Sample Chapters from the book

A full sample chapter is below and you can click here for an extract from the Cold Calling chapter as published in the BRW edition of 17th July 2008.

You can see an extract from the Trade Shows chapter from the BRW edition of 18th August 2008 by clicking here

Buyers Defined
"When dealing with people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but of emotion" – Dale Carnegie

A buyer is somebody who has exchanged their hard-earned money for the benefits they will get from the product or service for which they have made the exchange.

Most people value their purchase according to their level of investment, compared to their total spending capacity.

As an example, if you pay $500 for an item when you had the option of paying either $100 or $300 for items designed to do similar jobs, then the higher priced product was obviously worth the extra money!

Sounds simple?

Well it isn’t quite so simple.

Value means an individual buyer’s perceived value, rather than mere price. If someone needs an item, they will buy it, but how much they are willing to spend (within their affordability limit) comes down to the value they perceive in the item they are purchasing.

Some people always buy only the most expensive items, whilst others sneer at them for wasting their money, calling them 'badge victims', because they wear the brand they have purchased like a badge of credibility.

As an example, someone driving an expensive car will usually feel superior to someone driving a lesser-priced car and the driver of the lesser car will either be contemptuous or jealous of the other driver.

If the driver of the lesser car is contemptuous, it is because the driver has different perceived values and perceives money wasted and thinks disrespectful thoughts of the expensive car’s driver.

But if the driver of the lesser car is jealous, it is because the driver shares the values of the driver of the expensive car, but has less spending power.

I suggest that, from a salesperson's perspective, the definition of a buyer is "a person who places a perceived value on an item or service and who is willing to spend that value to gain the benefits that the item or service will provide them".

This definition of a buyer is crucial to both buyers and sellers, because it identifies the motives behind the purchase. It is a truism that people "buy emotionally and defend their purchase logically", meaning that their hearts make the decision. The period known as Buyers' Remorse sometimes follows (wherein the buyer questions the wisdom of the purchase) and if a period of remorse does occur, the head rationalises the decision made by the heart.

For buyers to become happy owners, it is essential that they dispassionately value-assess their purchase motives.

Examples are:
a) Why do I want it?
b) Do I really need it?
c) Once the newness thrill fades, will I still use it?
d) What is the financial cost to me?
e) What is the opportunity cost to me? (i.e. what do I have to forgo for this?)
f) What will happen if I don’t have it?

If the buyer doesn't assess these motives before the sale, "Buyers' Remorse" will ensure that they assess the purchase immediately after they've bought. Buyers' Remorse is that sinking feeling that you get after spending a lot of money on something and then wondering if you’ve done the right thing in making the purchase. Please see the specific Buyers' Remorse chapter for more detail.

For those who think that being a buyer is easy, I'd like to share with you one of my all-time favourite jokes, which beautifully illustrates how even experienced sales people can make wrong buying assumptions –

A salesman selling pencils was cold calling one lunch-time and found himself talking to a sales manager. He started with "you wouldn't want to buy any new pencils, would you?"

The sales manager immediately embarked on a lecture about how to sell, pointing out, in very blunt terms, that the salesperson should be talking positively and demonstrating all the benefits of his products, rather than being so shy and self-deprecating in his approach.

The salesperson replied, "Thank you sir, but you wouldn't like to buy any pencils, would you?"

The sales manager launched into yet another tirade about being positive and then asked if the salesman had a family to support. When the salesman said he was married with children, the sales manager thought "I have to help him or his family will starve" and asked to look at the pencils.

Out of sheer pity he bought a dozen gross of the pencils, enough to last the company the next century!

The salesman was extremely grateful and proceeded to write the order out for the sales manager to sign.

Whilst the salesman was writing the order out, the sales manager asked how long he had been with the company, assuming that he was new and wouldn't last long.

"About fifteen years", replied the salesman.

"Fifteen Years!" exclaimed the sales manager, thinking that the salesman must have just got the sales position.

"What jobs have you been doing in the last fifteen years?" asked the sales manager?

"I’ve always been in sales", replied the salesman.

"And what sort of sales figures have you produced?" asked the incredulous sales manager.

"I've been top salesman every year", answered the salesman.

"Who buys all those pencils off you", asked the almost speechless sales manager.

"Oh, sales managers mainly", replied the salesman.