How To Create A Buying Vision (and Why It Matters)

Sales is all about vision. When you’re aiming to close a deal, it’s essential that you keep your eyes open. As a sales rep, you must be equipped to respond not only to your client’s pressing needs—both in the short and long-term—but also to the needs they don’t even realize they have.

The most successful modern companies (e.g., Apple) seem to have a knack for anticipating their customer’s needs—whether or not the customer has actually voiced them. That same ability is key to finding success in all types of sales across industries. When you create the buying vision, you set the terms of the sale, and it becomes much more likely that you’ll close the deal.

Why the Buying Vision Matters

Though each sales rep may have his or her own definition, the concept of a buying vision is actually quite simple: it’s a way of showing your buyers how your product or services can create solutions for them.

For the uninitiated, that may sound like jargon. After all, don’t your prospects already realize that they need to solve their problems? However, seasoned sales reps know that some of the biggest pain points often go unresolved, at least until a sales team enters the picture. There are several possible reasons for this, but ultimately it boils down to buyers not having the time, resources, or vision to actively seek out all possible solutions.

In fact, many salespeople estimate that only a tiny fraction of prospects are actively seeking out new solutions at any given time. The good news? Studies by Forrester Research reveal that salespeople who create a buying vision end up winning out against the competition about 74% of the time. That’s an incredible win rate, and it’s a testament to the importance of shaping a sale from the earliest stages.

Discover and Uncover

The most successful social sellers will see opportunities that the buyer misses. There’s no mystery to it: discovering and uncovering the right solutions for your prospects is a process, and it’s a skill that you can learn over time.  

It begins with identifying the problems and pain points that your prospects have—or will have in the future. From there, you should aim to empathize with your buyers, understanding their unique needs and goals. For example, know whether they have time or budgeting constraints. Social selling can aid you in this process by helping you to stay on top of new industry insights and by connecting you directly with decision makers.

Bring the Vision

Once you’ve reached the right decision makers, your goal should be to bring the buying vision to them. If you’ve understood their needs correctly, all that’s left is to build trust and educate the buyer about why your solution is right for them.

“Research shows B2B decision-makers count their interactions with salespeople as the major determinant of whom they choose—more than product quality, brand reputation and pricing combined,” says Tim Riesterer, Chief Strategy and Marketing Officer for Corporate Vision. “As a result, reps who show a knack for presenting edgy, counterintuitive industry insights in their networks can make themselves a go-to source when their contacts are ready to buy.”

In other words, there are two things that really matter when it comes to closing deals that begin with a buying vision: first, getting in early, and secondly, proving that you’re a reliable, knowledgeable source in your industry. If you can accomplish that much, more often than not, the rest of the puzzle pieces will fall into place.

To get more insight into how you can successfully find and close deals, check out our tipsheet Proven Strategies to Find, Win, and Sustain Business.