being bamboozled into buying something they really don’t need or want.
• They don’t want to be pressured.
• They don’t want to give any information to a salesperson that could be used against them.
• They are skeptical and feel that they always have to have their guard up.

Whatever the reasons, salespeople have trained buyers to feel this way. Certainly the majority of salespeople want to solve the buyer’s problem; however most salespeople are cursed with the stereotypical image of the high pressure, fast talking conniving salesperson who taints the credibility of all salespeople. Even though these salespeople only represent a very small percentage, everyone of us has been exposed to these kinds of sales tactics that ultimately create barriers between the buyer and the seller. Such slick sales gimmicks are not the answer. The truly professional salesperson uses non-pressure techniques to help buyers discover their reasons for buying.

There are three reasons why people buy.

First, "People like to buy, but they don’t like to be sold." Most sales training teaches the theory of educating the buyer on product knowledge. But when a salesperson tries to sell their features and benefits without understanding the true reasons why a customer buys, the barriers go up and the customer resists. Traditional sales training also encourages people to "ask for the order." But there is only one person who can ask for the order: the customer. That’s why behavior-based sales training teaches a discovery system that show you how to use your questioning skills to encourage customers to determine their buying motives for themselves – which then leads customers to ask for the order.

The second reason why people buy is, " People like to buy from people they are comfortable with and who are like them." Have you ever been on the sales call when the customer felt comfortable with you, the chemistry between you was the same, and there was an emotional bond between you? Wouldn’t it be great to reproduce that same feeling on every sales call? Why can’t we do that? Salespeople have to deal with so many different personalities that it is impossible to bond with everyone we meet. You only have so many hours in the day to get in front of potential buyers, and getting there is the hardest part of the sale. If you are depending on finding a buyer more like yourself, you won’t close many sales.

Learning behavior skills that make us appear to be more like the buyer is rarely taught in any sales training course. Yet, these skills are easy to learn, and if they become part of your selling process, people will feel more comfortable with you because they believe you are more like them.

The third and final reason why people buy is, "People buy emotionally, they make decisions intellectually. " Most of the time, salespeople spend all their time and energy on features and benefits. They rarely ever understand the buyer’s real emotional needs, which are rooted in three basic emotions: pleasure, fear and pain avoidance. Because the salesperson spends so much time on the intellectual side of the sale, the buyer responds with intellectual smoke screens such as "I’ll think it over," "We will get back to you," "It’s more money than I thought," or "Call me next week." If you can get the buyer emotionally involved in the selling process, you will learn the truth. "yes, we will do business with you" or " no, we won’t do business with you." Anything in between is purely a smoke screen and proves that even though the salesperson is talking, the buyer isn’t listening.

Knowing the features and benefits of your products and services is important: but salespeople have to develop the questioning skills to get the buyer to discover the emotional reasons why your features and benefits will be the solution to their problems. When the buyer discovers – really feels – how your products and services can help him, and the salesperson confirms this understanding, the sale is complete.

If your present selling system doesn’t address these buying reasons, find a selling system that prospects truly buy and a selling system that will help the customer discover that you are the answer to their purchasing decisions. Selling in the new millennium is demanding. Extra sales training in human behavior will give you the slight edge and close more sales over your competition. Buyers are liars? In a way, yes… But they have their reasons!

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Hear Don Bonnett on WBIS 1190AM, every Tuesday, 6-7pm, for his one hour radio program, "Closing Sales.com"

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