Workplace Ability | The most important key to B2B sales is to understand persuasion and negotiation

Hi everyone, my name is Alvin

First of all, I think B2B sales is an extremely insecure job, because before the contract has been signed and the payment has not been recorded, all verbal commitments do not count, what you think is no problem, there are variables, and it may be possible at any time. Turning around overnight, everything turned into a problem; so in the job of sales, you often feel very uncomfortable, this feeling is like thinking that you have several twos of spades in your hand, but when you are serious about playing, you find out. How are plum three.

After all, the object of sales is people; people themselves are complex, fickle individuals who are afraid of failure, and in B2B sales, you often have to deal with a group of people, and you want them to pay extra costs to do one. The difficulty itself is very high. In addition to the competition in the industry, and information acquisition is becoming easier and more transparent, it is difficult for sales to use the information gap to increase their value. Relying on your bright tongue to make customers pay for the bill, I am afraid it is already more difficult.

Because of this, I think good eloquence is no longer the most important key in B2B sales. The real key to B2B sales is that you know what you are selling.

The "what to sell" I am referring to here does not really refer to the service content you are selling. More precisely, it refers to what level of customer needs are met by the services you are selling?

Therefore, the first step in B2B sales is to clearly position your service. The following two options will help you understand the value of positioning faster:

- Helping clients on a scale from 0 to 60, building the foundation (good for persuasion)

It means that the service you sell is the so-called "rigid demand". Customers in the market must use your type of service. If customers do not cooperate with you, they will cooperate with your competitors; in the retail e-commerce market In other words, "digital advertising" is a "just-needed" service, and it is also the "infrastructure" of retail e-commerce. If customers want to start making profits, they must expose their products to the eyes of consumers who need them.

If your service is to meet the "rigid needs" of customers, then you can follow the following three key points when selling:

1. Objective data

Be sure to provide objective data that is closely related to customers, such as how many TA customers are currently using FB, or how many people search for customers' products on Google every month, etc., so that customers know that the services you provide are the best. Important, but also the most basic, to be a retail e-commerce business is to invest in digital advertising.

2. Success stories

Providing objective data is mainly to give customers a sense of trust in you, so that they are willing to listen to your suggestions. Providing successful cases is to make customers have confidence in your services. After all, the most criticized thing about sales is often Words have no basis, so it is recommended to name at least two brands that have brought good results after using your service, one of which is best in the same industry, and can also stimulate the customer's senses a little.

3. Show confidence

Just imagine, if there were two sales today, with similar content, same service, and similar price, one looked confident and experienced, the other looked cringe and fearful, then you would compare Which sales partner would you like to work with? I think confident and experienced salespeople are more persuasive, and the deals they can get will have a greater chance and will be more.

Tips: The sales that provide "rigid demand" services are more suitable for communication in the way of "persuasion".

- Help customers from 60 points to 80 points, amplify existing benefits (suitable for negotiation)

It means that the services you sell are not "rigid demand", but "flexible demand", which means that customers in the market may not necessarily use the services you sell and have the opportunity to operate well, but the value of the services you provide lies in Further magnify the original performance of customers, and reduce the operating costs of customers, so that customers can obtain more income with existing resources, so as to accelerate the expansion and transformation of enterprises; in the retail e-commerce market, "Martech" A tool is a kind of "elastic demand" service, suitable for customers who have already established the infrastructure.

If your service is to meet the "flexible needs" of customers, then when you sell, in addition to following the above three points, the following three points are more important:

1. Find out why

Many times, it is clear that customers are very interested in the services you provide and think that it is of great help to them, but it is still difficult to decide to cooperate. , often customers are "afraid of taking responsibility". After all, the customer company is not very effective or has a sharp drop in revenue. It is a risk for him to introduce a new service or system; For this reason, you will have no entry point and can only passively wait for the customer's rejection or indefinite discussions.

2. Provide support

Pay special attention to providing support after you have discovered the reasons why customers care most. Take the above customer's "fear of taking responsibility" as an example. This is an entry point. In fact, "fear of taking responsibility" means "fear of ineffectiveness". You can provide support to reassure him and reduce the risk of ineffectiveness; for example, provide additional AM Resources, or help him buy more time for Onboard, or even help customers plan the implementation priorities of the first month, as well as the KPIs of the first three months, etc., are specific methods to provide support.

3. Mutual benefit

At the last step, there is only the last mile left before the transaction. At this time, the issue of "selling price" will usually be discussed. Usually, for the sales of system services, the selling price has a little space. It can be negotiated, but usually the advice for the first quotation is not to give any space, because the first quotation is very likely to be shot by the client's supervisor: "Why are there no discounts or discounts at all! How did you negotiate? You didn't do a good job for the company. Save your budget!"

Therefore, don't make your customer difficult to be a person. When he asks you for a discount, give him a little space, but don't give it all up. In short, if the sales plan can accept a discount of up to 10%, Then the second quotation to the customer can be 5% off. If the second pass is successful, it is of course the best; The third quotation, at this time, you still have the last 10% off the bottom line. At the same time, you can also ask the customer to give you some help, such as introducing a customer to you, or asking the customer to become you if it is effective. The company's success stories, so you can share, etc.;

Don't open your hole cards for the first time, remember to keep the bargaining chips on the negotiating table, and you will have a chance to taste the results of a win-win situation with mutual benefit.

Tips: To provide sales of "flexible demand" services, it is more suitable to use "negotiation" to communicate.

What is the difference between "persuasion" and "negotiation"?

Persuasion: Ask the client to follow your advice.

Negotiation: In order to meet the needs of both parties, give and gain to each other.

Thank you for reading. Today, I briefly shared the performance of "persuasion" and "negotiation" in actual negotiation. I hope it will help you.

If you are interested in B2B sales, you can also communicate and discuss through Facebook , and welcome to contact me from Linkedin .

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