The Selling Model Has Changed
Unless you have been asleep for the past decade, you know that “buyers” are specific. In other words, they want what they want, when they want it, and how they want to consume it (“it” is your product and service). They also are “swimming” in the same globalization, and information-rich environment as you (aka your company, its products, and services) are in. Buyers know more and want more. They will listen to “channels of influence” that have relevant and specific messages that address their wants, needs, and requirements, which will make their companies and themselves successful. This is not the realm of “mass market selling.”
Mass Market
What is mass market selling? It is what we had in the last century and goes something like this— “…my ideal client is in this market which has these issues which my products and services address. All I need to do is address these market needs, communicate my solution to my market, provide some testimonials, hire some sales people and get them out there selling…..”
Individual Buyer
While it still has a place in your overall strategy, this single mass-market selling approach should not be the only arrow in your sales strategy quiver. While you still need to talk to “the market,” more now than ever, you must “speak to the individual.” To succeed in 21st–century markets and connect with educated, informed buyers, devote a portion of your strategy to focus on individual clients and buyers.
Executing this strategy requires you:
- to devote resources to acquiring those tools and employees
- letting you know your market, clients, and the individual “buyers” within each organization.
Only then will you be able to understand the real needs and address them with relevant messages designed to move (aka influence) them to consider your product and service.
Pre-Planning
When planning your buyer meetings, consider the following:
- Craft relevant messaging that focuses on specific wants, needs, and requirements.
- Mentor your sales team in the art of individual discussion. This is a critical skill that requires listening skills, focused questions, and good social skills
- Create a process that defines the new selling model for your operation.
Getting to the specifics is not an overhaul of your current strategy, process, or execution but an enhancement, alignment, and adjustment which can be integrated without distraction. You need the right tools and people. The rules have changed. It is a one-to-one world. Change, adapt, or continue selling to “the market,” become irrelevant, and disappear.
For more information on improving your sales effectiveness, check out our Insights page and these articles:
