CHAPTER 13

How to Ultimately Tell the Buying Signs of Your Customer

There is a plethora of information on the web discussing and analyzing customer buyer behavior. We have touched on buyer behavior and its psychology, but to me it is the most important process to master and understand.

Coming out of sales and coaching, I wish I could master this process without the mystique that surrounds it. Many professional salespeople I know say, “I use my gut feeling in the end” to ascertain the customer buying position, meaning, “I look at the responses and body language of my customer and make up my mind on that alone.” Unfortunately, I and many others have been wrong at times.

I would say about 95 percent of salespeople entering into a key sale with multiple KDMs involved need to know where they sit in the sales cycle, who is on your side, and whom you need to work on further. Again, emphasizing the use of project sheets to identify who is a KDM and to identify the true buyers is a good starting point. Even the most experienced salesperson is still perplexed, with some customers’ decision-making processes. The following is a list to consider:

These are some of the buying and non-buying behaviors to look out for:

• The customer who will not give away his or her thoughts and decision.
• The buyer who gives you continual feedback but will not give you any indication.
• The customer who likes you but is not saying too much about his or her decision.
• The buyer who is always on your side (a coach) and guides you in the right direction.
• The customer who likes your solution but dislikes being with you (personal dislike issues).
• The customer who will buy from you always, regardless.
• Some of the preceding behaviors are, under certain circumstances, mixed together and confuse the seller further.
• The customer who continually sends you up the wrong path.

My strategy is not to let buying signs or behavior influence me until we have established relationships and product fit to customer need, and priced acceptability is understood.

Some say the order is not in until the f…t lady sings.

Using body language assessment is important with the checklist of customer behavioral traits. Let’s look at a few:

Posture is a key to the openness of the customer and their seating positions. The customer gaze shows interest or disinterest in your message; the face and expression are key as you engage directly with people. The customer is easily distracted and will answer their phone, disregarding your presence, even avoiding eye contact.

The Negative Body Language to Look Out for

The customer has crossed their arms, showing disapproval and lack of genuine interest in your solution. If the customer leans away and you lose the body–eye connection, again, disinterest is the overall message. If the customer refuses to look you in the eye and has no genuine eye contact, you have lost GFA (gaining favorable attention), or the customer has more important things to do and you are wasting their time.

If the customer can’t remove themselves from the e-mail or phone and places objects on the table in your view, this is a distracting practice. If he or she shows a great deal of fidgeting, tapping, distractedness, or a complete lack of interest in your presence in the room, you have to start again. Finally, if the customer makes excuses to end the meeting prematurely (“sorry, Mark, I have to go now”), I would review your initial approach.

All these negative body movements and posturing send a clear sign of disinterest and lack of positive body language. To come back from this point is difficult, but I would recommend the following solution.

In most cases, if you have lost your customer’s attention, pushing the reset button is necessary; but how do you do this? The salesperson has to think quickly and ask a pertinent question—“Jan I feel I have not proposed the right solution for your company needs.”

This is why you need to know the 7 steps of the sale process.

Poor past representation takes time to repair, and your customer is constantly critiquing every move you make and request they ask for. It is vital in this situation that you do all requested tasks on time and professionally so as to regain faith and trust. Regaining trust takes a great deal of time to secure, so be patient, methodical, respectful of the customer, and, under no circumstances, talk over them; the customer must feel they are in charge.

Positive Body Language (But Watch Out)

We would all like to encounter positive body language at every sale; however, this is not the real world. Even the most positive reaction from your customer does not assure the sale. Essentially, you want to see the following body and eye language reactions: friendly facial expressions, positive body posture, direct eye contact, customer touch such as a firm handshake, customer voice modulation, which may be loud, medium, or soft. Pay attention to inconsistencies but will be forgiving of your silly mistakes, and the customer will laugh with you in the conversation—a general friendliness.

These are some of the tell-tale signs that may ensure you are on the right track for good communication skills while moving through the sale.

However, even if you receive positive body language and you think you are “in,” the customer could be just a friendly person but not showing buying signs.

Here Are Some Tips to Help Your Own Body Language—Be Mindful of Your Presentation

• Prep with an open and conducive pose when seated, not too powerful.
• Fire up your energy level so you are ready to sell.
• Always smile and look attentive for your customer.
• Don’t pretend you know everything.
• Don’t gesture above your shoulders, and keep your hands and arms to your side or on your lap.
• Use your hands when talking, but do not overdo this.
• Use props to engage such as a tablet or a brochure.
• Be totally respectful to your customer.
• Do not overdress according to the industry you are selling in.
• When jotting down notes, try to keep your eye contact as best you can.
• Avoid the pauses that sometimes enter the sales.
• Keep calm and be the listener, not the major talker.

