The joy of cycling : Part 2

Value bonds the sales and buying cycles

In the last “Joy of cycling” post we looked at how smart sales people syncronize their sales cycle with their buyer’s buying cycle.

One desired result of this greater syncronization is increased contact with the buyer. Contact, whether email, phone or face to face meeting gives a chance to give and receive important information, uncover and understanding needs and communicating relevant information.

Even though sales people are now fitting to the buyers’ sales cycles more closely, the market is changing rapidly. Reports from the likes of CSO Insights show that sales people across the world are complaining of less contact with buyers – and that more and more of the buying process is happening behind closed doors, away from the sales person. It seems as much as we want contact, buyers often don’t. That said, at some points of their choosing they do want contact. Why is this?

Let’s take a look at the very fundamentals of the buyer/seller relationship. From the buyers’ perspective, why would they engage in any way with a sales person? The simple answer is, buyer chose to have contact only when that contact is useful to them – that is to say, it adds value. Only when it answers a question, brings them a better deal or helps them advance their understanding will they agree to contact with you, the seller. Sure, there are times when a sales person manages to corner/manipulate a buyer into contact, however buyers will see this as leeching value from them and will act appropriately.

Sales people who build their sales processes and activity around providing value to the buyer - at every stage of contact - will achieve more contact with the buyer and therefore will have greater opportunity to influence their decision.

Value bonds the sales and buying cycles – only when there is value in it for the buyer and seller will the cycles connect in any meaningful way.

From most buyers’ perspective, sellers can add value by :
• Giving information that the buyer wants
• Making the sales process easier, quicker, simpler, more interesting
• Explaining, informing and helping buyers expand their understanding (think webcasts, white papers, demonstrations, etc)
• Improving your offering (product, price, service, etc)

A word of warning: Don’t just give value away left, right and centre. Qualify opportunities carefully so that you only give to those who are serious about buying. Give value only to advance the sale – if it’s not moving in the right direction, save your resources.