Kozlov from understanding the client's situation to the deal. Mikhail Kazantsev: School of B2B Sales. From understanding the client's situation to the deal. Goods and services of a high price category

This book is the first systematic and consistent guide to B2B sales. Never before have these sales been singled out as an independent type of transaction that requires a special approach and special skills of sellers. Meanwhile, B2B sales are fundamentally different from B2C sales. In this book, you will learn what a situational approach to sales is and how to apply it successfully, learn to view sales from the perspective of the client, his interests and his business situation. The real long-term experience of the author, a successful consultant and business coach, is summarized in a capacious illustrated form.

This book is for anyone in the B2B sales community who wants to do it better.

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School of B2B sales. From understanding the client's situation to the deal
Mikhail Yu Kazantsev

This book is for anyone in the B2B sales community who wants to do it better.

Mikhail Kazantsev

School of B2B sales. From understanding the client's situation to the deal

Legal support of the publishing house is provided by the law firm "Vegas-Lex".

Introduction

I write the books that I myself missed when I started in business. At one time, I had to drastically change my life and start selling. Anyway, I have been in sales since 1993 to the present ...

This book is a self-explanatory illustrated guide to B2B sales based on twenty years of experience of Mikhail Kazantsev. The book contains more than 100 drawings and diagrams of the author, which make it easy to remember and apply B2B sales technologies.

From the book you will learn:

how sales and customers differ in the B2C and B2B markets;

what is a situational approach to sales and how to apply it to close deals;

how to look at the situation through the eyes of the client;

how to work with a buyer and a purchasing committee.

From the author

I write the books that I myself missed when I started in business. At one time, I had to drastically change my life and start selling. I have been in sales since 1993 to the present. It so happened that all my work was related to B2B sales. For many years I have been trying to find a book, a reference book, a manual that would help me sell more, better, more efficiently ... However, I have not come across such books. Therefore, I decided to systematize my experience, the experience of my colleagues and clients and write a series of books devoted exclusively to the system analysis of B2B sales.

Before writing this book, I re-read my favorite sales books by famous authors once again. I looked at these books with new eyes and made sure that B2B sales are not described in their pure form anywhere. These sales are not singled out as an independent type of transaction that requires a special approach and special skills of sellers. Meanwhile, B2B sales are fundamentally different from B2C sales.

I have devoted several years to organizing my B2B sales experience, resulting in a series of books. The first of these books is in front of you.

In this book:

for the first time, B2B sales are considered from the perspective of the client, his interests and his business situation;

shows the results of the author's many years of practice in B2B sales.

Who is this book for?

This book is for anyone in the B2B sales community who wants to do it better.

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A book about b2b sales. From understanding the client's situation to the deal.
Mikhail Kazantsev, business coach and consultant, offers his own sales methodology. It is based on understanding the specific situation of the client and his business.

Excerpts from the book:

The most important thing in sales is analyzing the situation.

B2C: A culture of mass consumption is a culture of novelties.

An important difference between a B-client and a C-client: the B-client does not enjoy the buying process.

B-customer-buyer:
1. Buys not for himself.

2. Purchase = work.

3. Works under the pressure and control of several instances of his organization.

4. Decisions are made from the point of view of economic feasibility.

5. The professional purchaser works within tightly controlled budgets and regulations.

6. Not ready to overpay for the brand (in most cases).

The world of sales is based on 3 pillars. 1. Communication with the client. 2. Using personality traits when selling (your own and the client's). 3. Management of the situation of the transaction.

The technology for managing the situation of the transaction and the client consists of 3 blocks:
1. Analysis of the client's situation
2. The choice of instruments of influence and the point of entry into the situation.
3. Changing the client's situation (through influence).

We always tend to explain our behavior by the situation, and not by our personal qualities. And the behavior of other people, on the contrary, is always explained by the peculiarities of their personality.

If a party to a transaction has a lack of self-esteem or a low assessment of his social status compared to a negotiating partner, he will always lose.

Thompson's theorem: if a person defines a situation as real, then all its consequences are real for him.

Until you reliably know how the client perceives the situation of the transaction with you and your company, you are talking not with the client, but with yourself.

Studying the client's situation is not about identifying needs. This is a clarification of the reality in which the client exists and through the prism of which he will perceive your proposal.

A strong situation is a situation that leaves the participant no choice and no opportunity to prove himself as a person. The strong situation is cornered. The stronger the situation, the more primitive and unambiguous human behavior. The simplest example is a fire.

A strong situation makes the behavior predictable for the observer, but not for himself.

The more you want and the more afraid you are, the less likely the deal will go well.

Every competent negotiator tries to show his opponent that his own situation is very weak, he is not afraid of anything, does not lose anything and is not particularly interested in anything. At the same time, an experienced negotiator strengthens the situation for the opponent in every possible way, clearly demonstrating how shaky his position is and how uninteresting the proposals are.

