A sales framework splits the customer into three roles: the Influencer who advocates, the Financier who pays, and the Benefactor who uses it. One person can play all three, or they can be different people. The model matters most when budgets tighten.
I heard an interesting question recently. A person I was working with said, who do you think my customer is? And I said, I think there's actually three customers. You see, when you look at the person buying your offering, there's three main considerations, and it can literally be broken into three people. The first is the influencer. The person that's attracted or catch the attention of what you have to offer. Someone that's compelled. That's the influencer. The one saying, you know, we should consider this or do this. But then you have the financier, the financier is the one who's actually going to pay for it. The person that's going to have to depart with money. And then you have the benefactor, the one that derives the actual benefit. You know, it could be all one person. If you're hungry for a fast food hamburger and you're driving by McDonald's, you may be the influencer saying, I'm hungry. Want this? You see the sign, you pull in, you pay out of your own pocket. And then as you eat the hamburger, you're the benefactor. But you could also be driving with your child and the child's going, I want a Happy Meal. They're the influencer, you're the financer, and they're the benefactor. In fact, you could also be a benefactor too, because they stop crying and screaming. But realize there's three roles sometimes not played all by the same person. Understanding that will improve the way you sell, that will help you through the challenges we're facing in these recession times. I qualify as a recession. Maybe not everyone does yet, but I think we're in a recession. And knowing that will serve you. For more tips like this, go to recessionresponse.com.
