Hey, 👋 Scott from The Sales Mastermind here.

Today’s edition only takes 2 minutes.

Sellers are influencers and facilitators. Buyers make the decision.

Yet many sales processes are on seller timelines, focused on seller outcomes, and turning buyers off.

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Today, we'll cover:

• Buying Journey vs Sales Process
• Three unknowns
• Unknown #1: Outcome
• Unknown #2: Information
• Unknown #3: Personal Baggage

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I rarely discuss the "Sales Process"; instead, I focus on the "Buyer Journey." This is because, when it comes to making a deal happen, the seller's process and opinion are subservient to the buyer's process and opinion

Billions of people make purchases every day that do not require a salesperson:

• Every time you turn on a light, you're buying electricity without a salesperson
• Every time you go to the grocery store, you're buying food without a salesperson
• Every time you travel from your home, you're buying transportation without a salesperson

Therefore, while elite sellers can make a buying journey shorter, more impactful, and better in almost every way - nearly every transaction could happen without a seller.

So when invited into a buying journey, elite sellers know they must make it count by quickly uncovering three unknowns.

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Three Unknowns in Every Sales Conversation

Anywhere from 60-80% of the buying journey happens without a seller present.

Therefore, every seller must uncover where their buyer is in the buying journey. Including three critical unknowns:

• Outcome
• Informational
• Personal

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Outcome

While the seller's outcome is crystal clear - they get money - the buyer's outcome is opaque.

Many buyers engage with sellers when they have a problem to solve. Often, they are unclear about how and if they can afford (time, money, and effort) to solve their problem.

Therefore, elite sellers ask questions to understand exactly what the buyer expects and desires the outcome to be.

Only then are the buyer and seller on a level playing field with outcome clarity.

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Informational

Modern buyers expect sellers to be part project managers, part industry experts, and wholly more knowledgeable on what is required to transform their rough idea of the problem into a tangible next step.

Therefore, buyers rarely volunteer additional information beyond the questions a seller asks. This is because buyers, consciously or subconsciously, trust the seller to guide them on the journey.

I'm sure you've experienced getting to the end of a buying journey and uncovering something that would have changed the whole experience, only for the buyer to be dumbfounded. The exchange is often something like:

At the very least, elite sellers seek to uncover:

• The stage in the buying journey their buyer is at
• What decisions have already been made, and
• The known steps the buying journey will have to involve.

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Personal

Elite sellers know themselves inside and out; they know their strengths and weaknesses, and they know their own biases.

Until they probe, they have no idea what biases or personal baggage the buyer is bringing into their journey. For example:

• Does your buyer believe "the customer is always right" and won't accept any pushback?
• Does your buyer love the buying journey as they enjoy exploring new ideas?
• Was your buyer recently burnt in a deal, and are they now wary of any purchase?
• Was your buyer recently promoted and wants to use this purchase as a chance to make their mark?

Buyers are humans and bring baggage to every buying journey. A seller needs to uncover any biases to ensure they support their buyer in making the best decision during the buying journey.

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Have you uncovered any unknowns in a sale that changed the whole buying journey?

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Until next week,
Scott Cowley

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