Don't Waste Time Selling To the Wrong Buyer

If you've been in sales for any length of time I'm sure you've had the experience of obtaining an appointment with a prospect, gone through the discovery process, presented a proposal and then been put off or turned down by the prospect because they were the wrong buyer.  When embarking on lead generation it is critical to quickly identify who your Financial Buyer, Technical Buyer and User Buyer is so you don't find yourself spinning your wheels and wasting time.  Here I am going to dive into who each of these buyers are and how you can leverage conversations with them all.

The User Buyer is often times the person who is most willing to talk and share information about the business and areas that need improvements because they are most affected.  This is the person who will directly benefit from the implementation of your solution but they don't usually have decision making power.  The User Buyer can be a great place to obtain important information needed to uncover needs and pain points however your search should not stop here.

Technical Buyers are individuals who have a part in implementing new solutions but, again, don't have final say when it comes to approving the actual purchase.  It's beneficial to reach out to Technical Buyers to gain an understanding of the past, present and future projects that the company was, is or will be engaged in.  Knowing where the company has come from and where they are headed can aide you in determining how best to position your solution to the appropriate buyer.  By asking about future projects you can also uncover other potential areas of opportunity for your company to do business with the prospect.

While conversations with the User Buyer and Technical Buyer are great to have, you don't want to find yourself in a position where they are the individuals to whom you are actually selling.  Yes, get them on your side, create a desire for your solution with them, but don't focus all of your efforts on these individuals.

Ultimately, you need to determine who your Financial Buyer is.  This is the person who has a vested interested in the revenue of the company, is typically the CEO or CFO, and where the "buck stops."  While talking with the CEO or CFO of multi-million and billion dollar organizations can be intimidating for some, if you've done your homework, uncovered as much information as possible through the User Buyer and Technical Buyer, you should be able to hold an educated conversation with the Financial Buyer and, hopefully, set an on-site appointment to show them the benefits their organization will realize by working with your company.  Because the Financial Buyer makes the final determination as to whether or not your solution is of value to his/her organization, if you can sell them, your odds of turning the prospect into a new customer is greatly increased.

As a contracted "lead generation specialist" this is what I enjoy doing for my clients each and every day.

Thanks for reading and happy hunting!