Think for the buyer to close deal faster

Think for the buyer to accelerate the sale. Leave nothing for his imagination. Spell out how you see the sale going through from his point of view. And do this without disrupting his circumstances, because doing so would delay, or lose you the sale.

Usually this requires that you understand his circumstance because it is the lens through which he is looking at the problem.

For instance, “So, when we do this programme, what will be its value besides just creating awareness?” asks the director of a bank. “In any case, awareness wanes with time, and there is no framework for sustaining the desired change post--awareness.”

The buyer responds. “Self-awareness -personal or institutional-is the beginning of any sustainable change. During your ALCO (assets and liabilities committee meetings) you could discuss these changes the programme creates awareness of?”

And the director does a double-take, and says “You must have worked in a bank.” And to his colleague, “We actually don’t discuss this in our ALCO, do we?” Their faces light up with the revelation that the framework they seek has been with them all this time. What did the seller do? Simply offer a workable solution within the buyer’s existing circumstance. Chances are that had he not done this, the sale would have lost momentum.

This clarity in painting a picture is especially important in the business to business (B2B) sale because of its complexity.

The B2B sale involves several decision makers to conclude it. And each sees things from his perspective.

Therefore, it behoves the seller to make it easier for the buyer to see the picture, to get it. Not doing so, forces the buyer to start imagining how all he is hearing fits into his current situation, and this could be too much work and not necessarily a priority for him.

Plus, in the process of pondering, he likely fails to ‘see it’ which is usually voiced as “Let me think about it.”

These are five words no seller wants to hear because he knows the sale is going to be delayed at best or hit a dead end at worst.

Yet, they could have been avoided by spelling out to the buyer that, “Your departmental budget may not be enough for the purchase, true. What is also true is that 40 per cent of the service will be for organization-wide benefit. The gives you grounds to include the General Manager’s budget.” Aha! A workable solution. As obvious as it may seem to you, the seller, it isn’t always thus, the buyer. Remember you are using different lenses.

If you don’t want to be seen as forthright, make it a suggestion. Say, the buyer keeps forgetting to bring you documentation necessary to completing the sale. So, you suggest, “May I put a reminder on your phone, or would you rather I call you tonight at say about 8?”