MISTAKE #15: You are a crappy listener, too
(this is the highly anticipated sequel to the article You Are A Crappy Communicator).
In my prior article, I accused of you not communicating with your customer.
SPOILER ALERT: In this article, I’m going to accuse you of not listening to your retail buyer.
I’ve met with a lot of buyers and I’m always so fascinated to see how accommodating they are as research subjects. I see how hungry they are to share their thoughts and perceptions. And, of course, how valuable and deep their perspective goes.
I think of every buyer meeting as an opportunity for a one-on-one in-depth interview. All I have to do is ask the right questions and then shut up and listen to what the buyer has to say.
I’ll admit that I often have the luxury of being in meetings where learning from the buyer was a core objective. I understand how hard it can be to give up precious minutes during your once-a-year 30-minute line review to put your sales pitch aside, hand control over to the buyer, and hope s/he shares something of value.
While meetings are always scheduled with the objective of delivering a message, I typically make sure there is also a directive of “stop often and get the buyer to talk.”
JUST SHUT UP ALREADY
Your buyer is a complex and interesting creature. During line review season, s/he is essentially in back-to-back-to-back meetings for weeks listening to company after company trying to sell them something. Every one of these products wants the buyer to view them as the most interesting man in the world.
Buyers hear and see it all…and are used to being treated like the most eligible bachelor or bachelorette. They know when the laughs at their lighthearted comments are a little forced or the compliments on their business acumen are a little hollow. They see through the lovefest.
Because they know that love is conditional. Everyone they meet wants something from them. And buyers realize they spend a lot more time saying no. They delay or destroy more dreams of new vendors than they grant wishes. And they are constantly confronting the underperforming sales of existing vendors or challenging them in other ways to further improve their performance.
But buyers have feelings and emotions too. Most have families or loved ones they look forward to getting home to every night. They have hopes and dreams and fears outside of work. It is important to remember this every time you meet with one.
BUYERS ARE JUST ANOTHER CUSTOMER
Buyers need to be sold on carrying your product just like shoppers need to be sold on buying your product.
While shoppers buy products to solve an unmet need, buyers select products based on needing to deliver three key metrics that determine what their year-end bonus looks like. And that bonus may determine if they put in a pool, take the family to Disneyland, pay off college loan debt or make college a closer reality for their child.
Those metrics are sales, profit, and turns (we get into more detail about them here). And a better understanding of how each is pushing and pulling at the buyer will give you a big competitive advantage compared to your competition.
These three numbers (sales, profit, and turns) are quantifiable objectives. Odds are, your product won’t make or break whether each is accomplished. And the objectives the buyer has probably won’t directly impact the viability of your products at that retailer.
However, below these objectives are strategies and tactics that will have an immense impact on how much interest the buyer has in your product.
While buyer strategies and tactics aren’t considered state secrets, they tend to be rather difficult to nail down.
And seeing a buyer strategy or tactic in writing is very different than hearing the buyer explain why it exists and how they are bringing it to life.
This is why it is a great privilege to get in meetings with buyers, ask them the right question, and then shut up and listen.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU DID THIS?
This sounds so simple and intuitive, but I consistently see it applied so poorly.
Vendors are far more likely to bring one or two hours of content into a 30-minute meeting. Does this sound like you?
They are more likely to believe a brute force approach of overwhelming the buyer with more and more and more information will get the answer they want.
But they are wrong. They should realize less is more.
After all, are you more likely to read a sharp, pointed 500-word article or a rambling 2000-word post?
Are you more likely to pick a 2-minute instructional video or a 10-minute video? The shorter options are the obvious answers.
“If you want me to speak for two minutes, it will take me three weeks of preparation. If you want me to speak for thirty minutes, it will take me a week to prepare. If you want me to speak for an hour, I am ready now.”
Not only is a shorter article or shorter video less taxing on your time, but it also provides greater clarity to the key points and avoids them getting lost in a sea of unnecessary words. If the 2-minute video does give you the detail you need, you can always go back to the 10-minute video.
So why don't more vendors apply this insight to buyer interactions? For one, it takes a lot more effort to condense materials. It takes preparation and thought and time that many vendors don’t have.
YOUR MOVE
After you’ve taken some time to reflect on how guilty you are of talking at your retailer buyer too much, consider how the right questions at the right time could completely change the dynamic of the interactions.
Consider how being more disciplined with how you present your story in less time, with fewer words and fewer slides could actually be more engaging and more compelling.
Consider how better listening could make the buyer feel more valued and better understood. And how much more effective your plans can be when they perfectly align with what the buyer is trying to accomplish.
It could dramatically improve your communication, leading to the connection and exchange of information I know you so desperately want.