Sell vs buy. These words seem similar, but the difference is critical to winning customers and building trust in your sales process.
In the sales world, we have a lot of buzzwords.
Closing ratio. Prospecting. Objections. CRM. Connect calls. Qualifying leads. Customer acquisition. Proposals.
Many have a solid purpose and reason for being. But there are two words that, if used incorrectly, could be the difference between winning a customer and watching them walk away.
In the sales world, we have a lot of buzzwords.
Closing ratio. Prospecting. Objections. CRM. Connect calls. Qualifying leads. Customer acquisition. Proposals.
Many have a solid purpose and reason for being. But there are two words that, if used incorrectly, could be the difference between winning a customer and watching them walk away.
The first word is….. SOLD.
When I see a real-estate “sold” sign in front of a home, I think… “Wow, that family must be headed on a new adventure because they sold their house” OR – “I wonder who just bought that house!”
I never think…”I wonder who got tricked into being SOLD that home.”
Why?
Because I (and most people) use the language like this:
“I wonder who bought that house?”
Which bring me to the second word….BUY.
The difference is slight, but how we — as marketing and sales professionals — understand these words has the potential to transform the entire customer experience.
People hate being sold, but they love to buy.
And therein lies the challenge…
The temptation to SELL has never been stronger.
As marketing and sales professionals, we have thousands of tools at our fingertips that allow us to target the right person, at the right time, and heck, even “follow” them around the Internet to remind them of the things they left in their cart.
But nobody wants to be followed. They want to own the buying experience.
Nobody wants to be tricked, convinced, or pushed into making a purchase.
That’s what we think of when we think of being “sold”.
Being “sold” makes us think of the slimey, sales-driven guy at the used car lot.
Nobody wants to feel buyer’s remorse because buying wasn’t really their idea – it was the ‘deal’ that got them in, or that was the only way to get rid of you.
Instead, we want to feel empowered.
….like the decision to buy was our decision.
We want to feel like we had the opportunity to seek out the information, weigh the options, and and make a smart purchase.
And to do that we have to start serving the customer instead of pushing marketing messages in their face.
We have to truly care about the problems in their lives, not just the ones that our product or service solves.
We have to be willing to stay engaged, to give them time, and nurture the relationship toward a positive outcome that (gasp!) may come months after you first started talking.
Think about the last purchase you made.
Did you want to buy? Or were you sold?
When we buy, we utilize information, feedback, recommendations from friends and family, and our own research to influence when and how we pull out that credit card.
And our consumers are doing the same.
Are you sharing helpful information (not just about your product, but about the types of problems they face)? Do you build a relationship with them through content so they can interact with you at a distance before they’re ready for an in-person conversation? Are you clear in what value you can bring to their experience? Do you care about them as humans in addition to the checkbook they hold in their hands?
Let’s help customers buy, so they don’t feel sold.