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The four previous entries for this series have dealt with important elements in the sales process, including security, knowledge, experience and the sales speech. For the fifth installment I will talk about another element, equally important as the four previous ones and one that many times isn’t value enough: the connection that the seller creates with the buyer.
As I’ve mentioned several times, it is important that we transmit the correct information and in a timely manner to our buyer. This can be defined in part, as the connection created between the seller and the buyer. Creating a good connection can be the difference between achieving a sale or loosing it. That is because buyers many times buy according to their feeling and the information they have at hand. If a good connection was created, this can be more important than buying the best product or finding the best prices.
The connection with the buyer has two be analyzed in two different scenarios. The first is what we could call the traditional or physical sale, where the buyer meets the seller personally or at least he can hear his or her voice, through the phone or a similar system. The second scenario occurs through the Internet, where sales are made via a website of similar medium and there is no contact with the seller (the webpage or whatever acts as a seller). Although these two channels are by nature quite different, the connection that must be established with the buyer is the same, thus they share many elements.
Let’s start by analyzing the connection in the physical sale, which is straightforward. As sellers, we have to understand the need and wants of the buyers, fit in his shoes and make the best so that he can perceive our interest in what he’s doing. The key here is to offer a high value for the buyer and we can do this through the connection. We also have to understand that each buyer is unique and the techniques used to create the connection have to change accordingly. Some common elements, like smiling will help, but you have to treat each situation as something new and unique.
On the second scenario in Internet, the topic is complex, as we have to deal with technical aspects (although this is not a technical subject). For example, we have to create a website that is complete, with plenty information, well designed, easy to navigate and responding to the clients need. Since our website will probably work for many types of clients, we have to accommodate our offering for all of them, which can be complex. In order to create this connection, which is from a computer to a human being, we will probably have to test, make mistakes and corrections, through an ongoing process. With time we’ll learn many things and how to make the best connection with the buyer.
We have to understand the connection as a basic element on this process. When we understand our clients we’ll be able to transmit a high value and create a connection. And it doesn’t matter is this is a B2B o B2C sale, as this elements work in both
Image taken from Flickr.com areas.
