Ch. 3 Target companies, sell to people

Now that you know which companies you want to target, it’s time to identify the people at these companies whom you’ll need to work with to make a sale happen.

In B2B sales, most buying decisions are subject to multiple opinions, also known as a consensus buying group. Each member of the group has different needs and concerns, most of which will be based on their role in the company. We call the description of each role in the decision-making process a “buyer persona.”

For example, a CFO is concerned about profitability and margins, so you’ll need to make a financial argument for him to agree to purchase your product. But a CEO is often more concerned with the strategic value of the decision, meaning you’ll need to demonstrate how effectively your product will help her accomplish her existing goals.

If you make an argument for why your product will work for the company, but you focus on aspects that?have nothing to do with the person you’re interacting with, the response is likely to be, “So what?”

A basic buyer persona includes answers to the following:

• What makes this person more money?
• What will get this person fired?
• What makes their job more tolerable?
• Here are some other questions that can help you fill in the details around your buyer’s needs:
• What is their role or title?
• How is success measured in their role?
• What are they doing throughout the work day/
• week?
• What tools are they using to perform their job?
• Who do they report to and who reports to
• them?
• What are their 3 biggest challenges?
• As you engage each buyer persona, you need to personalize your pitch to align with what they care about most.
• As you write your call scripts and craft your email tem- plates, you need to ask, “What’s in it for my buyer?” and “Will this buyer reply, ‘So what?’” Otherwise you risk losing a sale where the product was a great fit for the company, but you didn’t prove it was a great fit for the person.?

STOP & Take Action?

Fill out the space provided with the buyer personas you currently encounter.

If you don’t yet know these, speak with another sales rep, an account manager, or a founder.

Role | Top challenges | How you can help them?