Chapter 2, how buyers decide to buy

People buy to solve a problem. There are:

• Real problems
• Perceived problems

The role of the sales person is to:

• understand the customers problem,
• possiblly help them understand their problem better
• walks them through possible solutions
• evaluate the options
• helps them select the best option to solve their problem

The path to purchase describes the steps any customer/buyer goes through when he/she decides to buy.

Key points of the chapter:

• Customers buy to solve a problem
• Some problems are real, some are perceived
• Many problems have an image or Brand@mbi component to them
• Customers go through a predictable process The path to purchase in any buying decision
• Customers don't buy products or services but ideally buy solutions
• The sales person with the best solution to the problem gets to make the sale
• The customer alone decides what the solution is.