Outsell Your Competition By Leveraging 'Trigger Events'

Every day decision makers in a target market experience ‘Trigger Events’ that turn them into highly motivated buyers. Research shows that you are five times more likely to outsell your competition when you get in front of these motivated buyers before your competition does. This article discusses how to outsell your competition by leveraging ‘Trigger Events’ to repeatedly get in front of motivated buyers before your competition,

Selling and Buying Modes
To get in front of motivated buyersbefore your competition you need to understand that, no matter what you sell or to whom, buyers are always in one of three buying modes:

1. Status Quo: Status quo is when a buyer believes the product or service they are currently using meets, or exceeds, their needs.
2. Window of Dissatisfaction™: A window of dissatisfaction occurs after a buyer realizes that their current solution no longer meets their needs but before they start the process of searching for alternative solutions.
3. Searching for Alternatives: Searching for alternatives is when a buyer realizes their current solution no longer meets their needs and is actively searching for alternative solutions.

Buying Modes and ‘Trigger Events’
Buyers shift from the buying mode of status quo into the window of dissatisfaction because of a ‘Trigger Event’, or a series of ‘Trigger Events’ (triggers). You will sell more, sell sooner, and sell at a higher price when you can identify the triggers that shift buyers into window of dissatisfaction and get to these newly motivated buyersbefore your competition.

‘Trigger Events’ and Prices
It’s important to understand the impact that triggers have on prices. As a rule, buyers pay for perceived value and a buyer’s perception of value shifts as triggers move buyers from one buying mode to another.

When a buyer is in the status quo mode, their perception of value of your solution is the difference between their current solution and your proposed solution. Because their perception of the current solution is so high, the buyer’s perception of the difference in value between their current solution and your proposed solution is not enough to motivate them to buy from you.

When you sell to buyers in status quo you are likely to spend a lot of time selling with little or no chance of actually making a sale.

When a ‘Trigger Event’ happens and a buyer believes that their current solution no longer meets their needs, they move into the Window of dissatisfaction, and their perception of the value of their current solution is reduced. Now the buyer’s perception of the difference between the value of their current solution and your proposed solution increases to the point where you are much more likely to make a sale. By being first with buyers who recently entered the Window of dissatisfaction, not only are you more likely to make a sale, you are also likely to have a shorter sales cycle, and when you win the business it’s likely to be at a much higher price.

When they are not intercepted by a savvy sales person, another ‘Trigger Event’ or a series of ‘Trigger Events’ will cause a buyer to become so dissatisfied with their current solution that they pass through the Window of dissatisfaction and start searching for alternatives. Now a buyer’s perception of the value of your proposed solution is reduced to the difference between your proposed solution and the solution proposed by your nearest competitor. When you sell to buyers who are searching for alternatives you are less likely to make the sale and IF you win the business, you are likely to have a much longer sales cycle and a much lower price.

The REAL Value of Leveraging ‘Trigger Events’
The REAL value of leveraging ‘Trigger Events’ is you spend more time selling to buyers in the Window of dissatisfaction. This is when you are most likely to get loyal, appreciative, buyers who will represent 80% of your profits and provide you with a reference or that most treasured thing in sales, referrals. If you miss the Window of dissatisfaction and try selling to buyers who are already searching for alternatives, you are more likely to get peripheral, disloyal, price sensitive buyers who will represent 20% of your profits and 80% of your headaches!

Identifying ‘Trigger Events’
‘Trigger Events’ that shift buyers from status Quo into the Window of dissatisfaction fall into one of three different categories:

1. Bad Experience: The buyer has a bad experience with a product/service, people, or a provider: E.g. A product/service change creates dissatisfaction and the buyer gets ready to move on.
2. Change / Transition: The buyer has a change or transition in people, places, or priorities. E.g. A change in the buyer who purchases your product or the person who sells your product to the buyer.
3. Awareness: Buyers become aware of the need to change for one of three reasons: Legal, risk avoidance, economics. E.g. Buying from you is less risky than to keep buyer from their current supplier.

Conclusion
Outselling your competition is seldom an accident. It is the result of focusing on the opportunities where you have timing - are first with buyers who recently entered the window of dissatisfaction - and developing strategies to repeatedly make timing happen. You will make timing happen when you identify the ‘Trigger Events’ that shift buyers into the window of dissatisfaction, put in place ways to repeatedly get to these recently motivated buyers before your competition.