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you insight into their personality. It will also give you leverage, discussion points, and maybe shared interests to talk about. Ask what their boss wants. Does the buyer like detail or discus- sion? What are their KPIs?


4. COURT STAKEHOLDERS – BUT CAREFULLY


The sponsors, budget holders, and operations have a vote, so look after them – they’ll be dealing with you once the buyer moves on to the next review. Understand, however: the buyer runs the process, so he or she has a big say – and stakeholders may often defer to the buyer and his or her best practice process, which should, in itself, decide the outcome with facts, scoring, and logic.


5. SAVINGS TARGETS Savings targets are usually the buyer’s key measurement of success, so ask them what their savings expectations or targets are. Is there a budget that needs to be met? It’s all good intel, but I rarely get asked. Work with the buyer to understand and reach their goals. It’s far easier to know where the target is than to shoot down the range with a blindfold on.


6. AMAZING PITCH PRESENTA- TIONS Presentations need to be brilliant these days – with a balance of detail and information on the slide and what the presenter then adds. We can all take in the contents of a PowerPoint® slide in a few seconds; we don’t need it then read aloud for the next five minutes! Cover what the buyer has asked for, then add anything else – but make sure to spend the time on topics the buyer wants to hear about. Make sure your computer is work- ing and you have hard copies at the ready – I know from experience how annoying it is to wait for sellers to get their presentation sorted out.


7. TIME MANAGEMENT Buyers are busy people and time is


JEB BLOUNT: ALWAYS ASK FOR THE NEXT STEP (THIS IS WHY YOUR DEALS ARE STALLING)


precious. So be punctual. In fact, be early – and never late. Manage time in meetings. Rehearse, so you don’t run over or run out of time before hitting the key topics. Sellers not managing their time remains a frequent problem and, therefore, a handicap.


8. OUTSTANDING TENDER RESPONSE


Buyers spend time crafting their masterpiece: the tender document. Stakeholders give their input, meet- ings get held, drafts are circulated, and spreadsheets get devised – all to allow easy comparison of detailed submissions. This is the seller’s chance to shine, follow the instructions, and submit their “masterpiece.” We don’t want to hear how busy the supplier is, or how they have four other tenders on the go. And, when the buyers sit and compare yours with the other eight, it becomes very clear which look great – and which are poorly presented and have not followed the instructions, not answered questions, or changed columns.


9. RESPECT THE BUYER The buyer is the customer, so let the buyer run the meeting if they want to set out their process. Don’t try to point score or annoy them. Show them respect – just as they should with you as a potential supplier. Make sure the right


executives meet them. Never renege on something you’ve promised. And re- member – a can-do attitude builds their confidence when dealing with you.


10. USE MEETINGS WISELY AND LISTEN


Buyers have a huge process when undertaking a spend review, and – over, say, three months – may meet shortlisted suppliers only four or five times (intro/RFI, pre-tender, Q&A, pitch, negotiations). So you have rela- tively little face-to-face time to really impress them. Come prepared with the right people, information to hand out (and in the right format), agree agendas, and goals. If you have any questions, check with the buyer first. Ask questions and listen carefully to the buyer. They’ll usually include lots of hints and clues on what they want to achieve and how you can improve your proposition. 


The author of Winning Selling to Impress the Buyer!, Tim Ussher has spent his entire career of more than 30 years as a “buyer” and has led thousands of tenders, meetings, and negotiations with suppliers and sellers across many industries – awarding contracts and securing deals for billions in business.


THE ULTIMATE SALES TRAINING LIBRARY


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