Describe all the different types of people, you encounter, at your customers?

We encounter a number of different people, at the businesses, where we sell our products and services. Each of them has a different role to play, when it comes to choosing as a a supply partner.

Example:

We have to work, with the following types of people

• Decision makers
• Influencers
• Users
• Engineers
• Technicians
• Gatekeepers

Think about your industry, markets and customers. Please list all the different types of people, that you need to work with, below:

Describe the type of challenge that would be relevant to each group below:

• Decision makers – these are the people, who hold the budget, so they are mainly interested in ROI
• Influencers – these are people who do not make the buying decision directly, but they influence the process. These are people, like financial directors, engineers, technicians or even the users of your products or Services. They are consulted for an opinion, but they do not have a direct line authority to place the order.
• Users – these are the people at the coal face, who utilise your product or service on a daily basis.

Lets explore the type of challenges, each of these may encounter

Example:

1. In the case of Groupon – One of the challenges they will encounter, is driving potential customers to their site, so that they will buy. Prospecting for new customers, which will help Groupon to grow, is really hard. In this case, if you were selling leads or lists, you may offer the following solution:

Running a business is hard enough, without you still having to focus all your energy on driving new business through your door. 

Our product will allow you to effortlessly, acquire new business, as all our lists are up to date, are easy to use and they include the perfect customers, who are interested, in buying from Groupon.

1. • The “DECISION MAKERS” in this case, would experience the following challenge:
     • How to gather leads, in the most “EFFICIENT and COST EFFECTIVE” fashion.
     • They want proof that it will do what you say it will and they want to know that it is a cost effective option.
   • The “INFLUENCERS” in this case would experience the following challenge:
     • If they were the financial director, for example, they would be concerned about the monthly cost and the subsequent return, in the form of new business.
     • They may also be concerned about the financial stability of your organisation
     • If they were the sales team, who will actually use the leads, to acquire new business, would be concerned about:
       1. Validity – are they useful or is the list outdated
       2. Ease of use
       3. Effectiveness
   • The users of the product, could either be internal sales, who will use the telephone to make first contact or the field sales team, who will use it in the field, to connect with and start engagement
   • Users of the lists, could encounter the following challenges:
     • The list may be out of date and the people listed are no longer there
     • The lists may be incomplete, and does not include all the people, we need to contact
     • The list may not be indexed very well and so it may be hard to use

I am sure that you get the idea. Each group, will encounter different challenges. The moment, we can uncover each groups concerns and address them, in a way that shows them the challenge is taken care of. At that moment, they will begin to trust us and buy with confidence.

Use the example above as a guideline and describe the different challenges, each group may experience. List your detailed answer below:

Describe the type of challenge that would be relevant to each group below: