Sales: how to improve your customer touch

During the last 30+ years I made some mistakes and learnings. One of the Take aways was, that a single sided approach seldom wins. Use what you can do and learn from others. One of the good books I read was the "Go Rin No Sho" - The "Book of the five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi. This old Samurai combined techniques from different fields - and so should sales people do.

Sales Managers and Account Managers often fail because they are adressing prospects that are too low in the customer′s organisations ranks. In this case those customer′s employees often act as a gate keeper. How can a Sales Manager overcome these obstacles? What is BANT, Top-Down and Bottom-Up and how can they help in combination?

The BANT process, which stands for Budget, Authority, Need, and Timeline, is a framework used by sales and account managers to qualify leads and identify key decision-makers within an organization. By using this process, sales and account managers can better understand the needs of their prospects and target their efforts towards the individuals who have the authority to make purchasing decisions.

One of the biggest obstacles that sales and account managers face is addressing prospects that are too low in the customer's organizational ranks. These employees, often referred to as gatekeepers, can impede the sales process by not allowing access to decision-makers or by providing incorrect or incomplete information.

To overcome this obstacle, sales and account managers can use a combination of the top-down and bottom-up approaches. The top-down approach involves starting at the top of the organization and working your way down to identify key decision-makers. This approach is useful for building relationships with high-level executives and identifying potential budget constraints.

The bottom-up approach, on the other hand, involves starting at the lower levels of the organization and working your way up to identify the specific needs and pain points of the customer. This approach is useful for gathering detailed information about the customer's current processes and identifying areas where the product or service can improve efficiency.

By using both the top-down and bottom-up approaches in parallel, sales and account managers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the customer's needs and identify decision-makers who are most likely to be interested in the product or service. This allows them to tailor their sales pitch and messaging to the specific needs of the customer and increase their chances of closing a deal.

Additionally, using BANT process, sales and account managers can ask questions to uncover the specific needs and pain points of the customer and align them with the product or service being offered. By understanding the customer's budget, authority, need, and timeline, they can tailor their sales pitch and messaging to the specific needs of the customer, which increases their chances of closing a deal.

In conclusion, the BANT process combined with the top-down and bottom-up approaches can help sales and account managers overcome the obstacle of addressing prospects that are too low in the customer's organizational ranks. By using this combination of strategies, sales and account managers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the customer's needs and identify decision-makers who are most likely to be interested in the product or service, which increases their chances of closing a deal.

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The article is based on my own thoughts and stands in no relation with my current employer. Picture is courtesy of Pexels.com

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