Have you seen this? An open message from a buyer to a seller…
An Open Message From A Buyer To A Seller
Every salesperson needs to hear this message from a buyer to a seller at least once. It’s a candid reminder of what buyers actually want — and it pairs well with knowing your own competitive moat so you can deliver on every point below.
Salespeople – It doesn’t worry me that your sales process is not perfect so long as you help me think differently, help me be better at what I do. Do that and you will be adding value to my role – anything else and you are like everyone else – boring, vanilla and beige.
Salespeople– Be generous! Go where your competition fear to tread and give me the extras. The extras, the overs, the information, the ideas, the shortcuts, help me help my clients, because it won’t be long and your competition will be! We now expect the extras.
Salespeople– Be A Leader! You don’t have to be THE leader but show up with a guiding light for me, interest in what I do, a desire to help me help my buyers, the same care factor for my challenges as you have for your own. Hone you personal leadership, thought leadership and sales leadership qualities and lead me through the conversation, but know to let me lead, too.
Salespeople – Thank you for challenging my thinking and not backing down and being a ‘yes’ person. I need to know you won’t change your stance when I cross question you. I need to know I can trust your character and your judgement no matter what!
Salespeople – I love it when you can hear what I say simply by ing to what I don’t say. Not many of you have that gift – the gift of sensory acuity, just like not many of you have the gift of acknowledging a mistake, recognising and remedying it immediately. And while we are talking gifts, the gift of taking feedback is paramount.
This is exactly the kind of message from a buyer to a seller that changes how you sell.Salespeople – I am just like you. I don’t like being ‘sold to’, I am wary of salespeople overusing all those canned and predictable words with me like productivity, reliability and versatility. I like to hear new words that are flavoured with growth and contribution, certainty and consideration, collaborative yet prescriptive.
Salespeople – Learn the art of social online and offline, embrace the art of storytelling that surpasses your features talk, upgrade our conversations past consultative to contextual and above all put meaning over the money and you won’t need to default to discount.
Salespeople – Know WHO you are before you walk through my door. I love working with someone who is comfortable with who they are, someone not intimidated by me, someone who is keen to share their art with the world because they are proud of their value and legacy, someone who knows their WHY and what that means to me. Someone not after being liked, but respected instead.
Keep this message from a buyer to a seller close by as you plan your next call.Salespeople – We will follow you on your journey, we will treat you as trusted advisors when you converse with us, humanise a mechanical, predictable and industrial process called ‘selling’, speak WITH us not broadcast TO us. We really do need you in our lives and are willing to reciprocate by paying well those who serve us well.
Salespeople – Have you seen this ode, internalised its words, absorbed its meaning? When you realise it’s not about the sale, that it’s about you and me, that it’s about give and take, breaking rules and building respect, that it’s about commerce and business and economics based on the world we both live in, then, if so, we are looking forward to working with you!
That’s the real message from a buyer to a seller — read it again, then ask yourself which of these you can start doing today.
I’m Bernadette – founder of the Decision-Led Revenue™ Operating System and The Revenue Leader of Influence™, where I work with CEOs and sales leaders to build a sales team they can rely on to think, make the call, tell the truth about pipeline and own the result.
If any of this resonated – or if you’re staring at a revenue problem that feels like it should have been solved by now – I’d love a conversation.
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And if you’d rather join the discussion, you can also join me on Substack. That’s where the Revenue Leader of Influence community is starting to have these conversations in real time.
