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How to Profit from Customer Buying-Cycle Basics

By John Graham

Any discussion of customer buying-cycles is an unpopular topic with management, sales managers and salespeople.

We all want to believe that by using the right words, making the right offer, and displaying the right sales personality, just about any buying-cycle can be cut to one meeting.

Whether they admit it or not, many a sales manager dreams of hiring “buying-cycle slashers.” In lieu of such a rare creature, they urge the sales force to do whatever’s necessary to shorten the cycle.

Yet, every salesperson knows buying-cycles are getting longer and longer. The executive vice president of sales for an organization that markets products to banks reports that the average buying-cycle for his company is 21 months. The president of a manufacturing company described the buying-cycle for his product in one word, “Years.”

There are always the “just happened along at the right time” sales in which the buying-cycle is telescoped into days or even hours. The need to replace a refrigerator, a generator or a vehicle occurs every day. While these are “sure” sales, they are the exception, and more often than not they are anything but impulse purchases. In most cases, they are based in most cases on long-established relationships.

The lengthening buying-cycle deserves serious attention. Trying to force buyers to shorten the cycle is almost always ineffective and, in some cases, results in complete alienation.

The task for every company is to recognize the nature of the extended buying-cycle phenomenon and to use a strategy that leads to getting the order. Here are components of a buying-cycle strategy:

1.Don’t quit too soon. This is the biggest mistake companies and salespeople make when it comes to dealing with prospects. Salespeople get in their heads that someone is “just a tire kicker” or “all they wanted was to pick my brain.” Of course that happens. But these are often the ones who say six months later, “After all the time I spent with them, they up and went with someone else.”

After investing time and effort, salespeople often decide that it’s going to be “no sale” and move on, a tactic that opens the door wide for a competitor to walk through and get the order. Persistence and patience help to keep the door open.

2.Recognize that the sale is made before the presentation is given. Promises of great service, a positive relationship and reliability don’t count with today’s customers. They want assurances. While testimonials and references can help, they pale in comparison to first-hand experience.

This is why the time between an initial contact and the customer saying “yes” can be the most crucial period in the entire sales process. When the company president called and said, “We want to work with you,” the salesperson sensed a solid commitment in the prospect’s voice. “There was nothing tentative about it,” he reported. “He was firm.” That took more than six months of discussing the issues, developing and refining of proposals in which the salesperson was being tested. Once satisfied, the decision was made.

In other words, no one today wants to take chances. Being confident in making the right decision takes time.

3.Build the prospect database. There are those in sales who still describe selling as “a numbers game.” Just make enough calls and it’s payday. While this romanticized view of selling seems appealing, it’s nonsense. The proof is in the results. Each year, surveys show that about 75 percent of salespeople fail to “make their numbers.”

If we allow chance to be the primary component of the selling process, it is perhaps the most highly inefficient way to go about developing consistent sales. To avoid this situation, develop a profile of the desired type of customer and then identify prospects that fit the profile. Whether they come from salespeople, referrals or purchased lists, they must be tested against the qualified prospect profile. Only certain fish get into the tank.

4.Develop a prospect relationship development strategy. A large regional insurance broker lists its top 50 prospects on a display board in its meeting room. Every week, the sales manager reviews each one with the agency’s producer team. This is prospect relationship development and it’s the heart of the sales process. It’s not about software as such; it’s about constantly focusing on one simple but critical question: “Who’s going to do what to whom and when?” In other words, where are we and what’s the next step?

Prospect relationship development is about getting inside the customer’s head and staying there until the moment of readiness arrives.

Everyone wants to make the sale, but few are sufficiently disciplined to go through the process that leads to writing the account.

5. Don’t panic. Because both companies and salespeople want sales now, they panic and grasp for anything that promises instant success. That’s the moment when the sharks smell panic and they pounce.

  • “100,000 guaranteed buyers. Just $199.”
  • “Our telemarketers get you the right appointments.”
  • “Email blasts that bring you customers.”
  • “Our prospecting letters reap results.”
  • “Mail 10,000 powerful postal cards.”

Panic leads to pursuing miracle solutions that never work. The solution to panic is persistence.

6.Create testing opportunities. Internet sales continue to grow and companies that meet customer expectations get more business. Not surprisingly, eBay and Amazon.com lead the pack by demonstrating consistent performance.

When making a purchase on the Internet, we’re quick to evaluate the quality of the service. Was there good communication? Did they do what they said they would do? Was the delivery efficient? In other words, we “test” sellers to see if they deserve additional business.

Giving customers similar opportunities can create confidence if the performance lives up to the expectations. Before asking them to make a major commitment, give them several smaller occasions that together communicate the message that your company delivers on its promises.

7.Never stop working. After trying all the gimmicks, it’s easy to conclude nothing really works and just keep looking for the low hanging fruit. What does work is persistence in staying close to prospects using a constellation of tactics that include personalized communications, seminars, informational eBulletins, solution-centered newsletters, relevant advertising and public relations activities that are designed to connect with prospect needs.

Whether a company’s prospects are consumers or B2B, there is a similar “buyer mentality” that includes these qualities:

  • Everyone wants to feel in charge of the sale
  • No one wants to be rushed
  • Everyone wants to make the right decision

Selling today isn’t just about making calls or trying to psych-out prospects to find their “hot buttons.” It’s about creating an environment that gives them an opportunity to discover, evaluate and appreciate the value that a company or business can bring to them. That takes a commitment to be persistent.

All of this suggests that it’s essential to give close attention to both understanding a prospect’s buying-cycle and to use it as a way to create an environment that ultimately results in the sale.

John R. Graham is president of Graham Communications, a marketing services and sales consulting firm. He is the author of The New Magnet Marketing and Break the Rules Selling, writes for a variety of business publications, and speaks on business, marketing and sales topics for company and association meetings. He is the winner of an APEX Grand Award in writing and the only two-time recipient of the Door & Hardware Institute’s Ryan Award in Business Writing. He can be contacted at 40 Oval Road, Quincy, MA 02170 (617-328-0069; fax 617-471-1504); j_graham@grahamcomm.com. The company's web site is grahamcomm.com.