Preconceived Notions (PCNs) of Buyers in Sales Journeys and readiness of Sales People
The existence of PCNs in sales journeys are bumps in the road. Some are strongly rooted and some pop up out of buyer’s fear for new things. What is important for the sales people is, not to overlook them but understand and help clear the mist.
Common PCN around salespeople – Sales People tell anything for the sale to happen and they are not trustworthy.
What PCNs are?
PCN are assumptions without evidence of something is going to happen someway or someone is going to be like some kind etc. PCN could exist due to affinity towards similar events or just fear of trying new things.
Few examples of buyer’s PCNs
- Buyer’s Affinity towards events related to past failures with new products or vendors
- Fear of startup failures, mergers and acquisitions casting shadow on their offers
- Communication failure with Sales People from a different region leading to wrong buying decisions
- Aggressive Salespeople could dominate the sales process and are very pushy
- Sales People are not trustworthy, etc.
- The intentions of startups are beyond visible, things like data sharing with third parties, etc.
Risks to sales people with PCNs from buyers –
- Meeting opportunities not available or delayed
- Shortened meeting times thus limiting the scope to present the product/offer in detail
- Buyer getting impatient and not attentive to the details provided by Sales person
- Buyer abruptly interrupts or ends the conversation while under estimating the product / offer / company
- In Most cases, there is no chance of second meeting to the seller
This post will cover dealing with PCNs related to Startups-
Buyers are wary of startup businesses considering the high rate of failure in the startup world. They tend to deny offers from startups without even exploring or evaluating the new product. The fear of risking their time and effort besides money and business have posed an increased challenge to sellers.
Here is the plan of action and the know how needed for sellers
- Having a superior product or an offer is definitely a plus
- Knowledge of Company funding status to answer the survival questions from buyers is required . ex: self funded (bootstrap)or external funding,etc.
- Clarity on how the startup makes money to sustain while offering freebies, to be precise the revenue model of the startup
- Founders credentials and experience of other key employees in the company that explain the stature of company and its goals in serving the customer segment
- Sales people should not hesitate to seek help from other people within the company including the founders(who built the product) if required even for client meetings which are crucial for the business success.
- Use the support of available documentation to establish credibility whenever questioned, ex: any certifications that the startup business has like ISO or PCI DSS etc. or testimonials of other clients.
- Capitalise on the scope of free trials (if exists in the offer) or pilot program and counsel the buyer on the worth of trying the product / offer.
- Assure assisted transition of systems or processes that could minimise the time and effort from the buyer while trying the new product or offer.
Ex: Assisted on boarding of clients,user education, training, dedicated customer support for a period of time,etc. are things that help.
Hope we could boost your readiness for breaking those notions and lead forward 🙂
Happy Selling!
P.S.
What other notions / Stereotypes do you come across and want to share or get responses from the Sales community? Please feel free to initiate a topic in “Forums” – Title – “Preconceived notions (PCNs) of buyers” to take the discussion forward.
