A sellers purpose is to serve buyers with a solution. Yet buyers and sellers struggle to remain in harmony — and naturally so:
- Buyer pains are often not recognized or are simply ignored, so “status quo” wins as buyers do not feel the urge nor can justify investing in a solution.
- Sellers have solutions to buyer pains but are often too pressured to “hit their quota” to take the time to help the buyer understand and embrace their pains.
I have already touched on the importance of sellers’ expertise on their buyers and their patience and empathy on the buyer’s journey to bring buyer and seller interactions into harmony.
But another disharmonious reality has yet to be addressed: When salespeople receive disproportionate compensation in comparison to the value they deliver to buyers. In some scenarios this could mean salespeople and others involved in the selling organization are receiving more than they deliver. It can also mean they are receiving less.
To encourage buyer/seller harmony, sellers must be compensated fairly based on the value they create for and deliver to buyers. How does this break down for organizational decisions and actions?
Sellers Must Strive to Create More Value — and Then More Beyond That
Sellers must focus on being givers (and not takers) first and foremost. Sellers should serve their buyers. How can your buying organization deliver not just one-time value but rather sustainable value? If your product teams can answer that question it will provide a path to sustainable revenue performance.
Can Sellers Be Too Customer-Focused? Yes—and It Is Threatening Your Long-Term Buyer/Seller Harmony.
Sellers Must Compensate Their Salespeople Fairly
Incentives and bonuses offer great motivation to sales professionals. However, when salespeople are not being fairly compensated for the value they offer buyers — and thus bring back to their organization — their performance will likely start to falter, and so will your revenue performance over time. Develop a system that works for your organization and that is fluid and dynamic enough to recognize and reward salespeople who are acting as trusted advisors.
Seek to Serve, Not to Sell™
To learn more about overcoming common selling status quos for the pinnacle of buyer/seller harmony, read my latest piece in Top Sales Magazine. And for help with building a powerful and servant-minded sales engine that supports sustainable revenue performance while winning an unfair share™ of the market, reach out to our team of experts.