Try Walking A Mile In The Buyer’s Shoes!

Indeed, to understand the full complexity of the purchase requires that the salesperson ‘walks a mile in the buyers shoes’. That is because as the Spanish puts it ‘it is much easier to be in the bullring, than to talk about bulls’

Bringing Buyer Risk Into The Open

Buyers Ask: Will You Help Me Get Promoted?

Buyers want to know is ‘will your products and services get me promoted, or demoted?’

Public Sector Buyers Ask ‘Where is the MEAT?’

In public Sector Buying Price Is Over-taken By Most Economically Advantageous Tender, but what are the implications for how you sell?

Corrupt Sellers Face Jail

The first British executive has been jailed by a UK court for corrupting foreign officials, reported the Guardian Newspaper on 14th April 2010.  It sends a warning to sellers everywhere that shady deals are no longer permitted. Receiving leniency for cooperating with the Serious Fraud Squad investigation, the senior marketing executive with a medical device [...]

Buyers Are In ‘Play It Safe!’ Mode

(a) ‘Playing it Safe’ For buyers this is the era of ‘playing it safe’.  The cost – benefits equation calculated in respect of each major purchase decision has a vital new dimension – that of risk.  This is having a major impact on the nature of decision making. The appetite for risk has diminished greatly.  [...]

Sellers Look Out for Buyer Cold Feet

Sales people are increasingly learning that there is no such thing as a ‘sure thing’ sale. That is because as the sale approaches the buyer can get ‘cold feet’ and the salesperson may be the last person to know about it. For example, the salesperson’s proposal, presentation and price beats the competition, but somebody on the [...]

Just How Risky Is The Purchase? A Checklist

Some buying decisions are more risky for the buyer than others and obviously that is of concern to the seller because risk can be a major banana-skin. The perceived level of risk associated with the purchase decision is greatest where: 1 The buying decision is new (as opposed to for example a repeat purchase) 2 [...]

Will You Be Short-listed? Buyers Screening Criteria Reduces Risk

There is increasing evidence that buyers are addressing risk up front in short-listing suppliers based on criteria, such as; Have you successfully completed projects of this scale and complexity before?  How recently? Have you strong reference sites presently ’live’? Have you worked with companies of our size and in our industry before? How recently? What [...]

Buying Gets Strategic!

Welcome to the new strategic buying!  Purchasing has been elevated from an administrative function to a strategic business driver and this has important implications for sellers. (a) The Strategy Behind The Purchase Managers are required to demonstrate how projects and purchases fit with strategic priorities and drive business performance. That is because major purchase decisions [...]

The Business Case Is King!

One of the key trends of concern to sellers is the rise in importance of the business case in the making of important buying decisions.  The reality is that the business case is King and that means sellers must bow before it. (a) Putting the Business Decision First Major purchase decisions are first and foremost [...]

Budget Cuts Turn Priorities On Their Head

Buyers Confront New Market Realities A long period of buoyant growth ended suddenly in 2008, resulting in a fundamental shake up of industries and economies worldwide. Thus it was that a golden age of corporate growth, confidence and ambition gave way to a period of retrenchment and uncertainty. Almost universally, organizational priorities have changed from [...]