Are Your Customers Trying To Tell You Something?

By Alan E. Brisco, CEO and Founder, Sterling Performance Corporation

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Right Before Your Ears!

Imagine some of your friends are planning the perfect trip. They do everything right, leaving nothing to chance. Careful planning and diligence are characteristic of their behavior. They secure transportation, lodging, even reservations at the best restaurants in the area. Nothing unforeseen will ruin their vacation. Then, mysteriously as they arrive at their destination they just keep driving. They never skip a beat. They blast right on through town without a blink - as though they're looking for something else.

Crazy? Absolutely. But, this happens thousands of times everyday in the sales world. Salespeople arrive with their customers at the desired destination. Customers are ready to commit to doing business. Yet, some salespeople keep right on going - intent on something but missing the signals that should be telling them they've arrived. They’re too busy "selling". They move past the close, often irritating their customers, frustrating themselves, and bewildering their colleagues and managers.

These salespeople may be doing something, but it’s not selling effectively. All their best intentions, planning, and creative presentations are worthless unless they are attuned and responsive to their customers.

What’s the cure?

Let’s begin with some context. Let’s take a look at what goes on during a sale.

Whether a salesperson is in a face-to-face sales role or in a contact center, selling involves two parties – the vendor and the purchaser. These are like two sides of a coin. Typically, people represent each of these parties, unless the sale is being processed through some order-taking mechanism such as online ordering. For our purposes we are presuming salespeople are involved.

Effective salespeople recognize the need to carefully plan and execute various sales-related activities. Most salespeople know they must give time and attention to such matters as pre-call preparation, making a proper approach, fact-finding, qualifying, configuring the best solution for the customer, presenting the solution, handling concerns and objections, closing the sale, and making certain the post-sale requirements are completed as expected by customers. We have our preferred models to organize and focus salespeople. You likely have yours.

Regardless, these models only represent half of the equation. What about recognizing and responding to the process in which customer contacts are engaged? While salespeople are focused on the vendor side of selling, what is happening on the customer side of selling?

Research indicates that everyone who makes a decision, big or small, moves along a "decision path". Consciously or sub-consciously (usually the latter) each customer contact moves along a path from a stage of total "unawareness" to a stage of "purchase". Sometimes customer contacts move quickly. Sometimes they move slowly. Seldom do any two people move at precisely the same pace. Even the same customer contact is unlikely to move at precisely the same pace when making two different decisions.

Along the path from unawareness to purchase something happens. If a sale is truly "progressing" - that is, the customer is moving forward along the decision-path – then, a type of metamorphosis begins to occur. Customers move from being passive to becoming active. They move from being disengaged to being involved. These transitions may occur quickly (in seconds) or slowly (over months or even years). Nonetheless, these transitions occur.

While salespeople must be diligent about the vendor side of the sales process, the customer side cannot be ignored or left to chance. Invariably, effective salespeople are highly attentive to any indication that customers are moving another step along the decision path.

These transitions might be viewed like this…

Unaware Aware No Interest Interest Involvement Commitment

After a customer has concluded that there is some potential advantage to dealing with a salesperson and being open to their proposition, the customer enters a zone of consideration.

Unaware Aware No Interest Interest Involvement Commitment
  Zone of Consideration

This "zone" begins with "Interest" and concludes with "Commitment".

It is when customer contacts are in this "zone" that they exhibit "buying signals".

Unaware Aware No Interest Interest Involvement Commitment
  Zone of Consideration
  Buying Signals

What is a buying signal?

We define a buying signal as a question, remark, or non-verbal indication by a customer that represents an interest or commitment to a salesperson’s product or service. A buying signal is a customer behavior that falls somewhere on the continuum between interest and commitment.

For our purposes we will only consider verbal buying signals at this time – the things people say, not the things people do that indicate interest or commitment.

So now what? How can you recognize a verbal buying signal? Do they all indicate essentially the same thing? And, what should salespeople do when encountering a verbal buying signal?

Let’s answer these questions.

First of all, let’s acknowledge that interest and commitment are not the same thing. We all know the story of the chicken and the pig who were discussing eating habits. The chicken commented that her favorite meal was breakfast. She particularly liked bacon and eggs. The pig replied, "Easy for you to say. For you it’s a matter of interest. For me, it’s a commitment."

Customers may be interested, but only customer commitments pay the bills. Salespeople must be able to respond correctly to customers’ interests or lose the prospect of helping them advance to commitment.

Here are some basic, general guidelines to identify if a question or remark is a buying signal.

