Thursday, November 15, 2012

Where Is Your Next Buyer?


Where will your next buyer come from?

Sales happen at the intersection of what the buyer needs, what you offer to provide, and a connection between you both. This may be from a conversation across a desk; from an 'ah ha' insight in your blog or presentation; from a referral by another party; or from the other ways of talking your business.

Regardless of how these three elements converge – it is the engagement that's the catalyst for aligning buyer's needs with seller's solutions.

At a program by the Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, Pamela Wagner, Vice President of W.R. Grace was speaking about the reduction of employee engagement worldwide and her thoughts on why.

While writing notes during the presentation, I realized that the same also applies to customers – current and potential.

Here's a formula Wagner offered to describe the engagement gap:

Volatile Economy creates insecurity
Plus
More Work with fewer employees and resources
Equal
Less Sustainable Engagement.

Uncertainty and stress are distracting – affecting employee involvement and the buyer's willingness to commit.

Since the environment is not likely to change soon, the key question is: how do we get ahead of the distraction?
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2 comments:

  1. ThoughthebrowserNovember 15, 2012 at 6:00 PM

    There's a common misconception among sellers that purchasing comes from people approaching the seller...and as long as we're making this up...over the internet!
    The reality I've found is more like, "As long as you're here, what about...?" and away we go.
    Maybe computers buy from computers. People buy from people.

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  2. UnknownDecember 15, 2012 at 1:07 PM

    This recalls all those systems, gadgets, procedures, instructions (by our sales manager), and 'best practices' that tried to redefine reality, ignoring the fundamental that people buy from people.

    Does this change for commodity sales using the internet? I can buy the net 100 units of widgets over the internet to replenish resources inventory, but feel better when I've talked with Sharon to be assured that it's the best price and secure delivery commitment before clicking off the order.

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