Reading the Buyer

Most salespeople spend a lot of time thinking about what they are going to say.

What if the more important question is:

Who am I saying it to?

Every buyer is different.

They have different priorities, different concerns, different ways of judging information and different reasons for deciding whether to move forward.

If you understand those differences, you can adapt the way you sell.

If you don't, even a good sales message can miss the mark.

Reading the buyer is about paying close attention to the person in front of you — what matters to them, how they think, what they respond to and what they need before they feel comfortable making a decision.

That starts with having enough trust and rapport for a real conversation to take place.

You Can’t Read a Buyer Who Doesn’t Trust You

Before you can understand a buyer, they have to be willing to talk to you.

If they are guarded, suspicious or simply trying to get rid of you, the information you get will usually be limited.

You may hear polite answers rather than real concerns.

You may hear what they think you want to hear rather than what they actually think.

That is why rapport matters.

Rapport is not just about being liked. It creates the conditions for a more open and useful conversation.

When a buyer feels comfortable enough to speak honestly, you have a much better chance of understanding what is really important to them.

That gives you something worth listening to — and something you can respond to.

Understand the Person, Not Just the Business

It is easy to think of buyers in terms of their job title, company, industry or role in the buying process.

But you are not really selling to a job title or just providing a business solution.

You are selling to a person.

And that person brings their own priorities, experiences, beliefs, concerns and ways of making decisions into the conversation.

Two buyers looking at exactly the same product can focus on completely different things.

One may care most about reducing risk.

Another may want greater control.

Someone else may be looking for recognition, convenience, security or simply an easier way of doing something.

If you treat them all the same, you are likely to miss what really matters.

The better you understand the individual buyer, the easier it becomes to communicate in a way that makes sense to them.

And being the sense maker is really important today when buyers are bombarded with so much conflicting information.

What Are You Listening For?

Once the buyer starts talking, your job is not simply to collect business information.

It is to start understanding who they are and how they think.

What words do they use ?

What seems especially important to them?

Are they trying to achieve a goal or prevent a problem ?

What kind of evidence do they seem to trust ?

Do they trust information or testimonials at all ?

What has to happen before they feel comfortable moving forward?

These things help you understand the buyer’s priorities, motivations and decision process.

The better you become at noticing them, the less you have to rely on assumptions about what the buyer should want and exactly how to present that to them.

You are not trying to put them in a category, you are understanding them as a PERSON.

Some Things Are True of Most Buyers

Although every buyer is an individual, there are also some fairly predictable ways that people tend to think and behave.

For example, people are often influenced by what other people are doing.

They may give more weight to information that comes from someone they see as an authority.

Something can become more attractive when it appears scarce or difficult to obtain.

Robert Cialdini described a number of these common patterns in his principles of influence.

Understanding these general tendencies can certainly help you understand buyers.

But they are only part of the picture.

Knowing how people tend to think and react does not tell you how the individual sitting in front of you thinks or reacts.

That is something you still have to discover.

What Matters to This Buyer in Front of You ?

One of the most useful things you can discover is what this particular buyer considers important.

Not what you think should be important.
Not what mattered to the last customer.
What matters to them.

A buyer may talk about price, reliability, service, flexibility, security, recognition or a dozen other things.

But the important point is that different buyers will give different weight to each of these.

These personal priorities become part of the way they judge your offer.

If you understand what the buyer values, you can explain your product or service in terms that are relevant to them rather than simply presenting the benefits you normally talk about.

I discuss this in more detail on my page about criteria in selling.

The more clearly you understand what matters to the buyer, the easier it becomes to understand why they respond positively to some things and seem almost indifferent to others.

How Does This Buyer Decide?

Understanding what matters to the buyer is only part of the picture.

You also need to notice how they make a decision.

Some buyers seem comfortable relying on their own judgement.

Others want outside evidence, expert opinion, testimonials, recommendations or reassurance from people they trust.

Some buyers can become convinced quite quickly.

Others need to see something demonstrated more than once, or over a period of time, before they feel comfortable.

These differences can explain why the same presentation works beautifully with one buyer and goes nowhere with another.

The point is not to label the buyer.

It is to notice what they appear to need in order to make sense of the decision and feel confident moving forward.

You can explore this further in how prospects make decisions and what it takes to convince your prospect.

What Does This Buyer Pay Attention To?

People tend to notice and respond to the things that have meaning for them.

One buyer may be strongly focused on achievement.

Another may care more about security, belonging, learning, recognition or simply having new experiences.

You can often pick up clues about these deeper motivations from the things they talk about, the examples they use, what they treasure in their office and the outcomes that seem to excite or concern them.

Again, the purpose is not to put the buyer into a category.

It is to understand what seems to have significance for this particular person.

The more you understand what naturally captures their attention, the easier it becomes to explain your solution in terms that are meaningful to them.

I explore this idea further in understanding what really matters to your buyer.

Buying Decisions Are Not Purely Logical

It is tempting to think that buyers simply gather the facts, compare the alternatives and choose the best solution.

But people do not make decisions in a vacuum.

Their past experiences, beliefs, fears, expectations and personal values all affect the way they interpret the information in front of them.

Two buyers can be given exactly the same facts and still reach very different conclusions.

That is another reason why understanding the person matters.

You are not just presenting information.

You are presenting information to someone who already has their own way of making sense of it.

I look at this in more detail in how buying decisions get made.

Sell the Way They Buy

Once you begin to understand the buyer, the next step is to adapt.

Not by becoming someone you are not.

And not by using a script designed to manipulate them.

But by changing the way you communicate so it fits the way this buyer prefers to think, evaluate and decide.

That may mean changing the order in which you present information.

It may mean giving more evidence, more time, more detail or less.

It may mean focusing on a different benefit than the one you normally lead with.

The important point is that you stop expecting every buyer to respond to the same sales approach.

You start to sell the way they buy.

That is where understanding the buyer becomes useful rather than merely interesting.

Respond to the Buyer in Front of You

Reading the buyer is not about becoming a psychologist.

It is about becoming more observant.

The more you understand what matters to the buyer, how they judge information, what they pay attention to and what helps them feel comfortable moving forward, the easier it becomes to respond appropriately.

That is the essence of being buyer-responsive.

Instead of relying on one standard approach, you adjust your communication to the person in front of you.

If you want to explore that idea further, take a look at how to make your customers more responsive.