Buyer-Centricity is Not an Excuse to Avoid Selling!

I want to tackle the confusion over what selling really is and what being buyer-centric really means. I am seeing, experiencing, and hearing about so many bad examples of selling, and more recently, on the flip side of things, using buyer-centricity as a shield for not doing what is required in the sales role.  

So, what does being ‘buyer-centric’ really mean—and more importantly, how can we use it to become better salespeople? Let’s break down the confusion and set the record straight. 

Introduction 

To make the points I want to make today, we’re going to need to lay some foundations first.  

Let’s start with a basic definition of selling.  

Selling is the act of finding people with problems that you solve, who want to solve them, have the means to do so, and the ability and desire to commit.  

Simple enough?  

Now let’s define buyer-centric selling. The above remains true, and…  

A buyer-centric salesperson is always operating in the buyer’s best interest.  

So, selling is helping, as many have started to say. And selling is serving. But you won’t hear me say “Stop selling, start helping,” as some do. We don’t need to stop selling. We need to reframe it and sell like crazy. Because when you know you can help others, it gives you purpose.  

In the Modern Sales Foundations course, we teach the term NASA. It’s a fun play on words, because we say, “You can’t launch a sale without NASA.” Wordplay aside, in this case, NASA stands for “Need And Solution Alignment,” meaning that your solution aligns with your prospective customer’s needs, or the problem they want to solve (which could be a challenge to resolve or an opportunity on which to capitalize) and the outcomes they want to achieve.  

Aligning with both definitions above, having NASA is a confirmation that: 

• You are operating in the buyer’s best interest. 
• They have a problem that you can solve.  

Let’s go further into this.  

Buyer-Centric Servant Selling 

You’ve probably heard the term Servant Leadership. My contention is that modern B2B buyer-centric selling is similar, or “Servant Selling,” if you will.  

Let’s look at buyer-centric selling through this lens, expanding on the definitions I provided above.  

People with problems that you solve 

This is a foundation of Buyer Acumen. It’s a deep understanding of the personas, archetypes, and roles you serve, including COIN-OP, or their:  

Current State 

• Challenges 
• Opportunities 
• Impacts  

Bridge 

• Needs 

Desired Future State 

• Outcomes 
• Priorities 

These people are your ICP or Ideal Customer Profile. You have Product Market Fit with these buyers. They are the “people with problems that you solve.” That said, it doesn’t mean that every single one will have those problems, but if your product development team did its job, your solution was designed to address the problems that these buyers tend to have.  

As a seller, your job (and the job of your Marketing team) is to source and find these ICP buyers and uncover whether they do have these problems. POSE Value Stories (Problem, Outcome, Solution, Explore) were designed as a problem-focused, buyer-centric way to have early prospecting conversations.  

Who want to solve them 

Way too many salespeople push buyers. They product-pitch, they push for appointments, they push to “overcome objections” (that phrase is so combative), all to get the buyer to do what they (the salesperson) want. Does this sometimes work? Sure. Pressure tactics and old school selling does sometimes get people to do what you want. Are the buyers happy about it? Will it increase the likelihood of generating a winnable opportunity? Not likely.  

The concept of AIR applies here. AIR = Awareness, Interest, and Relationship, all of which are required to generate winnable opportunities.  

There are plenty of things a buyer-centric seller can do to create Awareness, generate Interest, and build Relationship and trust. They can: 

• Demonstrate empathy 
• Exhibit excellent communication skills 
• Express a strong understanding of the buyer’s situation or problems (POSE Value Stories) 
• Ask insightful questions 
• Share relevant and helpful resources 
• Employ ethical influence and persuasion (such as storytelling with Ethos, Pathos, and Logos).  
• Apply insight selling, meaning to use data, research, or expertise to create an Aha Moment or deepen awareness or generate interest in a problem they hadn’t considered (or hadn’t considered to be as serious as it could be)  

All of these approaches are valid, buyer-centric methods that aid in generating AIR, but the bottom line is that to earn the right to move forward, your buyer must want to solve the problem (resolve the challenge or capitalize on the opportunity).  

The seller’s real job is to find buyers who want to solve the problem, or at a minimum, find ones who are willing to explore to determine if the problem is compelling enough to solve.  

