By John Holland, Chief Content Officer, CustomerCentric Selling® -The Sales Training Company
Image courtesy of ddpavumba at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
As a general rule, sellers push to get orders earlier than buyers are ready to make decisions. Sellers are under monthly, quarterly and annual quota pressure. Discounts offered to get decisions made for a given month or quarter can result in three (3) outcomes:
- Sellers get transactions and lower revenue
- Buyers don’t purchase and expect discounts weeks later
- Sellers push so hard buyers decide not to buy
Many sellers fail to establish value. If and when they are successful in doing so, buyers have an incentive to make earlier decisions.
Imagine you just bought an older home needing $200K in improvements but you only have $100K to spend. Most likely you would prioritize the sequence of the work to be done. Before you begin spending your money, a salesperson raises a concern about energy costs causing you to realize the 45-year old furnace in your basement is far more inefficient than current models. In reviewing the previous owner’s heating bills you conclude a new furnace would pay for itself in the first year. You re-juggle your improvement list to free up the needed $7,500 now.
In early September you sign an agreement with ABC Energy Inc. and the seller informs you that they will deliver and install the furnace in mid-May. Your response: Be here with the furnace next week or I’ll call the BCD Energy Company!
Once buyers or committees recognize delays mean lost savings or revenue, they don’t want to delay. Sellers that establish and document potential buyer savings can create situations where both parties want to get decisions made without dragging things along.