Summary: Are Female Salespeople Better Than Male Sellers?

My personal opinion is that women are way more perceptive than the majority of male sellers. Women appear to be able to spot incongruence between the spoken word and body language during the personal sales contact.¹

This is especially in a female to female sales situation.

Psychologists at Harvard University conducted a study that showed that women pay more attention to body language than men. Why is this? The participants were asked to watch a short video of a conversation between a man and a woman. The participants were asked to decide what was going on by reading their expressions. The women scored accurately 87 percent, and men 42 percent.

So, on the basis of research and anecdotal evidence of men versus women sellers, the women should be selling more and being more successful. My hunch is that male versus female success rates in general sales are equal across the board but that female sellers get past this stage faster.²

The further question which should be explored is: are male sellers better to male customers? My hunch in this case is that the conversation will take on a more blocky discussion. This does not determine the sales end result.

Either way, it is the fit for the position that determines the end result.

Selling in Summary

When I first began in sales, I thought this would take a long time to master. Well, sorry, it takes a lifetime to master. As we grow, we are able to learn more complex lessons and tasks.

Corporate training in product and sales should take priority, and ongoing field coaching should be a part of company policy whether the company has a trainer or coach or not; if not; the sales manager should assume this role. Unfortunately, the research is tragic for this ongoing problem, and I hope this book has highlighted the need for effective training.

Conclusion

In the end, your company will forget you quickly (Jim who?) and move on with your replacement. If you think you are irreplaceable, then think again. Big global sales organizations care little about you in the end. You are just a number to achieve the overall sales budget. Yes, they do care about people but if you are not performing to their expectations, you will have a limited tenure. This has become the DNA of selling for global organisations.

Setting aside the personal contacts you develop within your team, higher up the food chain, your worth to the senior management team, working in a faraway country, means little. So an understanding of your Me Brand and the skill you bring to the table is what you provide to your company. Your worth is valuable to companies while you are performing, but when times are lean in sales, management will move you on very quickly.

In the end your Me brand Is the promise of another job in another company that may appreciate your skills. Keep honing this talent and protect it with a great deal of vigor.

I find it sad that we, as a sales profession, have been accepting of such poor corporate behavior. We can only blame ourselves for allowing such disgraceful business behavior to proliferate; if we had been willing to push back against this behavior in the 1960s, I am sure our position would be more valued now.

Australian Qualitative Research

It was a surprise to me that the research results came in with such a low score. This confirmed to me that there was a need to uncover the truth. One particular company I researched early on was so low in its score, I was really surprised. I interviewed sales managers apart from salespeople, and, unfortunately, they colored their answers with mistruths, trying to pump up their position to cover up what was really going on. There were a few sales managers that held high positions and told the truth about the treatment of sales professionals.

A review of the overall results shows an average of 40 companies rated job satisfaction at 53 percent, indicating that 47 percent of salespeople are having problems and that their company is not addressing their needs. Yes, you can pick the eyes out of this research, but the numbers don’t lie, especially as low as they are.

The purpose of this book is to bring to the attention of salespeople the pitfalls of working for global organizations and reveal that the way business is run is at the expense of salespeople satisfaction. I don’t bear a grudge against these organizations; however, I want them to understand that salespeople are the key to their success and hence that the overall training and support are necessary.

Being happy in our job is the final clue to a successful career in selling. Being healthy and having the support of your organization are the priorities; everything then falls into place. I do hope that whoever reads this book takes stock of his or her own organization’s performance and endeavors to improve the life and careers of professional salespeople.

If I have perhaps given some simple but profound help to you, I have been successful too.

Overall Australian Research Results

Reference Listing

The listed references are suggested for good reading

Source: Hubspot consumer behavior survey, (2016) 43% of consumers want more video content in 2017.
Please note: after numerous approaches to the Miller Heiman corporation and their new owner, to seek their approval to mention certain products such as Blue Sheets or SPIN, the refused to reply to all our approaches we made.

Note: After numerous approaches to the Miller Heiman corporation and their new owner, to seek their approval to mention certain products such as Blue Sheets or SPIN, they refused to reply to all our approaches we made.

¹ Science of https://www.scienceofpeople.com/gender-differences/.

² Who’s Better at Selling: Men or Women? Data from 30,469 Sales Calls/Written by Chris Orlob/Current research seems to place women with the upper hand in sales today.