Home Add to Favorite Contact Submit  
             28 March, 2024
 

    
Category:  Articles » Business » Sales

 

Mars and Venus - Part I - Sales People Are From Mars, Buyers Are From Venus - Introduction

Popularity:
         Views: 1421
2007-03-27 09:22:27     
Article by Peter Lawless

Many of you are probably familiar with John Gray's famous relationship book, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". In his book, he talks about how to overcome the different way men and women think and indeed often act. Buyers and sellers also have different viewpoints, and not knowing how your audience makes decisions can be disastrous.

This series of articles, will take you inside the mind of buyers, to help you fulfil their needs, to create successful commercial relationships. Buyers, like sales people, are also focused on WIIFM, What's in it for me.

What is a successful commercial relationship?

My definition of a successful relationship is as follows: "Where 2 or more parties engage with each other for mutual benefit over a period of time". I know that it is true we have people who are related to each other by blood. For this article, these relationships are ones of choice!

I distinguish here between a once off transaction and a relationship. By forging relationships, both parties gain. The purchaser gains, in so far as they find someone that they can trust, whose offerings satisfy their needs and wants, while removing their pains. In addition the cost of purchase is less than the value that the buyer puts on the product. In other words they feel that it is good value, and are more likely to return for more of the same or similar products.

The vendor or selling company should also gain, as long as their offering is profitable. Indeed it is in their best interests to truly delight their customers, so not only do they form 1-1 relationships, but also 1-many relationships through referrals.

How do sellers typically think?

Most sellers' thinking is normally influenced by pressure of some sort or other. This may be an owners desire to grow their business, a bank threatening to foreclose, a salesperson's quarterly quota, or an image of that tropical island, that you can retire to free of all financial worries.

This means that most people go into a sales call, with a desired "outcome", which is either a sale or getting a step closer to a sale. This also means that salespeople, without this attitude, are often accused of being poor "closers".

But when you go into a meeting desperate to close a sale, does that mean your buyer is thinking the same way? Do they have a timescale linked to yours? Probably not!

So how do buyers typically think?

Yes, buyers are focused on an "outcome", which may indeed be ownership of the offering that you are trying to hawk. But you can be pretty certain that in most cases, it is for very different reasons.

Buyers, like sales people, are also focused on WIIFM, What's in it for me. Since only one of you is going to end up owning, what ever is for sale, you have to think differently!

The buyer's timescale is going to be influenced by when they can start getting the benefit, from their purchase. This is driven by a need, want or pain that they perceive. Whether or not this perception is real, is something the sales person should definitely attempt to ascertain.

How to bridge the gap, to sell successfully

Unless the person selling, has something that the buyer really wants (I mean we always seem to be on that end of the stick, don't we?), then it is going to be up to the sales person to help the buyer along.

Traditionally, this was done by pitches and presentations. In other words, engaging in a monologue with your customer. That is what marketing is for! At a sales meeting, for every moment you are speaking, you are NOT learning about your customer's needs, wants or pains.

And most specifically, you are not learning HOW your prospect buys.

Ask them some questions about what they want, what they really, really want! I mean there are a couple of reasons that a man might walk into a lingerie shop!

Conclusion

Only when you know what your customer's needs, wants and pains, through active questioning, can you be sure that you are in a position to establish a relationship.

But what if they still think differently from you? This series of articles will explore the different psychological buying patterns or your customers, and help you to identify how they make decisions.

This article was written by Peter Lawless, founder of 3R Sales and Marketing. For previous articles like this, visit 3R's Articles. Alternatively, subscribe to Success our free monthly Information Bulletin with sales and marketing articles.

Specialized in: Sales Ireland - Success Framework - 3r - Peter Lawless - Business Growth - Sales Execution - Marketing Execution - Business Development Ireland - Sme Sales Ireland - Sales Management - Lead Generation Ireland - Business Ireland - Sales Marketing Ireland - Sales Leads Ireland
URL: http://www.3r.ie
Print article      Bookmark this page
Related Articles 
The first step altogether forms of twine replacement are removing the broken twine (Popularity: ): Any range of things will cause your machine to act out of flip, or rather, in some cases, to stop acting altogether. In several instances, though, the fiend behind all this madness is just a foul, broken, frayed, or frazzled electric cord. As a result of an influence twine is virtually the bridge between power and gear, if the twine is compromised; the tool can't receive the ability it needs ...
How To Get Reliable Information On Properties In Bangalore For Sale (Popularity: ): Development of an area not only brings comfort to the residents of that area but also brings some unwanted hazards also. These are called as hazards of development. Bangalore, the flourished city in India, is well known not only to the Indians but also it’s a place of choice to the persons live outside India.Everybody wants to reside in a well developed city. Bangalore being the place of attraction, in ...
What You Can Expect From a Reliable Duct Work Parts Provider (Popularity: ): Whether it’s for dust collection, air pollution or any other mechanical installations, duct work is integral for efficient operations. Owing to their huge demands, various industry manufacturers have come up with new ideas and duct products with added features. Hence, it is obvious that you, as a consumer may get confused as which one would be best to suit your needs. Read on the following tips to find out what ...
Want More Profits: Go for a Cool Deli Case (Popularity: ): These are the times of luxury, increasingly high living standards and media exposure. Customer is aware of market trends, health related issues and rights. When spending money everyone wants its worth. The quality scores over quantity and also what looks good holds good for the customer. So the shopkeepers, store owners need to constantly upgrade. And when the talk is about perishable food items storage, hygiene, presentation all count for ...
What are PET or PETE Plastic Bottles and their common uses (Popularity: ): P.E.T. or P.E.T.E bottles are frequently used for plastic carbonated beverage and water bottles. PET is an acronym for polyethylene terephthalate,Recycled PET Shopping Tote, a plastic resin and a type of polyester. Manufacturers use PET plastic to package products because of its strength, thermo-stability and transparency. Customers choose PET because it is inexpensive, RPET Bags, lightweight, resealable, shatter-resistant and recyclable. PET bottles are labeled with a resin identification code #1 ...


Related Business 
Explore the Planet Mars (Popularity: ): Realistic, interactive, 3D walk-though of a Mars base desgined for the first humans to land on Mars including a Mars habitat, greenhouse, Mars car and robot rovers.
World of John Gray (Popularity: ): Official site of the self-help author. Learn more about John and find out information on his seminars, and his books, Men Are From Mars, and Women Are From Venus.
Mars and Venus Counseling Centers (Popularity: ): Group of experienced, licensed therapists and counselors trained by Dr. Gray in the principles presented in his books, tapes videos and seminars. Offers a toll-free referral number.
Planetary Cartography and Graphics by Ralph Aeschliman (Popularity: ): Planetary maps and graphics of Mars, the Moon and Venus.
Vir-tu (Popularity: ): Contrasting galleries by artists "Mars" and "Venus". Prints available.
North Shore Mars Society (Popularity: ): Welcome to the North Shore Chicago chapter of the Mars Society, whose purpose is to further the goal of the exploration and settlement of Mars. On to Mars!
Women From Bras, Men From Penus: A Parody (Popularity: ): Anna Collins and Elliot Sullivan's parody of 'Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus'.
Venus Church of Christ (Popularity: ): Venus. Service schedule, education opportunities, prayer list, and missions.
Thermal Emission Spectrometer Project (Popularity: ): Organizes down-loadable data measuring the thermal infrared energy emitted from Mars recorded by the Mars Global Surveyor. Provides links to related Mars survey missions and other geological studies.
Mars in the Mind of Earth (Popularity: ): Bibliographies of Terran literature concerning the planet Mars.