Why Buyers Persona Matters in B2B Sales

Does Buyers Persona Matter in B2B Sales and Marketing Execution?

Read here, here, here and here why it matters.

Elevate Your B2B Brand with Emotional Connect

How B2B Technology Vendors Can Make an Emotional Connection With Their Customers

Most B2B technology businesses focus their marketing communications messages on features and benefits. Beyond promoting features and benefits, B2B technology businesses can differentiate themselves by connecting emotionally. 

Following questions to ask yourself when assessing if you're making an emotional connection with your customers can be read here.

Building Digital Business - 6 Archetypes

Mckinsey writes about 6 different models for building the digital business.

More can be read here 

Weekend Reading

 Weekend Reading

• B2B Sales Trend - For Buyers and Sellers
• Strategic Debt - killer for startups
• How products can speed up development
• Myths in Negotiation - Debunked 
• B2B Sales - Leaders use data to drive better sales performance

Post COVID - Know Your Dynamic Demand Profile Trigger

 Post-COVID - Know Your Dynamic Demand Profile Trigger to Identify Growth Areas 

Source: HBR October 2020 Edition

Sales Planning and Execution in a Digital World

B2B Sales Planning and Execution - Strategic Lens and Tools for Achieving Success in a Digital world

 

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - XI

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales". 

How to apply the framework of five elements on a stakeholder for persona mapping.    

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Narendra Modi  

Background

Narendra Damodardas Modi is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. He is the first prime minister born after India's independence and the second non-Congress one to win two consecutive terms with a majority.

Appearance

• The following characteristics indicate that his primary element is Earth:
• he has a round nose tip and a protruding belly 
• he has a thicker nose bridge and full lips
• he has angled jaws and protruding cheekbones, and
• he speaks with gravitas
• The following characteristics suggest that his secondary element is Fire:
• he has a medium build or height
• he has bright eyes and a unique sparkle
• his ears are pointy, and 
• he walks swiftly

Engagement, Communication, Clothing

• Earth attributes are evident in the following behaviours:
• he believes in serving others
• he is stubborn (doesn't like to be pushed around), and once he decides, he doesn't change his decision no matter what happens (like the demonetisation or legislation for removing Article 370 from the constitution)
• he is also secretive – with surgical strikes over Pakistan and the execution of the demonetisation in India, which were designed and implemented with the utmost secrecy  
• he always listens to his friends or inner coterie; for example, he used to consult late Arun Jaitley as his sounding board before taking any critical decision 
• he is a hardworking workaholic and typically works 18 hrs a day and for 365 days a year; since 2014, he hasn't taken a day off from his office, and
• he is also resentful – he is known to go after people who demonise or go against him, like how he won’t give interviews to a few journalists and has made their life very challenging in their profession  
• The following supplementary behaviours suggest Fire is the secondary element: 
• he loves new beginnings and comes up with new initiatives regularly - like skill India, startup India, water and electricity for every household
• he is fond of public speaking and likes to put on a show; for example, he regularly comes on a radio program named "mun kee baat", and when he celebrates any occasion, it's done with a grandeur
• he is inspirational and always promotes the idea of doing something real and meaningful
• he also brings money by going overseas or inviting foreign companies to come to India and do business; every year, Pravasi Bhartiya Divas is used for signing MOU's with foreign companies; under his tenure, India's FDI has reached its highest level since independence
• he is also driven by action (spends long hours and weekends at work), and
• he likes to wear bright coloured clothes

Summary

By analysing the appearance, engagement, communication and clothing style of Narendra Modi, it is evident that his primary element is Earth, and the second element is Fire. His tertiary element could be attributed to Space (Metal).

In terms of his engagement with others, his primary element, Earth, means that he finds it hard to work with people with Air and/or Water as their primary element because Air and Water are in a non-parental child relationship with Earth. People with Fire and Space (Metal) as their primary element would work well with him. These two elements are in a parent-child relationship with Earth, giving way to harmony prevailing among them. 

