Filip Stefanovic
8 aug 2020
How to identify the right person and how you can sell them your product or a service. Read bellow!
Generally, sales look appealing. However, many people are scared of it. "Why", you ask; Because not many people are ready to be an open extrovert and ready to be the epicenter of attention. In other words, many individuals are not comfortable bringing decisions of huge importance on the spot, because they are not controlling the situation, pace, and flow of communication. Additionally, being analyzed by another party is contributing to the "stress factor". Overview
Even if you are not a salesperson, you can acquire these skills and implement them in everyday life. There is a salesperson in everyone! Even if you are not aware of it, you are doing it. The sales of ideas and concepts are evolving every day and you are doing it daily on a subconscious level.
Examples: When you are talking to a guy/girl in a bar (You are selling yourself as a person), when you are negotiating with neighbors, family, colleges and etc (You are trying to sell your ideas). You are constantly doing it, without even realizing it.
Either if you want to sell your idea or a product as a salesman, you will encounter different types of people. These people possess different attitudes on how they are going to spend their money.
If you want to succeed as an individual, by selling your idea or a product to that particular person, you have to identify the personality of a buyer, to know how to approach him/her. By adjusting your approach and style, you are increasing the probability of closing out a deal.
The style you are using for approaching, must be flexible and open-minded due to various types of personalities. Utilizing one style of selling or presentation is not enough, which has as a consequence limitation in number of people you can supply and sell.
Evaluation
First of all, before identifying the type of personality, you have to establish and acquire a specific amount of information. To acquire the information which is needed, you have to consider two questions:
Who is a buyer and who is on the opposite side of the table?
Who has an authorization to approve that purchases?
Type of Buyers (Personalities)
The 8 types of buyer personalities are:
The Offer/Deal-maker
The Already at Hand Buyer
The cold-blooded buyer
Un-holdable buyer
The Complainer
The Intimidating one
Mind-wandering buyer
Sociable buyer
The explanations are the following:
1. The Offer/Deal-maker
The famous Deal Maker is a person who likes to receive a deal and talk about it. These kinds of buyers are easy to recognize. Moreover, this buyer is always asking questions, which are related to “exposing an offer”.
Selling to this personality of the buyer, includes fooling around with him/her and proposing the “special deal just for him” (this approach is signifying to this buyer, that you like that person as an individual and you are making compromises just for him/her.
In the end, this buyer will believe that they created a proposed offer and usually it will accept it under those terms. The "false" impression that they achieved the best possible deal out there by themselves. Maybe, it will include some counter-offers, which consider slight changes to the existing agreement and terms. Soon enough you will find mutual benefits for both parties and he/she will buy it!
The most crucial thing in dealing with this kind of people in the creation of a feeling that they matter. Let them believe that they are agreeing on excellent terms, control the pace of the conversation, let them believe they are making an important deal. Moreover, signify that you are a fan of their work.
If a seller (YOU) distinguish that this deal is important and you can gain a lot from it and there are some counter offers on the table including a slightly lower price, TAKE THEM!
But make new conditions related to a shorter period of payment. In this case, you will get the money faster even though at a lower price. On the other hand, you will receive the money faster and you can search for new customers or investments. Therefore the ratio of time/money earned per deal - is higher. This means that your conversation ratio will be higher and you will earn have time to focus on another deal which will potentially earn more money at the same time.
The buyer will feel significant because he/she will think that they did something consequential. Additionally, that person will conclude that you really care about this process which will put the crown on this deal.
2. The Already at Hand Buyer
Firstly, this buyer is already yours, in a way. What does it mean “Yours”? It means, that this particular buyer is already familiar with your product/business/brand/company and he already decided that he will buy it. He/She already knows everything about your product/idea and if he sees that you are competent and reliable he will make the purchase.
That person already researched your company, brand, or product through various channels. Observing current trends and how the primary research is done, that person watched every video review online, including referral forums and people who are familiar with that service.
On the other hand, if he/she realizes that you are not competent enough and that the scope of information that he/she already knows is not matching, that person will call the company or somebody else who knows more than you. That can be your colleague, manager, competitor, etc. Therefore you will potentially lose a sale or even a customer and send it to a competitor. This type of buyer is easy to handle through the process, but it can potentially be really dangerous. You have to play the role of a listener. Let that person expose the knowledge which is consumed and the sources. Let them believe they are really knowledgeable and in control. Try to debate with them about certain elements with the dose of a friendly attitude. Tell them the potential flaws of your product, because they already KNOW THAT! That means they are okay with them, but try to explain to them it's a minor thing. Don't go too deep on that and be superficial.
IT’S ALL ON YOU! P.S. You have to know your product really well, no matter which customer personality you are facing.
Even though you know he is going to buy it, do not approach it like that. Especially, do not shorten your presentation of the offer, details, and all other stuff relating to your product or idea. The main goal here is to gain his trust and convince him that he made the right choice.
3. The Cold-blooded buyer
The person is isolated, looks unapproachable.
You question yourself, how to attain this type of customer if they are unapproachable?
Usually, these customers are carrying a lot on their minds. (A lot of obligations/responsibilities). Usually, the buyer of this category is attempting not to mix emotions with rational thoughts.
The experience is usually on their side and they are careful, in order not to make a mistake, which will cost themselves or a corporation they correspond to. They take the "opportunity cost" seriously.
Major characteristics: Selfish, dominant, sometimes rude, not interested, emotionless ( due to the fact, that they see emotions as a sign of weakness and that can cloud their judgment).
Approach:
When this person is strict to the point, you have to expand on the details of the offer.
When this person is acting cool/distant/dominant and not interested, play the role of a warm person, demonstrate relaxation, friendly attitude. Counter the emotion position.
