Revenue Journal®

Most business activities can be managed in a fairly straightforward fashion. You decide what you're going to do, you create a project plan - complete with cost and timing - you get the right people to execute the plan, you build in checkpoints, and then you set the wheels in motion.

The chances of these activities being successful are fairly high. The barriers to success are internal politics, unrealistic expectations, and mismanagement or ineptitude as the project progresses. These problems can be overcome with effective management. Politics can be squashed by managers who are forthright and goal-driven. Unrealistic expectations can be avoided by seasoned managers who have "been there, done that," and they know what can go wrong. Mismanagement isn't a problem when the managers gather accurate data and make sound decisions. Ineptitude shouldn't get in the way - even when it is well-disguised - because good managers can spot ineptitude a mile away.

These same good managers, however, can really screw up marketing and sales. It happens all the time. These otherwise great managers spend far too much and end up with far too little to show for their efforts and expenditures. They make terrible decisions. They get the wrong people involved and ask them to do the wrong things.

Why is this? What makes marketing and selling so different from other business activities?

It all boils down to one fundamental fact.

Managers who have recognized this fundamental fact, and respect it, make decisions that lead to success.

Managers who are not aware of this fundamental fact - or, more commonly, decide it is not that important - don't make enough to cover their expenses. They go out of business, or prolong the agony by securing more financing, then go out of business later on.

What is the one fundamental fact?

It doesn't matter how you think your product should be sold. What matters is how the customer wants to buy it.

You can set up a robust, well-funded selling and marketing infrastructure. It won't do you much good if it doesn't support your customer's buying process.

In the buying/selling situation, customers aren't just coming along for the ride, dutifully nodding at the right times, then saying, "Sounds good to me, dude, Where do I sign?" Customers are in full control of their buying process. And if they don't succeed in getting what they need from you, well, the corollary is obvious: you won't succeed in selling to them.

What keeps perfectly logical managers from recognizing and acting on this fundamental fact? Their own belief that they are in control. Why not? They're in control of every other aspect of their business (well, relatively speaking). They hire people, then ask them to do things. Because they're the boss, the people (more or less) do what they are told.

Customers are not so acquiescent. They don't do what some salesman wants them to do. They have their own goals, plans, and processes.

How can you make sure you're supporting the customer's buying process instead of trying to foist an inappropriate and unwelcome selling process on them? Here's the list:

1) Leave your ego behind. Accept the fact that your customers know more about their preferences, requirements, and buying process than you do - no matter how long you've been selling to them.

2) Stop depending on your salespeople for customer insights. Sure, they can give you all sorts of information (which is often self-serving) about what happened during a sales call. But they can't tell you what the customer is really thinking, because only a fool tells a salesperson what he is really thinking.

3) Don't go to marketing and selling experts until you've gone to your customers and found out what they're really thinking. Fortunately, your current customers are a great source of this data, because once they've made a purchase, they won't mind telling you what they were thinking while they were going through their buying process. The battle is over, and they have a vested interest in your success (because they are depending upon your product). They'll be happy to talk to you. If a high-ranking executive from any company called you to ask you what you think, wouldn't you spend a little time on the phone? Wouldn't you want to give him some advice? Of course you would.

4) Listen, listen, listen. Don't interrupt, don't disagree, don't roll your eyes. Just listen. Look for the common theme. Look for the really positive aspects of your product or service - in your customer's mind - and the areas where you are weak. Look for the promise you can honestly make to future customers, because you're already keeping that promise with your current customers.

5) Prepare to be surprised. Expect to eat some crow. What might have seemed important to you may not amount to a hill of beans to your customers. They may even assume that everyone selling your type of product already fulfills these "baseline promises" - certain functions or services that should "come with" a product or service. It's that special something, beyond the baseline, that made them come to you. And it is often not what you thought.

6) Analyze, communicate, and act. Once you've gathered enough data, you will know exactly what you need to do. Prepare your plans, and communicate them to your people. Assume that you will need to communicate them to your people over and over, because otherwise the voice of the customer will be drowned out by the normal racket of daily work and internal politics. Make it clear to your salespeople that their job is not to "push" the customer into buying, but to make it easy for the customer to make a positive buying decision.

7) Now you can start marketing and selling successfully. Now you can get the word out. Now you can spend money wisely, because your own customers told you where and how they'd expect to find your messages, and the promises you should put in those messages.

This one fundamental fact - that the customer is in control of the buying process - will lead you to approach marketing and selling the right way, and make good marketing and selling decisions. It will cause prospective customers to take notice, and think, "Hmmmm. These guys understand what I want, and they are making easy for me to buy."

People want to buy things. The most successful managers understand this, figure out what customers want to buy and how they want to buy. Then they make it easy for customers to find what they want, and buy it.