The Buyer’s Challenge – Part 2
This article is related to a larger discussion about the “Buyer’s Challenge” and references topics introduced in the main article here: The Buyer’s Challenge
If you’re starting here, we are breaking down the challenges that keep buyers from getting to a strong solution, or that would help them avoid a poor solution, by looking at each of 4 different scenarios that can occur.
This article covers Part 2:
- A Poor Solution and a Salesperson with Low Skillsets
In this scenario, our buyer is looking into a company whose solution is not quite the right fit for their particular problem. The hope is that they can discover that it’s the wrong tool for them before they proceed, but the salesperson on the other end of this exchange doesn’t have the skillset that would help the buyer make the right choice.
There are a few ways this can eventually end up harming their ability to get the right solution in place:
The salesperson may fail to recognize there’s a bad fit.
Assuming the salesperson will have your best interest in mind, they may not be knowledgeable enough (or have asked the right questions) to lay out a path forward for you. They wouldn’t know to tell you their solution is not going to accomplish what you really need. They may even miss clues in their conversations with you because they aren’t quite aware of the bigger picture their solution would play a part in.
There may be confusion about the problem and the solution at hand.
This could prevent the buyer from continuing to find the right fit for their issues later on. Going forward with misinformation, or feeling like the right solution just doesn’t exist, could kill the motivation to fix the problems you’re dealing with and squash your goal to find a better way of doing business.
Comparison to the proper solution may be skewed by misinformation.
If you go too far down this path, you may find yourself comparing apples to oranges. This poor solution may have been priced drastically differently from the proper solution, putting decision makers in a difficult position when trying to determine the path ahead.
How I’ve personally seen this scenario play out:
I recall someone I was helping that was on the fence with a contract they were about ready to sign. It was a great deal; much cheaper than all of the other vendors they were looking at – but a little too good to be true.
The rep insisted it included everything they needed, they spent a lot of time going back and forth on the offer and price to confirm. However, the rep’s answers weren’t always consistent and other vendors were saying the offer would be impossible since was below typical costs the vendors would incur.
Upon digging just a little deeper and getting other salespeople involved, they were able to find that critical components were missing. Needless to say, they moved away from this poor solution once they identified it.
They avoided jumping into a commitment they would have quickly regretted, all thanks to their diligence in validating their solution and recognizing that something didn’t add up.
How do you avoid this?
Simply put, without the right salesperson helping you see that it’s a bad fit, it could derail your ability to find what you truly need.
If you fail to recognize it, you could be stuck in the status quo or led into the wrong partnership. The engagement may also create confusion and doubt about what could be the correct solution that you find elsewhere.
As a buyer, educate yourself before, during, and after engagements with salespeople. This way you can develop your own understanding of your problems and proposed solutions.
Create a validation process to make sure a solution is going to be the right fit.
Continue Exploring The Buyer's Challenge
This article is just part of a larger discussion. Explore other scenarios and solutions as we continue exploring The Buyer’s Challenge:
The next posts in this series will drop over the week and the links above will be made active as it releases.
If you want to follow along, be sure to sign up for the newsletter through the form below.
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Ryan Smith
Ryan's experience across cybersecurity, sales, insurance, technology, education, and mathematics have helped him become a business-oriented problem solver that can simplify complex topics.
His eclectic and diverse background is now able to be leveraged by businesses that are interested in outside perspectives to help them overcome challenges.
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