19 The Buying Process

If not you, then who?

If not now, then when?

—Hillel

The Middle

If you’re one of those salespeople who finds that the hardest

part of a cold call is the beginning, congratulations. You’re

past it. The thirty-second speech carried you through. The

prospect had enough interest to answer your flip question instead

of hanging up or telling you to call back after Bastille

Day.

Now what?

In the middle part of a cold call, the task is not only to

maintain and strengthen the prospect’s interest but to start

building a relationship.

It’s time to begin the actual sales process that will allow

the buyer to make a decision to purchase from you or not. This

chapter outlines that process. The following chapters will go

into more detail about how to handle the middle section of a

cold call.

Buying decisions are made according to a process. If you

can walk hand in hand with prospects through that process,

they are far more likely to decide in your favor. In this chapter,

we’ll look at the overall process. Then we’ll quickly introduce

two concepts—control and action—that we’ll dig into in

more detail later.

The buyer and the seller both have roles in the buying decision

process, which looks like this.

Buyer’s Steps

Let’s look at the buyer’s side of the process. Following are the

steps any buyer goes through in deciding whether to make a

purchase (Figure 19-1):

1st Step: They have an initial interest. That’s what

your opening thirty-second speech created, and good for

you. At this point, however, there are still 500 other

things that interest your prospects more. To get seriously

interested, they need additional information.

2nd Step: The prospect now wants to be educated.

Feature/benefit selling techniques are usually used here.

Figure 19-1. The buying decision process.

3rd Step: If the education phase goes well, prospects

begin to transfer ownership. They can picture the product

as a solution to a real need. They begin to sell themselves

on its virtues.

4th Step: Now having a good idea what the product

is, potential buyers enter a rationalization phase. They

come up with objections that must be addressed:

_ Have I looked at all the competitors I need to?

_ Do I really want to make this purchase decision

now?

_ Can I afford it at this time?

_ Do I really look twenty years younger with this

new hairpiece, or do I look like a doofus with a bad

rug?

5th Step: The prospect decides whether to buy. Yes

or no? That’s it.

TIP: You probably will not take the prospect

through the entire Buying Decision process in an

initial cold call. Be aware, however, that there is a

process the buyer goes through. You are at the Initial

Interest step. Your goal is to get to the next step.

One step at a time, okay?

Two factors will be especially important during the middle

of a cold call.

Control the Call

Remember how happy we were when the prospect began

to take control of the conversation and steer it toward their

own needs by answering the flip question at the end of the

thirty-second speech? We’re still happy about that. But there

is a paradox here, because in the middle of a cold call, you

need to gain and maintain control.

In the beginning the goal is to create interest and get

prospects to talk about themselves. This gives you an opportunity to learn more about them before you start selling. But

that doesn’t mean you can drop the reins for the rest of the call

and just go along for the ride. You’re the one who must always

know what the next step is—the goal that you and the buyer

are aiming at during each phase of the process. That means

you have to be the guide.

What’s the goal you’re aiming at in the middle of a cold

call? To move up the buying-decision ladder from Initial Interest

to Educate.

Create Action

During the middle of a cold call you want to create action.

This might mean that the prospect agrees to your proposal of

a next step—a face-to-face meeting or a follow-up meeting, for

instance. Or it might mean you agree that there is no fit and no

next step is needed at this time. Either way, you have created

action. If you aren’t going to move further up the sales path

with this prospect, thank him for his time and make your next

cold call. See? Action.

Next we’ll look at these two factors in more detail in

Chapter 20.

If not you, then who?

If not now, then when?

—Hillel

The Middle

If you’re one of those salespeople who finds that the hardest

part of a cold call is the beginning, congratulations. You’re

past it. The thirty-second speech carried you through. The

prospect had enough interest to answer your flip question instead

of hanging up or telling you to call back after Bastille

Day.

Now what?

In the middle part of a cold call, the task is not only to

maintain and strengthen the prospect’s interest but to start

building a relationship.

It’s time to begin the actual sales process that will allow

the buyer to make a decision to purchase from you or not. This

chapter outlines that process. The following chapters will go

into more detail about how to handle the middle section of a

cold call.

Buying decisions are made according to a process. If you

can walk hand in hand with prospects through that process,

they are far more likely to decide in your favor. In this chapter,

we’ll look at the overall process. Then we’ll quickly introduce

two concepts—control and action—that we’ll dig into in

more detail later.

The buyer and the seller both have roles in the buying decision

process, which looks like this.

Buyer’s Steps

Let’s look at the buyer’s side of the process. Following are the

steps any buyer goes through in deciding whether to make a

purchase (Figure 19-1):

1st Step: They have an initial interest. That’s what

your opening thirty-second speech created, and good for

you. At this point, however, there are still 500 other

things that interest your prospects more. To get seriously

interested, they need additional information.

2nd Step: The prospect now wants to be educated.

Feature/benefit selling techniques are usually used here.

Figure 19-1. The buying decision process.

3rd Step: If the education phase goes well, prospects

begin to transfer ownership. They can picture the product

as a solution to a real need. They begin to sell themselves

on its virtues.

4th Step: Now having a good idea what the product

is, potential buyers enter a rationalization phase. They

come up with objections that must be addressed:

_ Have I looked at all the competitors I need to?

_ Do I really want to make this purchase decision

now?

_ Can I afford it at this time?

_ Do I really look twenty years younger with this

new hairpiece, or do I look like a doofus with a bad

rug?

5th Step: The prospect decides whether to buy. Yes

or no? That’s it.

TIP: You probably will not take the prospect

through the entire Buying Decision process in an

initial cold call. Be aware, however, that there is a

process the buyer goes through. You are at the Initial

Interest step. Your goal is to get to the next step.

One step at a time, okay?

Two factors will be especially important during the middle

of a cold call.

Control the Call

Remember how happy we were when the prospect began

to take control of the conversation and steer it toward their

own needs by answering the flip question at the end of the

thirty-second speech? We’re still happy about that. But there

is a paradox here, because in the middle of a cold call, you

need to gain and maintain control.

In the beginning the goal is to create interest and get

prospects to talk about themselves. This gives you an opportunity to learn more about them before you start selling. But

that doesn’t mean you can drop the reins for the rest of the call

and just go along for the ride. You’re the one who must always

know what the next step is—the goal that you and the buyer

are aiming at during each phase of the process. That means

you have to be the guide.

What’s the goal you’re aiming at in the middle of a cold

call? To move up the buying-decision ladder from Initial Interest

to Educate.

Create Action

During the middle of a cold call you want to create action.

This might mean that the prospect agrees to your proposal of

a next step—a face-to-face meeting or a follow-up meeting, for

instance. Or it might mean you agree that there is no fit and no

next step is needed at this time. Either way, you have created

action. If you aren’t going to move further up the sales path

with this prospect, thank him for his time and make your next

cold call. See? Action.

Next we’ll look at these two factors in more detail in

Chapter 20.