In negotiations

1. Once and for all, admit to yourself that the salesperson is always in a stronger situation than the client. And stop worrying about it.

2. Have a list of potential clients in stock, which you can go to in case of failure with the current client. Sales are a statistical thing. The more potential customers and contacts you have, the more successful your sales will be in general. And the weaker the situation of each individual sale.

3. Speak with all your looks: My company and I personally are doing well with sales. What I offer is in demand and has an adequate price. When communicating with a client, be moderately persistent, but not to the point of bending over.

The winner is not the one whose situation is really weaker, but who demonstrates it as weaker.

If the salesperson is not in the position of a supplicant, but behaves like a potential partner, then he forms a shared reality with the client. If this reality can be formed, then instead of a vulgar sale, we get negotiations for a mutual exit. In this case, the salesperson calmly perceives everything that the client says to him, does not shake or get scared.

Analyzing our offer - Is there a unique advantage? - No - Accept it - Think over plans A, B, C - Stop selling. Ask and listen - Lead the client to his tasks and problems - The client sells to himself.

Channel factors are always based on the simplest human properties (laziness, greed, impatience, etc.)

Channel factors: money, time, emotions, similarities, help.

Sales managers often do not make an effort to imagine and understand the role of what they sell in the client's business.

If what you offer does not comply with the regulations and business processes of the client, this is not an objection. This is a reality that you will have to reckon with.

Remember: you are not selling what you think you are. You are not selling a product. You are selling a gear in a customer's business mechanism and it must fit exactly into its place and ensure the smooth operation of the business as a whole.

9 models of client situations

Defined by the business processes and regulations of the client companies:

Budget - Tasks - Challenges

Importance - Regularity

Habitual - New

Adequate - Cost

Determined by the status and competencies of the decision maker:

Uses - Benefit

Uses - Answers

Amateur - Professional

Decides - Affects - Does not affect

Knows - Wants

Models of situations determined by business processes and regulations of client companies

Model Budget - Task - Problem

Customer situation: he has a problem that he sews with your product or service.
Most often, the winner is the one who first shows him that the problem can be solved. Everyone else will be late, even if they can solve the problem better.

The stronger the situation, the less time and patience the client has to make a decision. And the stronger is the speed factor.

Client situation: he has a specific task and targets that he wants to achieve.
The supplier wins, which in the best way, from the point of view of the client, solves these problems and meets the targets as much as possible.

Client Situation: He has a fixed budget to purchase something, and being within the budget are key criteria for deciding on a deal.
Your task is to offer the client several attractive options and not get too carried away with colorful or detailed descriptions of your products. It will not interest him.

Model Regularity - Importance

Regularity. Whether your deal is a one-time or a recurring one.

Importance: a) optional b) necessary 3) extremely important.

Combination 1: one-time + optional deal

Example: aquarium, flower, clock.
Price is often not the main criterion. In deals, it is more important to arouse the customer's liking for your product.

Combination 2: one-time + required deal

Example: office equipment, furniture, notary services.
If the client does not have criteria, then most often the main factor will be the price and a couple of formal characteristics.

For this type of transaction, you never know which of your potential customers will have and at what point the need will arise. Recommendations: visibility in search engines, increase the overall level of company awareness; regularly combing and calling potential customers.

Combination 3: one-time + extremely important deal

Example: commercial real estate, machine tools.
The decision criteria are not only the properties of the proposal, but also the compliance with the client's business model.

Price priority is reduced when it comes to one-off deals of extreme importance.
Recommendations: Become a consultant and expert. Also an effective strategy is to search for persons influencing the decision.

Combination 4: regular + optional

Example: supply of water, tea, cleaning.
The most important thing is not the transaction itself, but the convenience and indispensability of the delivery process for the client. With regard to such transactions, he wants to resolve this issue once and for all and forget about it.

Mass calls to customers and visibility in search engines work well.

Combination 5: Regular + Essential

Highly specialized (determined by the specifics of the business - spare parts, tools) or standard transactions (paper, communication services, the Internet).
The more complex the goods purchased on an ongoing basis, the higher the competence of the specialist who makes the purchasing decision.

Recommendations: Will have to work against existing suppliers. To highlight the product against a specific background using unique advantages (best price, service, consumer properties). Taking into account the characteristics of the customer and his KPI.

Build long-term relationships with buyers on a regular basis. Be prepared that the first offer will not be accepted.

Combination 6: Regular + Extremely Important
Example: delivery of meat to a sausage factory, accessories for a car factory, paper for a printing house.

Purchasing criteria are adopted at the senior management level as they touch the essence of the business.

Recommendations: the decision will be taken slowly, since the success of the client's business depends on your product. The client already has a supplier, otherwise his business would not exist. The existing supplier is likely to satisfy the customer and fit his business model. You need to prepare for a serious competition and understand that for the sake of a penny benefit the supplier will not be changed.

