The Buyer’s Challenge
We’re tackling another one of the core beliefs at RLS Consulting today and next on our list is a big one (so big, we’re going to take this one on in parts):
- Companies should not let the experience in the sales process prevent them from making an informed technology decision
Or another way to put it: “Don’t let the experience when buying something harm your ability to get the correct solution (or avoid the wrong solution)”. This is what I think of as the Buyer’s Challenge.
I’m sure most people are already onboard with this sentiment, who wouldn’t be?
But when I talk to others or look back at my experience in sales over the years, it’s clear that there are a lot of people that end up not finding a solution at all, finding the wrong or insufficient solution and pass up a great one – or it was a more painful process than necessary to get the right solution.
It’s not just that someone was ‘sold’ on something they didn’t need. Salespeople can play a part here but sometimes it’s the buyer that becomes the obstacle to implementing the right solution.
Some of it is education. Many people out there shopping for solutions right now are only aware of the tip of the iceberg. Sometimes consumers don’t know what they need, why they need it, or even how to approach buying it. That is to say: sometimes the customer is wrong.
Some of it can be caused by apprehension of getting involved in the sales process with someone to begin with.
And that’s okay – this is what I’m here to help with!
So, let’s break this up to make it easier to digest so we can start working on ways to overcome this challenge.
The Buyer’s Challenge
The Buyer’s Challenge is two-fold: avoid a ‘poor solution’ and make sure they don’t pass up a ‘strong solution’.
They buyer’s ability to do this comes down to how they approach purchases and the experience between identifying a need to change to the point of implementing said change.
In Context
Say you’ve identified a problem in your business that you hope to solve. Often, this may mean looking at a 3rd party for help either through consulting, outsourcing, technology, or some form of a solution to give you the tools you need to overcome that problem.
There’s a lot of information out there to help digest the issue at hand, even AI is being used to help find creative ways to solve problems. But it’s not always possible for those external resources to truly know what’s going on or why (at least not inherently). Problems may be misdiagnosed, or maybe you’ve only scratched the surface of a much bigger issue.
So, assuming you’ve properly identified the problem and causes in the first place, now is the next big challenge of seeking out a solution and implementing it.
The Sales/Buying Process
This is where things can really go off the rails for some buyers. Some people love to haggle, find a good deal, or have no problem navigating a purchase.
A strong amount of people out there hate it, though. They may be worried about being pushed into something they don’t want, they may be afraid to make a bad decision, or they just don’t want to deal with a salesperson and the thought alone will keep them dealing with the problem they’ve grown comfortable with instead of improving their situation.
Having been on the other side of the sale, I see it a little differently when I put myself in the buyer’s shoes.
What many people on the purchasing side may not know is that many of the skilled salespeople out there see themselves differently than the typical salesperson depicted in TV and movies. We’re often committed to becoming experts on the problems we solve and the solutions that are out there so that we can help our clients be successful.
We see ourselves as someone who can help the buyer navigate the sales process, something they may do occasionally but we, as sellers, do day in and day out.
Definitions
For the purposes of this article, we can look at the degree of skill a salesperson can bring to the process:
- A skilled salesperson – an ally for the buyer who can really dig into the issue at hand and that has a deep understanding of the options out there to help the client find the right solution (even if it’s not the solution their company offers)
- An unskilled salesperson – someone only able to get into the surface level issue at hand and less educated on the solutions to not always be able to give the deep advice a buyer would need
And, as far as solutions go, it can be looked at as the strength behind the solution:
- A strong solution – something that is going to solve all aspects of the problems, is easy to implement or manage, and it can make a return on the investment in a reasonable time.
- A poor solution – it can’t solve the problem fully (or creates new ones), it may be difficult to work with or implement, and it could take a long time to find a return on the investment.
With this in mind, here’s how I view the Buyer’s Challenge in making a purchase. Really, any one of these four situations is going to present itself:
Regardless of the salesperson’s skills, the Buyer’s Challenge is to make sure they avoid a poor solution and that they don’t miss out on a strong solution. As easy as that is to say, the experience going through the sales/buying process can derail this effort.
This is why I say, “companies should not let the experience in the sales process prevent them from making an informed technology decision”.
In the next articles, we’ll briefly dive into each of these quadrants to see where things can break down and where a buyer may find this hard to accomplish.
And, for those that stay with us through this, I’ll also share some tips to help you overcome this challenge:
The next posts in this series will drop over the following 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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