Different Buying Modes Of Customers

The emerging of digital information has transformed the task that salesmen face, particularly in the technology industry. Due to the accessibility of information on the Internet many salespeople will find that their roles seem almost obsolete. The key to understanding the fundamentals of being an efficient seller in the modern market is to examine and recognise different the different buying modes of customers.

Transactional Buying – requires low cost transactional selling

Because technology products have merged together in the eyes of consumers, i.e. they barely differentiate between technology companies because the products carry out similar functions, it is hardly surprising that a lot of technology customers simply want to buy the product with the cheapest price.

What’s important to note, however, is that research has shown that many transactional buyers would forgo the lowest cost solution if they recognised value in the sales process.

This was demonstrated surprisingly and dramatically by a US Technology Company who announced to the market that they would no longer be competing based on price. Compared to some of their competition, their prices were quite high, but they were willing to take the risk.

At the start of this new regime, their business did drop, but as the salespeople focused their efforts on providing customer value beyond simply adding new functions to their products, the results stunned the competition. In only the first year their profits went up by 11% and their revenue was up by 6%. The year before, when they were competing on price, both of these figures were down.

Consultative Buying ” selling value as well as the solution

You will find customers in every market that are willing to pay a little more and display interest in more than just the price. This occurs when the customer feels that they have been offered additional value than simply what it inherently included in the product or service. The way in which this is achieved is to allow the buyers to have access to the companys expert knowledge that cant be found anywhere else.

These customers are happy to begin relationships with companies whose knowledge and expertise they feel will be useful assets to their requirements. In order to make the customer feel that they are truly receiving value, the seller must provide clear, personalised insight into what that particular buyers needs are and how their solution directly meets them throughout the sales process.

There are two fundamentals that must be considered at all times when making a sales pitch: People place more value on what they conclude in their own minds than what their told. People place more value on what they ask for than what theyre offered.

So in order to have an effective sales technique, sellers must recognise these buying modes in potential customers, as well as adding value in the customers mind with the questions you ask. Many sellers will usually ask questions to gather perspective on their prospects situation, but they must ask themselves, is this customer gaining value from these questions? I.e. are these questions creating a valuable picture in this customers mind about our solution to their particular problem?