Who have the means to do so 

I’d like to drive a new Bentley. While I consider myself successful, that would not be a wise financial decision right now. No matter how much you may want to buy something, in the end, you need to have the means to buy it. This falls under the heading of qualification. And while I am not a fan of “Budget” as a qualifying factor (because many purchases are not budgeted, yet still happen), eventually, the buyer needs to be able to fund the purchase. Even if there is a significant potential for ROI, if the buyer can’t approve the purchase nor secure the funding, the deal is not going to happen.  

With the ability to commit 

If the buyer has a compelling problem that is worth solving, and they want to solve it, and their company can afford it, but the buyer doesn’t: 

• Want to make a decision and commit. 
• Want to commit to your company to solve the problem. 
• Feel comfortable committing (they have FOMU or Fear of Messing Up) 
• Have the authority to commit the funds, even though they’re available… 

… the deal is stalled or lost.  

In the beginning, the best you can do is to ascertain your buyers’ authority to commit. You’ll have to ascertain their desire and comfort as you progress and address each accordingly.  

Operating in the buyer’s best interests 

This goes back to NASA and knowing that you can truly help the buyer and their company.  

It starts with POSE Value Stories to confirm they have certain problems and want certain outcomes, that you can address.  

After that, a Situation Assessment with COIN-OP is key. It’s a wonderful discovery framework that will help you determine not only NASA but how compelling the problem is to solve, how much you can help (the outcomes), and how important it is to the buyers involved (priorities).  

Situation Assessment with COIN-OP 

A Situation Assessment, done well, will confirm that you are operating in the buyers’ best interests and provide what you need to develop a compelling business case.  

Buying Process Exit Criteria is the Ultimate in Buyer Centricity 

Buying Process Exit Criteria (BPEC) is the term for whatever each decision maker needs to see, hear, feel, understand, and believe, in each stage of their buying process, to be comfortable moving forward with you. Content and collateral should be designed to address the most common exit criteria for the common personas, in each stage. The collateral should be customizable, so reps can adjust it, if one of their real buyers has a distinct set of exit criteria.  

In addition, rather than doing the same things, the same way, in each stage, with every buyer, the buyer-centric salesperson should uncover, clarify, satisfy, and confirm for each individual buyer, in each stage. This is a radical shift compared to how many reps sell today.  

So many deals stall or die because some number of the decision makers have different exit criteria than others, and it was never addressed to their satisfaction. They hang back, like an albatross, weighing deals down and holding them back.  

As mentioned earlier, some of these stalls may not have to do with qualification criteria or exit criteria, but may be more related to decision making, especially FOMU, or Fear of Messing Up (which is often great than FOMO or Fear of Missing Out). This will need to be dealt with separately, but managing BPEC will go a long way toward keeping deals moving forward.  

Using a Process to Resolve Buyer Concerns 

I’ve written about this process for resolving concerns multiple times, so for brevity (stop laughing), I won’t detail it here. For those who are unfamiliar with it, in addition to the graphic above, read this article to learn more:  

• Rethinking the Sales Approach to Objections: A Buyer-Centric Perspective? 

The idea is to take a humanistic, empathetic approach to buyer’s concerns, help them feel heard and understood, and explore ways to resolve their concerns in the most effective and appropriate way.  

There is more that I could share, but hopefully this provides enough of an overview of what a shift toward buyer-centric selling entails.  

But Don’t Hide Behind Buyer-Centricity 

Finding the Right Balance 

“Intent counts more than technique.”
– Mahan Khalsa & Randy Illig

This is a classic line from authors Mahan Khalsa & Randy Illig in their book, Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play. For clarity, they go on to say that technique isn’t completely unimportant. Clumsy or awkward technique can get in the way of good communication. But intent matters more. (An important caveat is to communicate that intention – with words and behaviors – rather than to rely on assumptions.) 

That said, sometimes, when evolving to a buyer-centric methodology, sellers allow the pendulum to swing too far. Being a buyer-centric servant seller doesn’t mean you don’t ask questions to determine the above states under the Servant Selling heading. Servant selling does not mean you are subservient. Big difference. Selling the way modern buyers want to buy is about selling in their best interest, with empathy, with deep understanding, and clear communication. It’s not about being a “Yes Person.” (Jump! How high?) It’s about being a peer business partner who helps them identify and solve problems and achieve desired outcomes.  

