The New Economy of 2010

Another good piece from SalesDog.com:

How to Get Customers Buying in the New Economy

by Errol Greene

We hear it all the time: What are customers actually buying? Thanks to tough worldwide economic conditions, money is tight, sales have never been tougher, and qualified leads are much harder to procure. Is there a way to get prospects to buy?

In our research, we've found that companies still want and need what you're selling. They're looking for ways to improve business efficiencies and reduce costs, but there's a key difference: They need your help to make purchasing easier and to reduce their risk.

Overcoming Your Prospect's Aversion to Risk
Selling in today's down economy is a two-stage process. The first stage is the same as it has always been: Uncover your prospect's needs and find ways that your product/service assists in fulfilling them—simple enough. But the second step is the new, critical one that separates many winners from losers right now: You must make your solution easy to buy. Even those companies doing well in this market and with discretionary funds available are highly risk-averse. They simply don't want to take any chances, so you've got to think in terms of how you can reduce their sense of risk as much as possible.

To do this, many of the fastest growing innovative companies have started offering risk-free trials, money-back guarantees, try-before-you-buy offers, pay based on the value received, and detailed ROI analysis that removes any sense of risk from a purchase. They promote cost savings heavily in their value proposition, and they're finding ways for many customers to realize savings before payment is due.

One company we've worked with started offering leasing services that defer payments for anywhere from three to six months—enough time to realize a substantial ROI that will more than compensate for the cost. Another has switched from a one-time upfront purchase of its solution to offering smaller segments over the course of a year and beyond. This tactic has proven successful and has helped remove the "all or nothing" mindset that predominated before. Now this company's clients feel a much greater sense of control over the scope and cost of their purchases, and its revenues have started climbing as a result.

How Can I Make It Easier for Prospects to Buy My Solution?
What options can you offer? As with so many questions, the answer is "it depends." The possibilities will vary depending on your product, your industry, your competition, your client demographics, and more. But you can start by doing the following:

Ask yourself, If I were my prospect, what are some new or different ways of purchasing this solution that would feel safer? Get creative.

Do your homework. Find out what your competitors now offer in terms of buying options. Figure out ways to match or improve upon those.

Call into your existing client base. Ask customers how their purchasing process has changed and what it would now take for them to buy your product. Also ask for ROI testimonials. Poll them for ideas on ways they might be willing to pay for your solution if they were to buy it now.

If you work with resellers or distributors, encourage them to provide suggestions on how to make your solution easier to buy.

Look for new ways to segment your product, service, or pricing that could lower any sense of perceived risk.

In times like these, thriving—or even just surviving—requires that you offer extreme value with little or no perceived risk. Adding to that, you've got to do so at the very outset of the sales cycle, since any further in is often too late. Seek creative, innovative options that are above and beyond what you now offer. Don't wait for your prospects to pull the trigger and buy. Instead, show them how to pull it.

Errol Greene is President of Verity Insight Partners, a sales and marketing research company. Errol specializes in sales research, with a focus on sales loss analysis, research-based lead generation, and increasing sales efficiency through better prospect understanding.

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