Is there such thing as an ideal buyer?
I recently have been interviewed on a number of podcasts because there’s great interest in my new book, Right on the Money! And one question that podcast hosts always ask me is:
What kind of changes are we seeing in the marketplace today for sellers?
While I explore a lot of those changes in the book, there have been even more changes since the book was written and released! In particular, one of those changes that I like to laugh about is the fact that there is no such thing as an ideal buyer anymore. And why I think this is funny is because, seven years ago when I wrote and published Nonstop Sales Boom, there was an entire chapter on finding and profiling your ideal buyer. However, in Right on the Money, we have an entire chapter on how there’s no such thing as an ideal buyer.
No Such Thing as an Ideal Buyer
Why is there no such thing as an ideal buyer? It’s largely because we have this group of buyers in the marketplace right now who are inexperienced. They’re young, new, and perhaps the companies they work for aren’t even fully staffed. Also, they’re nervous, lack confidence, and unwilling to take a risk. Thus, they surround themselves with a community of influencers, stakeholders, and advisors—people to help them make that decision. We could be getting our strongest level of influence from any one of those people who have access to our buyer. Therefore, what we need to do is infiltrate this community.
Infiltrating Your Buying Community
As sellers, we need to pay attention to all the internal and external advisors, influencers, and stakeholders—individuals who indeed help influence that buyer. They might have the ability to say “yes” or “no.” They might take direction from any number of people in their traditional line of business. They might even be a mentor inside the company who’s in another department that could be affected by the solution, but not involved in the buying process.
My best clients are taking advantage of this right now by making sure they are influencing, talking, and building direct relationships with at least seven people in their buying community. I encourage you to do the same!
This is a very interesting observation. “…they’re nervous, lack confidence, and unwilling to take a risk…” I have seen this. I was not aware it was so obvious. I’ve joked that my generation read the books; this generation reads the ‘three tips’ articles. Perhaps unfair… At a time when so much is changing, we need new tools and approaches for the future of our organizations. This takes new ways of thinking.