The technology of expert sales works.

Model Familiar - New

Habitual - a transaction similar to which the client has previously made.
For years, the client has been using not the cheapest, not the most modern and not the best quality product just because it is familiar to him.
Recommendations: 1. Maintain a relationship with the client. Become familiar and safe for him and wait for the moment when the current supplier makes a mistake. And here the main thing is to be the first of those who offer their goods in return.
2. Offer substantially better terms. At the same time, try to do all the preparatory work for the client.
3. Transform the usual deal for the client into an unfamiliar plane. Update it. Surprise the client.

New for the client.
1. The client wants to buy something new himself.
Relieve client stress. Convince the client of your competence, show that you are familiar with the nuances and details. Become an expert for the client.

2. You offer a customer to buy something that the customer has never used.
Consider how conservative the client is. Selling new products to a conservative business is very difficult.

Model Adequacy and Cost

1.economic;

2. personal (beliefs and preferences of the person making the decision);

3. social pressure.

Low price goods and services.

The main factors are: price, discounts and deferred payment. Or the business model is focused on the cheapest or "cockroaches" of the client.
For people who focus exclusively on low-price offers, arguments about quality, reliability, and other things are outside the field of perception.

Medium price category goods and services.

The client pays attention to quality, ease of use, service and guarantee and price.
Collect as many arguments as possible in favor of your proposal.

Goods and services of a high price category.

Not trademarks rule, but brands.

Customer preferences: the attitude (belief, principle of life) of the first person of the company; "by necessity". You can make an emotionally charged sale in the first case.

The client has a subjective range of the reasonableness of the transaction value. Prices within this range are perceived as normal. The boundaries of the customer's price adequacy range may or may not correspond to market conditions.
If the price goes beyond the range of adequacy in the direction of increase, it is perceived sharply negatively.
If the price is below the client's adequacy range, then this often causes distrust and suspicion.

Models of situations determined by the status and competencies of the decision maker

Model Uses - Benefit

The deal is beneficial to the buyer and he (his division) uses what he buys

The purchaser's income depends on the subject of the purchase. For example - equipment consumables.

It is necessary to emphasize the benefits for the client. It is advisable to give him a try to use what you are selling.

No benefit - enjoys

The deal does not affect the buyer's financial performance and he (his department) simply uses the product. For example - an information system for an accountant, office furniture.
The client's subjective opinion is important; he makes a decision based on the criteria “like / dislike, convenient / not convenient.

Beneficial - does not use

The deal is financially beneficial for the client, but neither he nor his division uses what he buys. Often a buyer with a KPI.

Not profitable - does not use

The deal does not affect the personal benefit of the buyer, and he does not use what he buys. Into the load of a professional buyer.

Model Uses - responds

Responsible (responsible or not)
Uses - answers

You are responsible for what you have bought.

Doesn't use - answers

Recommendations: be the first to come to the client. It is useless to try to convince the client that your offer is special or good. A buyer who doesn't use and doesn't respond doesn't care. Don't offer over budget. It is worth playing on laziness and offer to make life easier for the buyer to the maximum.

Clients of this type can make decisions on emotions. To awaken emotions, give to touch and taste the product.

Offer the best within budget.

Model Dilettante - professional

More often than not, an amateur client is not going to spend a lot of time to figure out what exactly he is buying. His ideal supplier will be someone who instills confidence that everything will be fine. And who will demonstrate expertise.
Recommendations: an amateur client must be shown that it is difficult or even unrealistic to independently understand the subject of the purchase; having reassured, explain that there is no need to understand the subject. In any case, he will be provided with the desired result. Show that you are able to communicate with him in a normal language and clearly answer questions.

If the client is of the “professional” type, he or she understands the subject of the purchase much better than the seller. The worst thing a salesperson can do in this situation is to try to quickly convince a professional client.

Model Decides - affects - does not

Clients are divided into three categories: decides - influences - does not.

Employee not influencing the deal

A mediator on whom nothing depends.
Use as a source of information about the situation and decision maker.

Employee influencing the deal

There are two options: a smart mediator (referent), an interested specialist.

Decision maker
The decision maker is a busy person, don't be too annoying.

Model Knows - wants

The client does not want - he does not know

The client has not heard about the product and does not want to buy an unknown product.

The client wants - does not know

The client has a problem or need.
Recommendations: If the client wants and does not know - ask what and why he wants. Tell us what options are on the market and submit yours as the best.

The client does not want - he knows

The ideal situation if you have exactly what the client wants. If there is something similar, then the trade often fails. Not to impose something similar, but different.

Buyer solutions

The three heads of the buyer:

A. Respects the interests of the company or business in general.

B. Protects the interests of the service, position or unit.

C. Respects personal interests (career, money, self-importance).

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