Image Credit: Pinterest

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Previous articles can be read here

• Part 10 on How to apply elements framework for Product vs Service-Centric Sales can be read here
• Part 9 on How to apply elements framework on how a Procurement Executive will engage can be read here 
• Part 8 on How to apply elements framework for Sales Planning and Execution can be read here
• Part 7 on How to apply elements framework for identifying Steve Jobs Persona can be read here 
• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here  

Weekend Reading

 Weekend Reading

• AT&T Cash flow continues to grow - Fibre, Postpaid and HBO Making a difference
• The digital currencies that mater
• High performance brian to text communication via handwriting
• In a letter in the journal Science, 18 prominent biologists are calling on China's laboratories and agencies to "open their records" to independent analysis
• In Person or On Video   

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - X

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales" 

How to apply the five elements framework for Product vs Service Centric Sales.

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Next: Coming up

• How to apply elements for identifying Narendra Modi's Persona, Prime Minister of India

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Previous articles can be read here.

• Part 9 on How to apply elements framework on how a Procurement Executive will engage can be read here 
• Part 8 on How to apply elements framework for Sales Planning and Execution can be read here.
• Part 7 on How to apply elements framework for identifying Steve Jobs Persona can be read here 
• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here.
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here  

Australian Economy - Reviving

The economy is ‘roaring back to life’ - key indicators below: 

The budget bottom line is $133 billion, which $30 billion better than forecasts in December, due largely to surging income taxes off the back of jobs growth, as well as increased superannuation and company taxes. The former reflects a rebounding share market, the latter a business recovery led by retail. 

More details here - https://lnkd.in/gSCQqfG

 

Iron Ore demand by China is cushioning the debt.

 

Recovery in Employment

 

Weekend Reading

Weekend Reading

• What history tells you about post-pandemic booms - read here 
• Voyager Digital: 18,000% Revenue Growth And Better Interest Than Coinbase - more here 
• Funding Friday: Pattern Alphabet cards for exploring nature - more here
• Making large-scale, functional, electronic textiles - more here

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - IX

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales" 

How to apply the five elements framework when engaging a Procurement Executive. 

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Next: Coming up

• How B2B Sales are different in Service vs Product 

--

Previous articles can be read here.

• Part 8 on How to apply elements framework for Sales Planning and Execution can be read here.
• Part 7 on How to apply elements framework for identifying Steve Jobs Persona can be read here 
• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here.
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here  

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - VIII

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales" 

Cheat Sheet for applying the framework of elements for B2B Sales Planning and Execution 

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Next: Coming up

• How a Procurement Executive will Engage
• How B2B Sales are different in Service vs Product 

--

Previous articles can be read here

• Part 7 on How to apply elements framework for identifying Steve Jobs Persona can be read here 
• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here 
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here 

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - VII

Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales" 

How to apply the framework of elements on a stakeholder for persona mapping  

-

Application 

The first step is to identify the key elements representing their human traits to apply this framework to any individual. Out of the five elements, a primary and a secondary element plays a vital role in shaping our personality and appearance. Let's apply this framework of creation and destruction of five elements and their elemental attributes with few examples to identify primary and secondary elements.

Steve Jobs

Background

Steven Paul Jobs was an American business magnate, industrial designer, investor, and media proprietor. He was the chairman, chief executive officer (CEO), and co-founder of Apple Inc. Steve is widely recognised as a pioneer of the personal computer and smartphone revolutions.

Appearance

The following characteristics indicate that Space (Metal) element as primary:

• had a muscular body but in the latter part of life became slim because of illness
• his face was oval-shaped
• had lined lower cheeks, and 
• had wide space between features

The following characteristics suggest that the Fire element is secondary:

• had a pointy nose, and 
• had long hair in his youth and later on became partly bald with a receding hairline

Engagement, Communication, Clothing

Space (Metal) attributes are evident in the following behaviours 

• was self-made and was always keen on the big picture
• was emotionless (even left his daughter)
• loved designer clothes and expensive items (he built his own luxury yacht)
• was meticulously neat and tidy (apple stores, new apple head office, practised the philosophy of minimalism at home and work)
• was a perfectionist (iPhone and iPad), logical in thinking
• highly critical (openly criticised Adobes Flash for crashing ios devices and mac), and
• his email responses were concise and minimal (he used to respond to customer queries from his iPhone with 1-2 lines of text only)

The following supplementary behaviours suggest Fire is the secondary element 

• he loved new beginnings
• was fond of public speaking and putting a show (apple events) 
• driven by action (spent long hours and weekends at work)
• was inspirational and always promoted the ideas of doing something real, inspiring uni students with his talks
• brought money with him (he started as a salesman and became one of the best salesmen), and 
• lacked boundaries and was impulsive (was widely know to shout at staff if they didn't meet his very high standards) 
• righteousness (lost his cool and criticised Eric Schmidt for copying Apple design by Googles Android)

Summary

By analysing the appearance, engagement, communication and clothing style of Steve Jobs, it is evident that his primary element was Space (Metal), and the second element was Fire. His tertiary element could be attributed to Air.

