You can’t help someone effectively if you don’t know the details of their situation. So how can you determine what your clients need if you are not aware of what they are looking to achieve, the problems that they are trying to solve, or their behavioral tendencies when it comes to decision making?
Does this mean you should hire a psychologist to accompany you on sales calls? No, we aren’t suggesting that, but we are suggesting that you think about who you are talking to and what their goals are when it comes to their business. Are they hyper-focused and know exactly what they want? Do they need a bit of hand-holding through the process? If you assess and align yourself with your client – or future client – and their mindset, you’ll likely get further along in not only the sales process but in building a long-term relationship as well.
Profile Basics
When you’re setting a meeting, of course, consider the basics. What is their role, who are they as a human, and what are their preferences? These can be discovered through conversation but think ahead to what exactly you want to know and how this can affect their decision. If they are money conscious, they might not be ready to do a complete overhaul but giving them small bites of change to their business will be more easily digested.
Once you get an idea of who you are talking to, look to discover their “why”. You may hear “we can’t work with the slow server” but what is really going on is that there aren’t security features in place to stop employees from downloading music and in reality, the boss is afraid to confront the issue. There is usually something behind the curtain. Talk with your client and the employees to learn about how they work, and how they manage, and ultimately, what frustrates them.
First Discovery, Then You Lead
Once you’ve explored your client’s business terrain, you can lead your team into this landscape confidently and in the right direction. You can craft your messaging, your sales pitch, and ultimately your offering so that it meets their needs and is the foundation of this partnership.
Taking the time to look through your existing client profiles and talking with your team about each of those in more detail, will give you the buyer personas that you already have and perhaps have never identified. It’s all right there, you just need to look and uncover it. Look at the successful clients versus the ones who struggle, both as a business and as your client. These details will provide you with a roadmap to future success and perhaps even give you some insight into clients who are struggling and need a bit of a push in the right direction from what you’ve seen with others that shine. For more about buyer personas and how they can help you with your business, watch our recent webinar to learn more!
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