Know When to Walk Away

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Know when to walk away

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.”

- Andre Gide

Gaining insight that helps providers move away from buyers who do not fit is a preferred result over moving someone who is not ready to the Buy Step. The provider should have in place technology that allows them to capture data associated with buyers to improve insight during this step. Some of the best salespeople I know when to get up and walk out. They know there is nothing there. Marketing should use its own knowledge about targeted markets and the behavior of the buyer to determine the continued provider investment.

Misinformation and Opportunity Costs

Numerous times I have seen products and services mentioned on social sites where buyers will discuss capabilities of the offering and the provider. It’s happening all day long and when the provider doesn’t have a clear communications strategy, misinformation can get passed along. This is another reason to get the facts right across the provider’s different points of contact. Bad facts spread just as fast (if not sometimes faster) as good facts.

Another key point here is that the provider’s named competition isn’t their only competition. Budgetary competition includes other needs in the buyer’s organization. The provider is now competing for budget dollars. Not only does the solution need to look favorable vis-à-vis their competition, but it needs to look favorable against other opportunities.

This opportunity cost for the buyer will be part of a portfolio of strategic buying decisions. Just as the provider looks at its offerings from a portfolio standpoint, the buyers know they can only effectively digest so many purchase decisi...

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...er’s targeted markets, the score is usually high enough to forward to the sales team. The sales team now has a Ready-to-Buy lead with a full record on the buyer’s background, behavior, content usage and contact history. This is quite different from a business card collected at a trade show where a booth worker almost tackled an innocent stroller who was looking for the restroom.

The pre-sales telephone effort here can be very helpful if the team approaches it from a buyer intelligence standpoint. By eventually (it might take a few times) getting the buyer on the phone, the telephone team can input information that will save the salesperson time once the buyer has prioritized the purchase and wants to move to the Buy Step. Additionally, it helps if the buyer feels that the salesperson has some context on the buyer’s needs if they are moving to the Buy step.

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