It frequently seems as though no two prospects have the same motivators to buy, which can be frustrating for sales people at any stage in their careers. Yet although the motivators to buy might be phrased differently, the reality is that all prospect motivations come from the same sources. Once you recognize prospect motivators to buy, you can better adjust your selling style to the buying style of the prospect with whom you are working and act on the reasons for his or her inclination to buy.
Even if a prospect has not put his or her objectives into words, objectives are really what a prospect means when he or she talks about business issues. Using objectives as motivators to buy is effective because it allows you as the sales person to reframe your offering in terms of a concrete solution to clearly identified problems, and doing this can make further motivators to buy clear to the prospect in business terms of profit and loss. Turn issues into objectives by:
Every prospect with whom you work buys differently and a large part of the reason for this is that personality influences the motivators to buy. If you have experience with relationship based selling this effect may already have occurred to you as a way to interest and engage your prospect, and it is important when recognizing motivators to buy as well. Here are some generalized examples of how personality influences the motivators to buy that a prospect will choose:
A prospect’s motivators to buy are highly dependent on how pressing the need for a solution actually is. If you have reached a prospect who has an immediate problem that is impacting his or her business right now, that prospect’s motivators to buy are likely going to center on finding immediate results from a cost effective solution. On the other hand, a prospect who anticipates a future need will have motivators to buy that are more focused on ease of use, compatibility with existing solutions, and complimenting services. Always find out early in the sales cycle what the prospect’s time horizons are so that you can adjust your approach to finding the motivators to buy accordingly.
Rhys is a tenacious, top performing Senior Sales Recruiter with 15+ years of focused experience in the Digital Media, Mobile, Software, Technology and B2B verticals. He has a successful track record of headhunting top performing sales candidates for some of the most exciting brands in North America. He is a Certified Recruitment Specialist (CRS) and has expert experience in prospecting new business, client retention/renewals and managing top performing sales and recruitment teams. Rhys enjoys spending quality time with his wife, son, and daughters, BBQing on a hot summer day and tropical vacations.