There is no such thing as a perfect customer. Outside of simply giving away your product for free, you will never find a sales tactic that works for everyone and on everyone. And even then, you may not be successful; just look at how U2’s last album was received. Being a good salesperson is about adapting to your environment – using what you have around you to your advantage. More importantly, however, being a good salesperson is about adapting to who is around you – being able to easily identify who you are selling to and how to play to their personality.
I want to take a look at one of the most difficult customers to sell to – the analytical customer. Now, before we go any further, I should rephrase that a little. Yes, the analytical customer is one of the most difficult to sell to, but only if you are unprepared or ill-informed about exactly what it is that you’re selling.
State the Facts
01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100001 01101100 01111001 01110100 01101001 01100011 01100001 01101100 00100000 01100011 01110101 01110011 01110100 01101111 01101101 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01101100 01101001 01101011 01100101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110010 01101111 01100010 01101111 01110100
I’m guessing you probably don’t understand what that all says, right? I don’t blame you. You’re not a robot. This isn’t the Matrix (or is it?). And you can’t read binary code.
“The analytical customer is like a robot.”
That’s what all of those ones and zeros translate to, and it’s important to keep in mind. The analytical customer isn’t concerned with making an emotional connection with you. They want the facts – cold, hard, unadulterated facts.
Now, just because the analytical customer isn’t looking for an emotional connection, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t looking for someone compatible. Selling to an analytical customer is all about establishing trust. If you’re anything like me, you’ve seen your fair share of science fiction movies, and you’d be forgiven for being a little cautious about gaining the trust of a computer; however, making an analytical customer trust you is integral to achieving a sale.
So, how do you make an analytical customer trust you? You have to show them that you know what you’re talking about, by providing them with factual, pragmatic and detailed product information.
Be the Expert
Although analytical customers are usually well-informed about the product they’re looking to buy, if they do respond to your initial engagement, there’s a good reason for it – they’re not yet 100 percent sold. It’s your job to convince them. After all, if they knew what they wanted to buy, you’d have noticed. They would have found the exact product, bought it, and walked right on out the door. Time is precious to an analytical customer, so make sure you don’t waste it.
Convincing an analytical customer to make a purchase is all about being precise in the information you give them. It’s essential to avoid using ambiguous terminology, as ambiguity is the analytical customer’s kryptonite. Be assertive in the language you use. State the facts. You’re the one making the sale, so the analytical customer is going to assume you have the answers they’re after.
Be the expert. Be confident. Stay in control of the conversation.
It’s Nothing Personal
A common mistake salespeople make when dealing with analytical customers is trying to establish a personal connection and getting offended when their advance is rejected. I touched on this earlier, where I noted the importance of establishing trust with an analytical customer. I want to reiterate that establishing trust is incredibly different to making a personal connection.
You may fall into the trap of believing that your emotional sales approach is working on an analytical customer. It isn’t. Analytical customers have a very egocentric—almost solipsistic—approach to making a purchase, and it’s easy to get offended and blow your sale. Don’t. Stay cool. Stick to what you know. Focus on the customer and not yourself.
