Recently, in some seminars that I’ve given, it’s become obvious to me that too many salespeople struggle with identifying “Buyers” vs. “Influencers.” That’s a huge problem. If you don’t know, or can’t tell, the buyer from the influencers, you’re going to do the wrong kind of selling to the wrong kind of people.
It’s always seemed to me that highly technical salespeople struggle with this the most. Being technically oriented, these salespeople will focus heavily on the intricate and minute aspects of their product – and in many cases, they’ll gain the interest of influencers but lose the sale at the buyer level. It doesn’t have to be that way. Here’s how to tell the difference and how to sell to both.
A Buyer is a person who can green light a purchase without asking anyone else. He or she is the person who either signs the checks, or whose purchase order goes unquestioned by the person who does. If the person you’re dealing with does not have unilateral authority to buy, you’re not dealing with the true Buyer. In any company, this type of authority begins in the corner office (CEO/President/Owner/etc.) and extends outward only as far as the person who is in the corner office wants it to. As a general rule, if you’re not dealing at least at the Vice President level, you’re probably not dealing with a true Buyer. If you are dealing with a Buyer, however, here are five quick guidelines to selling at that level:
- Focus on the big picture: Buyers tend to be highly focused on the big picture level of their companies’ operations, not on the day to day minutia. Talk about profits, don’t talk about product specs.
- Question, question, question: Despite what I said above, Buyers will have many motivators that you must discover.
- Focus on Results: At the upper levels of company structures, Buyers will be focused on the result. Don’t tell them about the labor pains – show them the baby.
- Be time efficient: You may not get the length of time with a true Buyer that you get with middle managers (influencers) – be prepared to make the most of your time with your most impactful questions and Achievement Statements.
- Understand the hierarchy: Buyers will let you know who else in the company will touch your product; these will be Influencers. Buyers will also let you know who, of the Influencers, has their ear the most. Pay attention.
Influencers, on the other hand, are often the people who will deal with your product on a day-to-day basis. Influencers will be much more detail-focused and operationally oriented. They’ll be interested in the nuts and bolts. Here are five guidelines on selling to Influencers:
- Know the details: Influencers typically will be hands-on with your product; they’ll want to know the details and the ins and outs of it.
- Question about day to day issues: If you want to know how their current product/service works on a day to day basis, Influencers are the people to talk to. The Buyer will be handling the big picture; the Influencers the implementation.
- Know the relationships: It’s important to understand the Influencer’s relationship to the Buyer; it’s also important to know the Influencer’s relationship with the current vendor.
- Know how the Influencer is rewarded: The Buyers are most likely rewarded directly from the P&L; know what is meaningful and rewarding to the Influencer – then figure out how to drive those rewards with your product.
- Ask “Day in the life” questions: Understand how the performance or non-performance affects the ability of the Influencer to do his/her job, and you’ll know how to get the Influencer on your side.
One other guideline is important here: Begin your selling efforts with the Buyer, not the Influencer. The reason is simple – once you have begun selling to the Buyer, he/she will introduce you to the Influencers. However, if you start your selling with the Influencers, there’s a good chance that you’ll never make it to the Buyer.
