Do you remember when was the last time that you booked a hotel for your vacations or went to a restaurant when visiting a new destination, without first looking at the reviews about it? Certainly, I don’t!
In the digital world we live in, access to feedback on almost anything that we make contact with is growing at an accelerated pace, as more than 95% of consumers use reviews for their online purchases, with 86% considering that they are an important part for their buying journey. On top of that, 82% of buyers are specifically looking for negative reviews when making a purchase. The pervasiveness of feedback has also spread to the B2B world, as there are sites that provide ratings and reviews for just about any industrial segment.
In order to be successful in this digital era, where feedback is everywhere, we certainly need to adjust the way we sell and make it optimal for the way that consumers buy. According to Todd Caponi, author of the best-selling book The Transparency Sale, “Optimising a buying journey is about giving buyers everything they need to make a confident buying decision. That includes both the pros and cons of your solution”. Nowadays more than never before, transparency is linked to trustworthiness, since when we gain the client’s trust it is much easier to gain their attention and eventually, easier to sell to them.
What is also stated in the book, based on the author’s relevant research, is that the likelihood of purchase peaks when the average star rating of a product, on a 5-star scale, is between 4.2 and 4.5. “How this can be possible?”, I hear you ask! According to neuroscience, our brains by default, are wired to resist influence. Therefore, whenever sellers present their solutions as being perfect, our brain feels that there is certainly a catch and consequently our level of trust may be reduced, which leads us to do more background research outside of the claims of these sellers.
Transparency is about letting or even facilitating prospects to have a clear idea of what exactly a product or service will and will not do for them, without sacrificing the integrity of business or compromising the sale. Despite us being skeptical about this, it can be beneficial in sales as it gives the opportunity to buyers to develop their own opinion on our product or service, without forcing them to do so.
It is certain that being completely honest and even lead with the flaws of our product is definitely an evolution that comes to the world of sales and can change the perception that people have for the sales profession. We need to understand that the majority of buyers are currently preferring to frame our solution somewhere between 4.2-4.5, rather than positioning it as if it is a faultless 5.0. Moreover, the next time we are booking a hotel, it is useful to have this in mind as well!