Practical Tips

Following up our last article on “People don’t buy what they NEED, they only buy what they WANT, when THEY are READY to buy it.” I’d like to make a couple of points…

First: People buy on the basis of self interest. Always!

Second: A person’s self interest can be quite different to the organisation’s.

Let me explain…

In a small business the self interest of the owner is going to be the same as the business. What’s good for the owner is naturally going to be good for the business. The person is the business.

Contrast this with a large organisation.

The buyer here may have a very different self interest to that of the organisation he works for.

Here’s an example I heard recently:

A company specialising in outsourcing facilities management was trying to sell their services into a large organisation. The deal could be proven to make economic sense as it would allow consolidation of various facilities and give economies of scale.

One of the main influencers of the sale was the internal facilities manager. This man’s recommendation would make or break the sale.

This man was putting up a lot of resistance to the concept and nothing seemed to be getting through.

The seller found out on the grapevine (and if you’re not plugged into the grapevine of companies you’re trying to do business with, you’re likely to be missing out on vital information), that the internal facilities manager was scared that he’d lose his job if this company took over.

So obviously it wasn’t in HIS self interest that he recommend this option even though it was in the best interest of the organisation he worked for.

Armed with this information, the seller had an “off the record” conversation with this man and suggested that as they were rapidly expanding, they would be looking for a “National Facilities Manager” and that he would be the obvious choice given his experience.

Suffice to say, they got the deal.

So when you’re dealing with a larger organisation, you MUST find out what’s in the personal self interest of each person influencing the decision and whether the deal is in their interests. If not, find a way that you can align their interests with that of the organisation you wish to serve.

Ignore this at your peril!

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