Leverage Thought Leadership to Win More Sales

Brian Carroll of InTouch Lead Generation challenged attendees of the Sales Shebang to forget about selling and concentrate on becoming thought leaders in their field.

Today, potential buyers are really busy with a lot on their plate.  They're trying to make the best decision for their company, but they don't always have the time on their own to do exhaustive research.  They're also delaying meetings with sales people until the really late stages of the buying process.

For sellers, this is a problem.  There's no time to nurture a potential buyer through the sales process, or even to develop trust that their product/service is the best fit for this situation.

In fact, sellers even run the risk of antagonizing their potential buyers.  A friendly call to check on the buyer can easily be interpreted as pressure to buy.

Brian told attendees at the Sales Shebang that they needed to change what they know about selling.

Sellers today are more effective not when they contact someone who is ready to buy, but when they contact someone BEFORE they're ready to buy.

Sellers can make the biggest impact early on in the buying process, or before it happens by developing relationships with potential clients and setting themselves up as thought leaders.

Brian said that the biggest concern of B2B buyers is "Is this person relevant to me/my company?"

Buyers want to know that the seller understand their issues/needs, knows their budget and restraints, and wants to help the buyer/buyer's company succeed.

Today, sellers need to stop focusing on how people buy. They need to learn how to converse with someone who is stuck in their status quo?

Brian laid out several steps for sellers to get started:

• ID the right people in right companies.  Find people who will have a need for your product/service and who will benefit from what you have to offer.

• Find out what they are concerned about.  What questions should they be asking and what do they need to know to make the right decision for their company.

• Reach out to them as an adviser.  Send them relevant articles you write, or a great white paper you read.  Point them to information that will be valuable to them and that will show that you are an expert resource on their subject.

• Think of this as a long-term project.  Forget about the sales pitch and concentrate on building a relationship with your potential customer. 

Brian cautions that this process will not lead to immediate results.  Sellers should plan to contact potential buyers with valuable information over a period of 7-12 months.

However, this is not about “what can I do today to create revenue?”  This is about planting seeds to harvest later.

By keeping in touch with potential buyers and taking the time to develop a conversation with them, sellers are giving themselves top-of-mind placement.

Once nurtured customers have a need, they will think of the person who has been helping them first.  Since they now trust that seller's judgment, they’re easier to sell to and will have a higher purchase price. 

The trust and relevancy is already there.

Comments

[jen_chan, writer MemberSpeed.com]

These are certainly practical tips. By being able to establish a good relationship with customers, you sort of eliminate the risk of antagonizing them. Once you prove yourself as a friend, I think they will also be much more relaxed when making decisions.

[Jim Phelps]

Thank you for the focus on thought leadership. As a narative marketer, my focus is on telling a compelling and memorable story. It seems as if the transformation from "account executive to thought leader" is a narative process in which the seller creates relationship by twining his story with that of his prospect's...thus making his story relevant and compelling. Thanks for the insight.