Empowering Technical Buyers to Make Successful Decisions
EDITOR ’ S CHOICE THE RIGHT SOLUTION
AXAIR FANS
Empowering Technical Buyers to Make Successful Decisions
By Andrew Jones
Business leadership teams constantly talk about how they can improve their processes and systems , but how many spare a thought for those customers in roles where they are buying solutions for organisations . Believe me , as the technical head of an engineering company I speak to a lot of customers who are buyers of industrial fans and the positive feedback following the first interaction is often overwhelming . The thing is they have a long , arduous , and heavy process that sales teams really don ’ t appreciate or take on board when interacting with them . From self-educating and intense research to ultimately becoming subject matter experts in many niche components or applications . Then , only after they ’ ve conducted extensive self-serve research do they think they can clearly and confidently express what they need from suppliers . They want to speed this process up of course , but admittedly , none of us like to speak to a salesperson who doesn ’ t add value or understand our specific requirements , it ’ s a painful experience , especially when we feel we know more about the component than the very people who are meant to be the experts . The one biggest issue for these buyers isn ’ t finding suppliers , it ’ s having trust in the information available , the people giving that information and mitigating the risk associated with the solutions or suppliers offering them . Today ’ s buyer journey , made more difficult by the vast amount of information online , has reached a point where it ’ s now difficult to navigate in the right direction without a significant amount of help .
Reports show that 84 % of technical buyers prefer purchasing from a company that understands their goals , they clearly want to be understood .
Our buyers don ’ t want more information that would distract from the task of sourcing , they want the right information to help them to pinpoint the right solution . Reports show that 84 % of technical buyers prefer purchasing from a company that understands their goals , they clearly want to be understood . I ‘ ve spoken about the benefits of collaborative working in previous articles , but this statistic really resonates with me . Our company , Axair Fans , has a set of values that every employee embodies in their everyday activities . A key value we live by is that “ We Understand , Apply and Give Back ”. This means that we focus on understanding our customers ’ needs before offering a solution . Our team are taught and reminded regularly that listening starts and ends with respect . It means we ’ ll actually hear and digest our customers points as they make them and wait for them to finish before offering our take . In an industry such as ours there are lots of old school salespeople , they ’ re keen to speak , talk about product features or ask the next question , and they forget to listen to what their customers are saying . This creates a huge gap in communication in a stage that is highly significant to the buyer who wants to ask questions about specifications , implementations , and the expected challenges if they transitioned to our solution .
You must be genuinely interested in your clients ’ challenges to operate in this way , because ultimately customers don ’ t buy products , they buy the results that the product gives . To appreciate this , you must show empathy for the customers plight and build authentic , trusting relationships that take away any perceived risk of changing supplier or product . In my experience giving the buyer the control in the selection process ensures they can focus on their goals rather than being swayed down a road that is more biased towards the suppliers ’ own objectives around product targets and revenue goals . This doesn ’ t only help the buyer to navigate to the right decision using their own goals as the compass , it benefits the supplier too . Our employees who understand , apply and give back learn more about the industry we operate in and stay up to date with the latest trends . Ultimately our customers ensure we have one foot in the real world and don ’ t make assumptions about buyer or customer behaviour .
For further information , please visit www . axair-fans . co . uk
28 PECM Issue 69