A mistake we often encounter in complex b2b sales* is to build too little emotional closeness to the customer. The customer is often primarily offered a clean solution technocratically.
Here’s an example from one of my sales workshops: “The customer didn’t really understand our solution and thus our offer!” To the question: “What did you do then?” came the answer: “Nothing! I’m not responsible for training or education!”
Selling technical solutions requires that sales people have a high level of technical competence. This love of solutions is one of the great strengths of many companies. But people don’t just buy a technical solution. From the customer’s perspective, the perceived differentiation of the solution is often not as great as hoped. The technical solution is the absolute basis of a successful sales project.
But especially in close competitive situations, people fall back on their emotional decision-making component: Do I trust the contact persons? Is the cooperation fun? Do I really feel understood or are they just working off technical requirements?
Our tips for creating this feeling of emotional closeness with the customer:
- Be “Emotionally on Plus” even in difficult situations with the customer. Act with the assumption that all contact persons have a positive intention in their cooperation with you.
- Question personal goals of your customer contacts in a structured way during the entire sales process. Analyze the decision criteria: How will the contact decide when several good solutions are on the table?
- Especially in hybrid times with many online meetings, take the time to build personal relationships. Don’t be afraid to discuss personal issues. Work with resonance: if you exude joy in talking to the customer, if you open up yourself, your contact will also sense this and respond positively accordingly.
Author: Pierre Martin, Managing Director CEVEYCONSULTING GmbH
*Mistake no 9 of the “10 typical mistakes in complex b2b sales”
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