Removing the Obstacles to Buying: Making the Sale

Buying decisions are based on the ability of a marketer (sales person, practitioners) to remove certain obstacles militating against the sale. Regardless of the marketing strategy, effort or process involved, the sale is always being hindered by certain obstacles. As opined by Michael Leboeuf (1989) in his book (How to win customers and keep them for life) " it is generally agreed by practitioners and students of selling that four major obstacles to buying must be removed before a sale takes place(assuming that the customer has the resources to pay for what you are selling). Those four obstacles are popularly known as the four No's of selling. They are:

No trust: the first and foremost job of a salesperson or marketer is to build trust in the brand or product/service as people always like to buy from people they like and trust. There are various ways to removing the no trust barrier, these are:

Don't just sell your product, offer genuine value to the customer: contrary to the oversell technique used by sales people everywhere, lasting relationships and repeat purchases are possible only when customer's needs are met or they see a genuine attempt at helping them meet their needs.

Reinforce the disagreement and recommendations of customers with emphatic agreement: In the conversation with the customer, apply deliberate energy in trying to understand and help your customers. This is achieved through a genuine show of empathy (look at the problem from their perspective).

Creatively expose your customers to recommendations and testimonials of your previously satisfied clients, this can be done offline or online.

No need: a crucial step in the buying process is the customer's realization of his/her need for the product/service. This need must be perceived by the customer before the buying decision making process begins. It is the responsibility of the marketer to make the customer realize the need for the product. If the need is non-existent, the marketer can also increase the customer's awareness of his/her need for the product/service through exposing them to the benefits that the product/service offers if utilized or the disadvantages of not using the product. Pushing your product/service to people who have no us for them is a waste of time and will likely come back to haunt you.

No help: this is observed when the customer is already using a competitor's product/service and doesn't believe your product can be of any significant benefit to him. This can be overturned by highlighting the specific benefits of buying what you have to offer as against your competitors'.

No hurry: this obstacle is observed when the customer says he likes to buy what you are offering but not enough to buy today, or statements like" I want to think about it". The point to note is that if the customer really wants to think about it, it is because there are obstacles still militating against the buying decision. The right strategy as a marketer will be to minimize the risk of buying while maximizing and communicating the benefits of buying "now".

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