In terms of his engagement with others, his primary element, Space (Metal), meant that he found it hard to work with people having Air and Fire as their primary element because Air and Fire are in a non-parental child relationship with Space (Metal). People with Earth and Water as their primary element would have worked well with him as these two elements are in a parent-child relationship with Space (Metal). Giving way to harmony prevailing among them.

Image Credit: Wikipedia

Next: Coming up 

• Cheat Sheet for Sales Planning and Execution using Five Elements   
• How a Procurement Executive will Engage
• How B2B Sales are different in Service vs Product 

--

Previous articles can be read here

• Part 6 on How to apply elements framework on a Legal Service Counsel can be read here 
• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here 

Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - VI

 Excerpt from my upcoming book at amazon.com - "Sellers from Mars and Buyers from Venus - Elements of Nature Meet B2B Sales" 

How a Legal Service Counsel will engage with others 

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Legal Services

Legal services are a corporate function where a legal counsel provides support in enabling or executing a business operation. In the case of business to business (B2B) sales, a legal counsel works closely with the buyers' legal team, internal sales, product engineering teams and other stakeholders to assist in quantifying, negotiating and closing a deal. The key responsibilities of a legal counsel are following: 

● preparing, modifying and negotiating a legal framework for contractually engaging with buyers like the master service agreement (MSA), statement of work (SOW) and purchase order 

● do due diligence, provide assessment and guidance on the following risks: 

o business

▪ lock-in commitment and its implications

▪ probability of damages arising and the magnitude of the impact from such damages 

▪ service continuity plans for events arising from insolvency or government actions or regulatory requirement

▪ exit options and handovers 

▪ syncing or adapting the agreement with the current situation, an example in today's world like adapting force majeure to include a pandemic 

o finance

▪ the right balance of warranties offered and excluded

▪ managing cost spillover arising from certain clauses

▪ additional cost or taxes, usage charges like overage charges

▪ insurance expectations to cover the risk

o legal

▪ legal compliances like sanction, privacy, data privacy and anti-bribery

▪ licensing issues, if any

▪ reasonable exclusions and limits on indemnities and liabilities

● managing the risk matrix and governance approvals 

● ensuring the deal is closed and signed off

So, let us explore how a seller's side legal counsel engages with buyers through the lens of the elemental attributes learned in the previous sections.

Legal Counsel for Earth Element – Calm & Stable

● Risk Assessment 

o driven by a minimal risk appetite and fear of failure means these natives are pedantic across exposure to any business, financial and legal risk 

● Contractual Agreement 

o slow in drafting and preparing and sharing with stakeholders, semantically strong, their attention to detail is good, and they prefer long term agreements 

o they are driven by relentless effort and status quo; the emphasis is on using the standard terms and conditions, ringfencing the scope with a maximum tolerance

o they are not open to any financial penalties or liabilities in case there is a failure or delay in delivery  

o they are slow and sluggish in following up with the customer for closure   

● Negotiation Style

o they have a lot of patience and are good listeners, hide information, 

o they lack transparency and principles, can often be deceptive or employ pressure tactics

o they are accommodative and let others take control and respond only when necessary

● Communication

o they speak slowly with a deep voice, sluggish in response and react at their own pace

o they are good listeners and are structured and semantically driven

Next: Coming up 

• Cheat Sheet for Sales Planning and Execution using Five Elements   
• How a Procurement Executive will Engage
• How B2B Sales are different in Service vs Product 

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Previous articles can be read here

• Part 5 on How a Marketing Manager will engage can be read here
• Part 4 on How a Sponsoring Executive will engage can be read here
• Part 3 on Negotiation Styles in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 2 on Persona Mapping in B2B Sales can be read here 
• Part 1 on Marrying Elements of Nature with B2B Sales can be read here