If you’re thinking about scaling your business or you want to target a market full of buyers, well, you’ve got to think about developing a buyer persona first. Hmmm.. Do you have one? Or do you even need to have one? We hear a lot of people talk about buyer personas, avatars, and whatnot. But do you really understand how you can maximize and grow your business using the power of buyer persona?

That’s why I invited Adele Revella onto the show today to talk about all of that. Adele is the author of the book, Buyer Personas. She has 35 years of experience in the industry, sales, and marketing spaces as well as 15 years of training experience in product marketing, management, and sales specifically in the technology industry.

Here are the highlights of my conversation with Adele:

Keys to developing a buyer persona:

1. Set the difference between sales and marketing.

• The salesperson listens to and influences one buyer at a time
• Marketing people influence a market full of buyers.

2. Why you need a buyer persona:

• To understand how to get a whole market full of buyers
• To understand, in advance, how a buyer is going to react to your story and your message

When do you need a buyer persona?

• If you want to scale your business
• If you want to understand who to get a whole market full of buyers

Adele thinks everybody doesn’t need a buyer persona. For a really small company doing business with a handful of customers, go out there and listen to every person intensely and cater your message and strategy to that customer.

3. Listening

• Listen when buyers talk through a specialized  interview where you ask people who have just been through the buying experience that you want to influence.
• Find people who have done that recently and get them to tell you the story.
• Have them walk you through every step of the buying experience (what triggered them to make the investment, how they looked for a solution, and making that conclusion)
• This is not the time for pitching. Your goal is to listen.

How to approach C-level buyers:

1. Understand the C-level buyer’s role in the buying decision

The hamburger bun analogy:

The C-level person says yes to investing then turns it over to someone junior to him to investigate and figure out options before giving it back to him

1. Be clear that they’re not going to choose who the supplier is

How sales teams can align with marketing to grow the business:

1. Think of your jobs as similar.

Both have the common goal of helping the buyers.

2. Understand how a market full of buyers think.

Understand their expectations, barriers to choosing you, and what you need to be prepared to talk about in every meeting

3. Have conversations focused on the buyer.

Focus on what we know and what we don’t know and how to find out what matters to the buyers.

The quality of sales and marketing intersects with what the company offers and what the buyers are looking for

Adele’s Major Takeaway:

Start with listening. Listen to what the buyer wants and what their concerns and goals are. Find a way to get the time, energy, and skill to go out and understand how most buyers are likely to think about their goals and concerns.

Episode Resources:

Connect with Adele through her website www.buyerpersona.com or on Facebook

Adele’s book: Buyer Personas

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