Adding value to business: why brands need to put customers at the centre of sales

A buyer-centric sales approach will benefit both customer and brand.

A sales experience that reinforces a company’s culture of customer needs will always outperform those of other brands. Below, we outline the importance of understanding your customer’s priorities to produce a sales strategy that is relevant to your buyers and delivers their objectives.

No more hard selling 

In today’s digital age, customer’s searching for a service or product solution need only type a few words into Google to find their answer. It’s not enough for your brand to hard sell your product with a good logo and excellent product descriptions. More than likely your target-audience have already done the research by the time they’ve reached your company and are well-aware of the solution they want.

Our team at Copestone found that 81% of consumers conduct online research before buying, and 90% of buyers are universally more informed and empowered within the marketplace than they were twenty years ago. So for your brand to stand-out, you’ve got to demonstrate that your content is relevant to your buyer. But first you’ve got to understand what it is your customers are looking for.

Buyer-centricity and personalisation are two words that have been bouncing around for some time now. These phrases have to do with putting buyers at the core of business, and considering their journey and objectives when formulating a sales approach. This includes ensuring the customer’s experience with your sales team is positive, and building long-term relationships with your buyers.

Value beyond the product 

Centralising your selling on the product or service you’re offering is only scratching the surface. Sales is about the experience, the value creation, the meetings, the interactions, the onboarding. It’s about tapping into the buyer’s emotions and psychology and pinpointing what motivates them.

23% of buyers agree that sellers don’t always put them first when embarking on a marketing campaign, yet when asked what’s most important to them when engaging with a sales representative, customer service repeatedly ranked number one. For your brand to really succeed, you need to demonstrate you understand the buyer as an individual, and prove willingness to personalise the sales journey to meet their objectives.

In our blog Marketing personas: what they are and why do B2B marketers need them, we discuss the importance of researching your target audience to understand the personalities you might be engaging with and the motivations of different buyers. Once you’re able to pinpoint the priorities of your customers then you can create content that offers the solutions that will engage them.  

It’s important to remember that these days it’s not necessarily about the best price or fastest delivery. Buyers have other priorities, such as whether the values of your company align with theirs. According to the Harvard Business Review, 64% of consumers say that the primary reason they have a relationship with a brand is because they share its values. Suddenly, the content that your brand should be focussing on is entirely reframed.

Perhaps instead of investing in yet another whitepaper that outlines the details of your product, your brand should consider the benefits a CSR report could offer buyers interested in company values. Or maybe a blog series that communicates brand ethos would appeal to buyers whose priority is a personable sales experience. It’s not just about selling your product or service; it’s about selling your brand too.

The future of your buyer 

Good business relationships shouldn’t be about selling a product and then moving on. It is about engaging in a conversation with buyers that looks to the future and creating a relationship that could last a long time.

We always ask our clients where they’re aiming to be in the future. It helps us to understand their business, and means we can create content with a strategy in mind. The sales process becomes personalised to that consumer’s needs, and who knows, maybe by understanding your buyer’s future objectives, you will learn something that might inform the products or services you develop next.

Buyer/seller relationships are hardly ever a one-way street. By investing in these relationships, both parties will undoubtedly see the benefits.

Looking for advice on developing a buyer-centric strategy? We can support your in-house team to update marketing personas and generate content that speaks to your audience. Contact us today. We’re always happy to meet face-to-face or virtually.

If you need support to write engaging, audience-driven content for your B2B brand or agency, contact Copestone today.