One tendency all buyers have is to want to have options. Once we have options, we want a simple way to compare those options. An example is the Mutual Fund industry.

Matthew Morey of New York's Pace University found that funds with high ratings from agencies like Morningstar, Inc. and Value Line tend to get the lion's share of our attention and money. But as a group they don't tend to perform much better than those with mediocre marks. "Ratings are very seductive because we want to see things quantified simply," says Morey.

How can sales people use this information?

This is particularly important with committee decisions. Consensus is difficult for groups to achieve. They are very unlikely to agree based on subjective criteria, because they each view these things in their own way. Objective, quantifiable criteria make it easier for groups to come to conclusions, and therefore, carry a lot more weight in the final decision. Simply quantified, objective criteria help eliminate logjams in the decision process, by helping groups reach consensus. If these criteria are in areas where you have strengths, then they tilt the decision in your favor.

So…

1) Seek problems in areas where you have an advantage.

2) Seek to help the buyer quantify the problem, it’s impact and it’s cost.

3) Then seek to explain things to your buyer in a way that is simply quantified. So ‘ease of use’ becomes the average time required for users to be able to use a new product. A new user can be productive after 2 hours of training.

Sell the criteria and the solution will follow.