Have you considered that the way you buy impacts the way you sell?

This weekend, I bought an Audi S4.  The process I went through:

1. Determine the kind of car I wanted.  Having been back in Colorado for a year now, All Wheel Drive (AWD) was one of the most important features, and I like a sporty/fast car too!  And it was time to mix things up (I’ve owned a lot of cars in my life! Chevy Malibu, Chevy S10 Blazer, Nissan Sentra, BMW 328i, Porsche Boxster, Ford Expedition, Porsche 911, BMW 525i, BMW 528i, Mercedes-Benz C-350)
2. Go to the dealer who has the car.  
3. Buy the car!  Now that I knew the kind of car I wanted, and I was at the Audi dealer who had the car I wanted, why in the world would I waste more time and drive around?  (I’ll admit, I clicked on AutoTrader.com, and KBB.com while sitting in the chair negotiating the final deal, but why wait, this is MY CAR!)

According to Dave Kurlan’s research (http://www.objectivemanagement.com/references/b.aspx), one of the biggest hurdles for sales people is called the “Non-Supportive Buy Cycle”.

The Impact of a Non-Supportive Buy Cycle

Explanation: When a sales person has a non-supportive Buy Cycle it indicates that the manner in which this person goes about the process of buying something for him/herself does not support the selling process.

Impact: This candidate will be vulnerable to prospects who buy the same way as he/she does. If the prospect wants to ‘think it over’ and that’s what the salesperson usually does, no technique will be effective because the salesperson understands the stall. Same goes for price shoppers, comparison shoppers and researchers.

The Non-Supportive Buy Cycle is the most powerful and the second most common weakness we find in salespeople. This weakness alone will not cause a ‘do not hire’ recommendation.

Dave Kurlan & Objective Management Group have analyzed more than 1M sales professionals.  When they say that this is the #2 most common weakness among sales people, it’s science!