The Best Sellers in 2021 Always Put Their Buyers First. Here's What That Means. (2024)

B2B sales strategies and trends

Research confirms it: one of the biggest things that separates today’s most successful sellers from the field is that they always put their buyers first.

Our study found that a whopping 72% of top-performing sellers (defined as reps who exceeded 150% of their quota in 2021) report using buyer-first selling, compared to 40% of their peers.

The term “buyer first” might sound vague – even fluffy. But it’s not. It’s based on a series of principles and practices that simply work, as the numbers bear out.

What does it really mean to put the “buyer first”?

Buyer-first selling is about reframing B2B transactions as buyer-driven activities, rather than seller-driven activities. To do this, a salesperson must place the buyer and their needs at the center of the sales process, from outreach to close and beyond.

Former LinkedIn VP of Global Sales Solutions Jonathan Lister defined buyer first selling as “placing the interests and needs of the buyer at the core of the selling experience. It means always acting in service of the buyer’s goals, and for the benefit of the long term relationship between buyer and seller.”

How do actual top performers practice buyer first selling?

In our collection of “Buyer First” and “How I Sell” interviews, we asked several of the most successful sellers working today how they approach buyer-first selling in practical terms.

By stitching their secrets together, we were able to summarize four clear takeaways on what it means to put the buyer first. Here’s what the top performers told us:

1. Lead with the buyer’s situation, not the product benefits.

“Today, most customers know what they want before the first call is made,” Joseph DiMisa, Korn Ferry’s global sales strategy & rewards advisor, told us. “They know general pricing, offering, and product approach, and often, how your solution differs from others.”

It raises a tough question: if the customer is armed with all of this information, how can you “sell” to them at all?

For DiMisa, this tough question has a simple answer: “What will differentiate sellers will be their ability to generate trusted relationships, and then work with the buyer to demonstrate how to best use or consume the product or how it best supports the customer’s business.”

In her own interview, founder and CEO of Avenue Talent Partners Amy Volas sums it up in one discovery question: “My favorite discovery question is ‘what’s important to you and why?’”.

2. Listen empathetically for real understanding, not just a better pitch.

When not arriving with an open mind and genuine curiosity, salespeople can fall victim to hearing what they want to hear.

Once you ask your buyer about their business needs and goals, make a point of listening to what they say – not just in terms of how you can use it to position your product or service as the answer, but to empathize with their whole point of view.

“Empathetic listening is when you refine your ear to become more closely attuned to your clients’ priorities and pain points,” CGI Executive Coaching Managing Partner Cherilynn Castleman told us. “To build trust, try to put yourself in their position and internalize their reality. Harness authentic empathy to understand your clients’ needs better.”

3. Create value yourself as a salesperson, not just through your product.

Salespeople are often conditioned to believe that the value they provide is to the company they work for. As Sahil Mansuri, CEO of Bravado, put it, “Everybody thinks sales’ job is to take interest and turn it into revenue.”

Hard to argue with, right? Not for Mansuri.

“Sales’ job is to take interest and turn it into results,” he explained, “It’s to say, ‘Hey, if you have a problem: your shirt is dirty. Give it to me, I’ll wash it for you and return a clean shirt to you.’ It’s a service-based department. We serve our clients. That’s what it means to be buyer first.”

When you start thinking of your ultimate goal as solving the customer’s problem rather than completing a sale, you’re taking a fundamental step toward buyer first selling. Lending your expertise and experience in helpful ways is how you provide value and earn trust.

4. Work together to determine how you can meet those needs using your services.

“Needs” was the word that kept coming up in all of our interviews, and there’s a good reason why.

“Buyer first selling is, foundationally, a needs-based assessment,” explained Flockjay CEO Shaan Hathiramani in his interview. “How are you uncovering the needs and pains of the client and selling to resolve that pain? Guiding a buyer through a process of evaluating and selecting the right solution is a means of forming a partnership.”

Make the shift from push to pull. Instead of making assumptions or pitching right away, invite the buyer to help guide the conversation and take a collaborative approach to understand their needs and possible solutions.

Bottom line – when you put the buyer first, your relationships last. These four simple techniques will have you on your way to crushing quota.

For more data-backed advice from the best sellers working today, subscribe to the LinkedIn Sales Blog.