Buying. Not Selling.

by Charles Gold       

I’m going to be direct.  I think far too many of us talk about our jobs in a weird and often unproductive way (me included).

Let me explain.  People buy; they are not sold.  In other words, sales take place when a buyer has convinced him or herself of the value of the purchase.  And generally not until then.

So why then are we constantly talking about our “sales process?”   Our metrics are based on our own “sales funnel.”  We develop programs to generate “sales leads.”  And so on.

I’d like to submit this inward focus obscures the real priority — helping our prospects to want to become our customers right away and our fans shortly thereafter.

Maybe we should change our terminology.  Instead of worrying about our “sales process,” let’s start obsessing about the “buying process.”

Simple change, right?  And think of how it might change our outlook.

• Instead of “sales leads” we will talk about “prospective buyers who want more information.”
• Instead of basing revenue forecasts on arbitrary percentages and our own internal processes, we’ll build them from real stages in the prospects buying process.
• Instead of creating “sales tools” we’ll create “buying tools.” This might force us to focus on customer benefits instead of features.

And so on.

The skeptic will say that this is just semantics — but it’s more.  It’s about a pivot in the way we think about marketing.  It’s about becoming more customer-centric.  And if we’re truly effective, the cash register might start ringing even more often.

So who’s in? 

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