Know the personal agenda of buyer

It is very important to know the personal agenda for the buyer. We have all read that in the sales books, but it is important to remember and use that during the sales process.

I just had a sales call last week where I was reminded of this fact again. My solution was not necessary the first choice of the customer, but by focusing on the personal agenda of the decision maker we might very good chance of winning.

The personal agenda of the buyer includes elements like:

• Personal success
• It might be very important for him to ensure personal success, and if you can describe how your solution can help him achieve that you stand a better chance
  
• Limit risk
• It might also be important to reduce the personal risk of the buyer. If so - explain how you can help him do that.
  
• Acceptance by manager, team and pears
• A variant of the personal risk and success is to achieve that acceptance by managers, teams and pears. Ensure that your solution does not go across the agenda of the people that the buyer needs personal acceptance from.
  
• External image
• If your solution can help improve the external image of your buyer it might be a very important factor. Can you tell him that other managers that he looks up to has also decided for your solution ?

I recommend that you try to map your buyers personal agenda to your solution, and identify how you can work with it achieve the best results.

Think about you buy e.g. cloth yourself ?