How to be a good customer?

We are talking about sales, we are talking about salespeople. Salespeople should be energetic, follow their work well, know their products well, know themselves and have a grasp of the story of the company they work for… The list goes on. What about customers? Our customers?

I have sold different products with different concepts in my professional life. If we don’t have customers, there is no sale. Reaching the right people or establishing the right communication with people who directly reach our company and doing good process management is the biggest responsibility of us salespeople.

Despite all of these, don’t you sometimes feel like “I did everything right, so why isn’t this person answering my calls anymore?” Yes, let’s get together and talk about this topic today.

If we look at the big picture, B2B sales are divided into two: sales to small-medium scale companies and sales to large-scale companies. In sales to small-medium scale companies, we salespeople sell our product. In sales to large-scale companies, the person we meet with, who we call our customer, sells our product. I have prepared a comparison for you in order to examine this issue more clearly:

Comparison of Sales Processes in Small-Medium and Large-Scale Companies

Sales processes vary significantly depending on the size of the company. The main differences to consider when selling to small-medium and large-scale companies are summarized below:

The Person Making the Sales: In small-medium companies, the sales process is directly under the control of the salesperson. The salesperson establishes one-on-one communication with the customer and manages the process from beginning to end. In contrast, in large-scale companies, the salesperson usually conducts the process through an internal contact person. The final decision is made by senior management.

Access to the Decision Maker: In small-medium companies, it is quite easy to reach the decision maker. In fact, these people are often directly involved in the sales process. In large-scale companies, it is difficult to reach the decision makers directly; the salesperson usually accesses the process through an internal representative person.

Process Control: In small- and medium-sized companies, the sales process is under the control of the salesperson. In large companies, this control is shared. The salesperson conducts the process together with the internal contact point; therefore, it does not have full control over the process.

Decision Making Criteria: Small-medium sized companies make their decisions based on the benefits the product offers and the value it will add to the customer's business/life. In large-scale companies, there is usually a price-focused approach. The benefits provided by the product can remain in the background; purchasing policies, budget criteria and discount expectations are at the forefront.

Sales Cycle: In small-medium sized companies, the sales process is usually shorter. The lengthening or shortening of the period depends on the performance of the salesperson. In large-scale companies, the sales process is longer and has multiple steps. The period is beyond the control of the salesperson; it is shaped by the approval mechanisms and decision-making processes within the company.

As we can understand from this comparison, when we sell to large-scale companies, our most important task is to gain the person who will sell our product to the management within the relevant company.

After gaining this person, you can easily identify the price offers, comparisons and differences received from other brands and complete all the requirements for closing the sale. However, in my opinion, this is not a sale, it is just a negotiation process.

For me, sales are the personal emotions of benefit. In sales to large-scale companies, the thing that stands out more than benefit is price. In one of my old teams, we used to talk a lot about this, “If you closed your sale by giving a discount, you did not make a sale.”

Now you will say, “Well, Nil, should we not sell to large-scale companies then?”

Of course we will, but it is very important to know what we are doing and how we manage the process. In sales to large-scale companies, when we gain the person who will sell our product inside, this person will come to us when he/she is looking for a solution similar to our product. It can be clearly understood from the constant requests that we have built a good relationship.

Okay, let's get back to our topic...

How to Be a Good Customer?

After starting my article, I discovered many subheadings that I will talk about on this subject, but the main topic I want to talk about today is how to be a good customer in sales to large-scale companies?

Let's say that after our meetings, we could not fully win over the person who will sell our product to the management. In fact, let's say our scenario is that this person needed to get an offer from us quickly and this person received our offer without communicating with us much. Then an air of silence surrounded the environment...

In such scenarios, being a good customer is a great responsibility of large-scale company employees. There is an employee in front of you, someone who wants to provide you with service and benefit. You quickly asked this person for an offer and this person left all their work and devoted all their time to preparing their special offer for you, and to talking to you... In other words, the customer took the salesperson's time.

In B2B sales, it is very important for the customer and the salesperson to establish mutual respect, professionalism and empathy. A good customer should be transparent. If there is another employee who is spending their time with you, you as an employee should be clear and respectful to this salesperson. Whether it is a week or a month, you should make clear responses such as the process has been delayed because there are cheaper offers from the management.

A good customer is transparent, they give the salesperson tangible reasons to improve their process and get better every day. They do not give flat answers such as we will get back to you, the process has been delayed, etc.

We, as salespeople, should not base our motivation on such customers and companies if we do not have a good customer or if we have not been able to build this relationship well in some way. Especially if a customer comes with enthusiasm and excitement and then goes silent, know that the person in front of you is not a good customer.