Why People Do and Don't Buy From You
Why people don’t buy from you and why people do
By Shiera O’Brien, Sales Training Expert
Zenith Training and Development
In the world of ample competition, the chances are your skill-set, product and services are available from a number of supplier sources. Buyers have choice! They look for options before they decide to buy! If you are talking to a prospect, it’s a given, that they are interested on some level, otherwise you wouldn’t be having the conversation! It’s what you do with this interaction that will determine whether people will buy from you are not.
Whether your selling yourself in a job interview…or selling a product and service, when you land that new sales job, here are 5 reasons on why people don’t buy (from) you or and 5 reasons why they buy your offering.
Why people don’t buy (from) you:
- Attitude is Altitude and Yours is too Close to the Ground – Your attitude emanates in all ways from you - how you dress, speak about your products, yourself, the market, your competition, the economy. Get the right attitude into your mind and demonstrate a friendly, curious, balanced, optimistic approach to selling and your client. Let go of your expectations and do what you can to develop a positive mind-set; if it means some personal development work and getting some honest feedback from your colleagues or clients, go do it today!
- Your Communication Skills are in Need of Shake-Up. Like a muscle – use it or lose it. A very common problem: your sensory awareness is low, you are oblivious to all the clues given to you by the client that their interest is low. You haven’t asked questions or don’t know how to unlock the clients buying strategy, or get to the key issues the client needs solved. You are so busy talking, you have no idea where you client is and so the relationship never gets built in the first place.
- Your are Selling Rather than Helping Somebody to Buy. Nobody likes to be sold to, even when we know that’s the sales person’s job. Every buyer likes to feel they made the decision in their own time. It’s a natural human reaction to walk away from a pushy sales person. So swap shoes with your clients and see how you sound and feel receiving your sale pitch. Does it address the client’s needs or are you just talking up your product?
- Poor Selling Skills or Lack of Understanding – Time and pressure to sell often mean we neglect a key ingredient in great selling: well-honed techniques and proper training. Maybe your training has been ad-hoc, you are winging it, hoping that your bag of sales techniques will land the sale, as you knock the square peg into the round hole. It may be time to go back and review how your selling is working or needs polishing up. Feedback from your sales figures and people are great ways to gauge your skills and how good your selling is.
- Your Follow-Up Strategy is Poor or Non-existent. When you have made the sale, how often do you get repeat business or develop other business opportunities with your client? Even if you don’t get the sale, follow up and find out why. And be willing to eat humble pie! You will raise your game and avoid making the same mistakes again. The client will think more highly of your action and perhaps consider you for future business.
Why people do buy from you:
- You Understand their World and Speak their Language. This is the most obvious way to get people to buy from you. And the doorway into their world and language is strong listening and questioning skills. This will show that you have really listened and heard their story. Seek first to Understand Then you know what they want and can easily reflect that back through questioning, summarising and co-creating a solution that works for the client.
- You Exude Confidence, Courage and Commitment. You are confident in your ability to deliver the message, the service and value to your client. You have the courage to ask great questions that serve the clients decision to buy. You are committed to getting to the heart of what matters to the client and helping them achieve their outcome at the right price.
- You Have Excellent Rapport and You are Relationship Builder – Rapport and relationships succeeds or fails from the second a client meets you. It is only in rapport and good relationships that sales are made. People buy people, and they buy from people they like and trust. If clients feel and believe they have a relationship with you, it’s because of your rapport building skills. At that point the trust begins to build and they will commit time and effort to you.
- Your Focus is 100% on Your Client and their Result. In meeting hundreds of sales professionals, the ones that stand head and shoulders above the rest are the people that focus completely on their client. Their sales figures are always higher. The client feels this through the quality of questions, the conversation and the service that is finally delivered to them. All the way, the client should feel this in every interaction, as you demonstrate how you understand their world.
- You Are Responsive and Attentive. You address their requests and concerns immediately. Their needs are paramount in your mind. You take action immediately, send them information as soon as they ask, clarify concerns after they raise them, and go out of your way to pre-empt and anticipate what would make their job of buying easier. You are helping to make their decision effortless and growing a robust client base.
About Shiera O’Brien: Shiera is a Sales Trainer and Business Coach with Zenith Training and Development, based in Dublin,Ireland. She specialises in training sales people how to become Master Sales people with the programme, Masterful Selling – The Psychology of Selling Excellence and Sales Coaching. For more information visit www.zenithtraining.ie or call (01) 443-4610 or email shiera@zenithtraining.ie.
