Now that gathering information on the web has become commonplace, users can easily search for solutions to issues they are aware of. Additionally, you can now use free tools to convert and analyze your company’s issues into data and solve them in-house.
In this way, along with the evolution of IT and the shift to DX, corporate sales activities are becoming more sophisticated, and traditional sales methods are no longer applicable. In the current situation where information can be easily gathered on the web, methods called vision selling and insight selling are newly attracting attention.
This time, we will introduce vision selling and insight selling in detail.
Three existing sales methods
There were three traditional sales methods: customer service sales, product sales, and solution sales. The characteristics of these sales methods are as follows.
・Private Sales
<br/>Also called route sales, this is a sales style in which customers are visited regularly and sales are made according to the customer’s requests. Find out which purchase destination the customer is considering, and emphasize that the customer has advantages over that purchase source in terms of cost, delivery speed, effort, etc.
Sales activities are relatively passive as they depend on customer requests.
・Product Sales
<br/> This is a sales style in which the products to be sold have already been decided, and the products that meet the customer’s needs are proposed. We make additional proposals in response to customer requests, proactively introduce new products, and emphasize how our products are superior to those of our competitors.
A wide range of product knowledge and skills are required, and sales activities are more proactive than route sales. However, if there is no difference in functionality or performance from competitors, there is a risk of price competition.
・Solution sales
<br/> A sales style that proposes products and services as solutions to customer problems. We communicate with customers to understand their issues and make complex proposals consisting of multiple products and services.
The knowledge and skills required for product sales are higher. It is important to have the knowledge to explain not only the features of your own products, but also their effects and benefits, as well as communication and listening skills to understand customers’ issues.
Information gathering completed before meeting with sales representative
Survey data released by Sirius Decision in 2012 shows that 67% of companies complete the purchasing process, which includes information gathering, comparison consideration, and decision making, before a salesperson makes contact. I think many people have heard of it at least once.
In addition, in the “2020 IT Product Selector Survey” released by Medics in 2020, it was found that the most Results show that the most used information gathering source is “search engines.”
As can be seen from these survey data, with the spread of the Internet, the purchasing process has changed from gathering information through a salesperson to completing information gathering from the Internet or search engines before meeting with a salesperson. I’m doing it.
With the web-based purchasing process and self-service services, companies are automating sales to existing customers and shifting sales resources to latent customers or enterprise companies. As a result, it can be said that the skills and knowledge required for sales are becoming even more sophisticated.
vision selling, insight selling
In this environment, vision selling and insight selling are newly attracting attention.
Vision selling and insight selling are similar, but while vision selling approaches the customer’s current ideals, insight selling approaches the future ideals that are not yet visible. There is a difference in the time axis between the two.
・Vision Selling
<br/> A sales style that provides support and suggestions to help customers realize their ideals. By clarifying the issues that need to be solved now in order to realize your ideals, we will get you to adopt our products and services.
This requires high skills and knowledge similar to those required of a consultant, not a salesperson. In addition, companies that do not have (or recognize that they have) issues are also targeted for sale, and medium- to long-term sales can be expected.
・Insight Selling
<br/> It is a sales style in which you draw up a vision for the future with your customers and get them to adopt your company’s products and services. We will propose how you will interact with customers and transform your business in 5 or 10 years.
We create the ideal image while interacting with our customers. In addition to high skills and knowledge such as vision selling, it is important to understand the customer better than the customer and to continually explain things to the customer in order to gain their understanding.
Both vision selling and insight selling are effective proposals for overwhelmingly differentiating yourself from the competition. However, if you make a proposal with only a half-hearted understanding, it will be seen as an unreasonable proposal and there is a risk of losing trust. Additionally, the companies that can understand the original proposal may be limited to those that promote advanced initiatives.
・Practical methods of vision selling and insight selling
① Become No. 2 for the customer
<br/> In order to understand the customer’s business philosophy and vision and propose ways to make that ideal a reality, it is necessary to be in the position next to the president. You need to understand your customers better than you understand them.
Then, as we work together to come up with ideas on how to realize the customer’s philosophy and vision, we will be able to make proposals that meet their needs.
②Do not sell products and services
<br/> In order to realize the management philosophy and vision of customers, we must give up the mindset of selling products and services. It is important to make proposals that lead to the customer’s ideals, to address unrecognized issues, and to anticipate future opportunities and risks.
Insight selling, vision selling and marketing
With the ease of gathering information on the Internet, company representatives can now recognize their company’s problems and understand how to solve them before meeting with sales staff.
As a result, sales methods such as insight selling and vision selling have become more sophisticated, and in marketing, it has become more important than ever to accurately capture customer insights.
By accurately deciphering company trends and identifying latent needs that have not yet been recognized, we will understand insights that customers themselves were not aware of and reflect them in measures.
Specifically, we will take the following steps: 1) collect and integrate customer data using Google Analytics, etc., 2) analyze data on the customer journey, and 3) reflect the analysis results in the customer experience.
The following pages will help you learn about the importance and benefits of insights, and specific ways to understand customer insights.
What is “Insight”? Explaining the meaning and needs of marketing terms with concrete examples | MarketTRUNK
What is B to B customer insight? Explanation of benefits and specific details you should know | MarketTRUNK
What steps are required to obtain high-quality user insights? | MarketTRUNK
summary
- With the spread of the Internet, the purchasing process has changed from gathering information from sales personnel to one where information is collected online before meeting with a sales person, making traditional sales methods no longer applicable.
- Newly attracting attention are vision selling, a sales style that provides support and proposals to help customers realize their ideals, and insight selling, a sales style in which customers envision what they want to achieve in the future and create a vision for their own company. Sales style to get people to adopt your products and services
- Vision selling approaches the customer’s current ideals, whereas insight selling approaches the future ideals that are not yet visible.
- As sales methods such as insight selling and vision selling become more sophisticated, it is becoming more important than ever to accurately capture customer insights in marketing.