These overly concerned (but usually well-meaning) sellers avoid asking questions for fear of being perceived as “salesy,” seen as manipulative, or not being buyer centric. Objective Management Group reports “the need to be liked” as a derailer for top sales performance (compared to the desire to be respected). As a buyer-centric seller, operating in your buyers’ best interests, means that you may need to give them news they don’t want to hear. (This is also a foundation of consultative selling, as well as insight selling.)  

If a buyer tells you they’re not ready to proceed, it’s okay to ask why. Or to ask what their current priorities are. As is often true in life and sales, it’s how you do something that matters and how you broadcast your intentions (through good communication and behavior).  

Example: Not Ready Yet 

Here’s just one example of what that could look like with an early-stage buyer.  

Buyer 1: “Thanks for touching base. I talked with [Buyer 2] yesterday, and she is not ready to proceed yet. She has some other priorities right now.” 

• Skittish Salesperson: “Okay. I’ll check back in a few weeks.” (Also, this seller doesn’t even know who this other mystery buyer is.) 
• Servant Salesperson: “Thanks for letting me know. It doesn’t make sense to move forward if she can’t commit the effort to be successful. I respect that. Out of curiosity, what is she focused on right now? I ask because we have a lot of helpful resources in her field that I’d be glad to share, if they’re relevant.” (Also, this seller already knows the name and role of this other buyer – but if he didn’t, he would at least ask.) 

There are so many things right with that second example.  

• It deepens your understanding 
• It allows you to demonstrate helpfulness 
• It builds good will 
• If you have something to offer, it positions you as an expert or trusted advisor 
• It may get you additional contact information 
• It could be the beginning of establishing a Digital Solution Room, where you make the helpful resources available (which you’d expand later as you begin the problem/solution discussion that has been delayed) 

Example: Deep Discovery Creates Compelling Business Cases 

I see another patten often during discovery, while conducting a Situation Assessment (graphic above). Very often, the Skittish Salesperson will limit their questions to the most basic, surface-level questions to uncover a “Need.” But they won’t continue to peel the onion on that need, to get to the root cause of the Challenge or Opportunity and why it matters enough to act on it (the real Impacts). And rarely will the Skittish Salesperson dollarize these impacts to truly create a compelling business case (you sometimes have to continue to ask questions and nudge to get to this level of detail). Not having this level of detail can haunt these salespeople later if there is a stall.  

Yet, these methods and skills are exactly what is required for sales effectiveness mastery, and to offer the best possible service, guidance, and consultative advice for the buyers. It helps the seller, for sure, but if you have NASA, it also helps the buyer(s). Yes, it is buyer centric. Great discovery is a service.  

The Example 

I once coached a salesperson who learned in discovery that his potential client needed to reduce a metric by 3%. The seller took a note, left it at that, and moved on. Later I asked the salesperson what that 3% actually meant in terms of numbers or dollars. Of course, he didn’t know, and I coached him on why it mattered and how to get the info. Know what it turned out to be? Over $3 million. Know what the rep’s solution cost? About $250K. And the rep had 4 case studies in this customers industry, all of whom would gladly offer testimonials, if needed. Later, when the buyer (who turned out to be decision- and risk-averse with a bad case of FOMU) hemmed and hawed about the decision and the $250K expenditure, it was not difficult to gain consensus with the other DMs and nudge appropriately (and kindly, in the buyer’s best interest) past the stall. I’m not sure citing “3%” would have done that.  

Closing Thoughts 

Becoming a full-fledged buyer-centric servant seller is an outstanding goal for modern B2B sellers. It does involve a few breaks from the past, by ditching the pitch, changing your mindset, and learning some new skills. It also involves avoiding the slide into becoming subservient, instead of just a servant seller. Some buyers are procurement pros, but many are just department leaders or executives who occasionally buy something. By guiding them and supporting them, you are again providing a service, just as you do through outstanding discovery in the Situation Assessment, and through the other methods mentioned in this blog.  

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You can read Mike’s original post here.