Talk on purpose about the terms of the contract and how it can bring benefits to him/her and signify the feeling of security if they agree on the terms.
Be persistent!
This is one of the hardest buyer personalities to attain and to sell to by far, at least according to me! Especially if they have loads of experience. This could be a problem since they know how suppliers are using techniques to conquer their trust. This buyer is an example that can be seen a lot within the B2B industry. Where the market is rather closed and players are saturated. You have to take a position where you need to understand that they know their business better than you. They know what they need and what is the cost/benefit analysis. Act as an assistant, partner, alliance person. Guide them to ideas. Plant the seed in their mind. Don't be aggressive.
4. Un-holdable buyer
The buyer representing this category is usually “Un-holdable”.
What does it mean?
It means that you cannot get your hands on that buyer. Contact with this person is really hard to attain. They are not responding to your phone calls, emails, SMS, voicemail messages, reschedule meetings, etc. Typically these buyers are testing your patience!
You have to be really persistent with these guys until they realize you are worth their time. You have to show them that you are a real pain in their “rear end” and that you are really worthy of their time. You have to express that you want to present your product/idea to them. These kind of “buyers” are usually busy and hard to get due to the higher positions and arrogance.
Approach: You have to get to know them really well, learn their habits or movement to meet them somewhere “unexpected”. Recruit their stuff in the office or family members to help you, if they are willing to (using these categories and approaches try to acquire information and negotiate with them to help you out).
On the other hand, there is a different approach if this one does not work. This approach considers the persuasive power of you as a seller, to present him/her that every moment that the purchaser is opposing to purchase it, it is costing more than spending on it. In other words, you have to show them, that these actions that he/she is undertaking are exposing more risk to himself or a specific entity that he represents. Additionally, you can achieve this via all communication services or through helpers that you tried to acquire (supposing that you did).
5. The Complainer
A complainer is a type of person who always has a comment on something. First of all, you have to evaluate if his/her business is necessary for your goal. Due to that fact, that even if you agree and you sell some idea/product, he will always complain and this could be dangerous for damaging your brand image or future cooperation. If you evaluate that his business is crucial for your goal, instead of finding a new customer, you have to show empathy. You have to be friendly and listen to his problems. If you do this step, they will eventually, acquire enough affiliation towards you and he will purchase it no matter what. If you don’t want to confront them, you can appoint him to someone who you know, or someone in your business that they can talk to. On the other hand, if this is not possible, you can always say: “I am in a hurry, how can I help you?” or by just redirecting him to an alternative category of communication (email, messages, etc.)
This type is really tricky in the long-run. Evaluate if you really need them!!!
6. The Intimidating one
This person is easy to spot on. As a matter of fact, his/her “intimidation” is just a mask, he/she is usually an insecure and scared person who does not want to be pushed into a deal.
Sometimes, this person can behave badly and rudely, just to get attention and to acquire authority which he/she is not capable of maintaining. Moreover, they are usually acting as an expert in every field, even though they are usually not, but they want to feel dominant.
However, the rudeness of these people can be noticed when you are talking to them and they are trying to avoid listening to you, by typing messages, answering a phone, etc.
Approach: You have to relax and ease off that particular person. Also, you have to show them that their time is valuable to you and you have to be polite. This is actually what is satisfying them, a boost of ego. Give them the satisfaction of being dominant and provide them with the compliments of their expertise field (even though they are not).
Usually, you can use some of the sentences like: “Can I have a minute of your valuable time to explain?”, “Let me show you a product, right away!” or “What do you think about this product, as an expert?”.
7. Mind-wandering buyer
The mind-wandering buyers are people who process a lot of information within their heads at that specific moment. They can be presented as “Libra”, because of many things which are flowing at the same time, they are not able to decide which one is the best solution.
The fear of making a mistake is a huge factor. Additionally, they are struggling with numerous problems and according to them, they cannot afford to make another mistake.
Due to these problems, he/she will try to tell you indirectly, that you should stop selling to them because they need time to rethink and come to the conclusion or a decision.
Sometimes, (because they are drifting between their thoughts) when they realize that you slowed down in making offers, they will give you a slight portion of attention.
This indicates, that you have to approach them with a scenario, where you declare, that you will leave them alone to conclude.
However, you will add, that you want to adopt the product/idea towards their needs and that you want to acquire their opinion on how to do it. Moreover, this approach could deliver and drive the sale.
8. The Sociable buyer
If the person is communicative and always tries to make everyone comfortable and happy he is a Sociable buyer. Due to this reason, sometimes it is really hard for them to make an independent decision which will contribute towards a purchase. Furthermore, they are facing a huge struggle, if their choice will affect other individuals and their environment.
Approach: You have to position yourself as a person who is convincing and perceived as a persuasive friend, to speed up their decision-making process.
These purchases hate changes in the environment, so it's crucial for you as a supplier to highlight the idea that this is the right choice for them. Especially you need to highlight that there are not going to be drastic changes and chaotic behavior, because they hate transitions.
You have to persuade them that they came to a conclusion or decision by themselves, even though you convinced them to behave in a particular way.
You should present really simple, with key information for a short period of time. Express the benefits of the product/idea and listen to the comments made by the opposite side. Use affiliation!
To finalize, all of these categories are described in a general way and to the extreme measures.
Usually, in real life, the buyers are somewhere in between or as a mix of (2-3) categories which are presented here. It’s important to realize the basics, and then to implement them in a combination of approaches.
Remember, preparation is crucial, always do your homework on your customer. Believe in your product/service you are selling and you will see it through.
Remember! Measure Twice, Cut Once!
If you have any questions, doubts or you believe I missed something important, let's discuss it! Put your opinion in the comments or send me a message! I hope I helped. Best, Filip Stefanovic