That favorite way…Why buyers buy…

That favorite way…or one that works?

The animal rights group PITA probably doesn’t think much of the phrase about there being more than one way to skin a cat. But for the rest of us it’s not only okay, but it also makes perfect everyday sense.

The problem is that being creatures of habit we tend to stick to that one favorite way to attack problem A and another well engrained one for challenge B.

And as long as those habitual and proven approaches are working, there’s no problem with just keeping on keeping on. But when they falter, it’s time for a new approach. If it’s that time tested foil that we’ve used to counter the “we’re too busy to consider a change” put off, we need a new idea.

Likewise if you’ve solved a particular results issue with an increased rinse temp, but that isn’t working now, maybe you need to try a different rinse aid or even lowering that temperature.

And even if that new approach is a bit counter intuitive, maybe it’s better than that old one that isn’t doing the job. It’s kind of like that familiar Dr. Phil line of, “How’s that workin for ya” that he quipped when someone told him how they were doing something that clearly wasn’t working.

Why buyers buy…And what we know

There are really only a few reasons why that buyer comes to the decision to make the switch. Often, it’s a situation where the current supplier has failed miserably to deliver the results the buyer wants. Then there’s the competitor who dropped the ball on an important commitment – like reducing costs or addressing a critical service need.

Regrettably there’s potentially the situation where he’s a deadbeat who’s looking for the next supplier he can string out until he finds the next mark to hoodwink.

And last, of course we might have actually wowed him with our sterling presentation! But it’s listed last because the simple truth is most buyers make the decision to switch principally because of one of the aforementioned reasons – and decidedly not the singular result of our silver-tongued pitch!

Setting aside the bad payer, of course it still takes a well fashioned well delivered presentation get the deal done. But we shouldn’t delude ourselves into believing it’s the singular reason.

Next up: Starting off on the right foot