If a customer asks a question, it must not have a negative implication on the sale. If a customer makes a remark, it must be positive about the salesperson, the salesperson’s company, their capabilities, or their proposed solution. The question or remark must be contributive to advancing a customer along the decision path. And, there must be a detectable pattern of such signals.

Next, let’s examine if all verbal buying signals are essentially the same. The answer is "no".

Whether questions or remarks, there are two major classes of verbal buying signals: Force 1 and Force 2.

  • Force 1 verbal buying signals indicate interest.

  • Force 2 verbal buying signals indicate commitment.


    • Knowing the differences between these two classes of buying signals is the first step towards responding appropriately. A correct response to a Force 1 buying signal is not the same as a correct response to a Force 2 buying signal.

    Furthermore, each class is comprised of two types of verbal buying signals:

  • Force 1 includes:
    1. "Utility" buying signals
    2. "Application" buying signals


  • Force 2 includes:
    1. "Possession" buying signals
    2. "Purchasing Specific" buying signals.


    • Utility buying signals are merely expressions of interest, even curiosity about how something works. As basic as these are, they can be important indicators. Remember, your customer contacts were people long before they were customers. Basic rules of human nature always apply.

    Shakespeare said, "He doth protest too much". Although people may say they aren’t interest in something, people don’t talk about things they aren’t thinking about. The nature of that "talk" can be revealing.

    Examine these examples of Force 1: Utility Buying Signals:

  • "Are these things any good?"

  • "How many people use this kind of service?"

  • "Why is this idea so popular?"


    • Notice in each of these examples the customer is referencing a product, service, or at least the category. However, the references about people are generalized, quite removed from the customer. There is an interest in knowing something about the solution, but only in a superficial context, with little or no association.

    An application buying signal is slightly different. The customer identifies specific features of a product or service. The question often references how the product or service might be useful to someone.

    Examine these examples of Force 1: Application Buying Signals:

  • "Will it pull a trailer?"

  • "Can a person take it anywhere?"

  • "Can you get extensions on the basic warranty?"

  • "That’s a real benefit?"


    • Notice in each of these examples the person still references the third person, but the questions are more focused. Application signals have a tentative tone and reference the potential of a product or service to meet identified needs.

    In either type, utility and application buying signals are Force 1 Class buying signals. So, they represent only interest, not commitment.

    How should salespeople respond to Force 1 buying signals? They should reply with support statements. This indicates salespeople are listening to customers, being attentive and responsive in dialog.

    Often, as salespeople respond correctly to Force 1 buying signals they will notice a transition occurring in their customers’ dispositions - from interest to low level commitment (involvement) to real commitment. Soon buying signals will become Force 2 buying signals – indicators of commitment.

    The first type of Force 2 buying signal is a possession buying signal. Possession buying signals indicate customers have already imagined ownership or acquisition of the product or service.

    Examine these examples of Force 2: Possession Buying Signals:

  • "Can I split my firewood with it?"

  • "Will it hold all of my traveling clothes?"

  • "My children will certainly enjoy one of these!"


    • The use of personal pronouns such as "my", "our", and "mine" indicate possession buying signals. Gone are references to obscure groups of "people" or references to the third person that were evident in Force 1 buying signals. Now the customer associates with the solution.

    Finally, customers indicate they are at the highest level of the zone of consideration when they offer purchasing-specific buying signals.

    Examine these examples of Force 2: Purchasing-Specific Buying Signals:

  • "When can I have it installed?"

  • "What are the available payment options?"

  • "Will we need training?"


    • Any questions or comments that refer to price, delivery date, delivery location, delivery method, installation, terms of payment, selection of options, or details of the vendor’s responsibilities fall into this category – particularly if Utility, Application, and Possession buying signals have preceded.

    How should salespeople respond to a Force 2 buying signals?

    The precise level of commitment needs to be assessed. So, salespeople should trial close to confirm a customer’s buying "readiness.

    Notice, Force 1 signals are tentative. Force 2 signals are assumptive.

    What advise can be given to salespeople who are intent on listening and responding correctly to verbal buying signals?

  • Avoid becoming preoccupied with listening for verbal buying signals. Stay focused on the overall message that is being conveyed by your customer.

  • Avoid the temptation to read this information and do nothing about it until some day when you have totally mastered identifying and responding correctly to verbal buying signals. That day may never arrive. Make a commitment to begin now to listen for verbal buying signals in each call. The more you practice, the better you will get. Soon it will become second nature to you.

  • Don’t base your assessment of your customer’s "readiness" on one or two buying signals. Buying signals tend to show up in bunches.

  • Overcome the urge to treat a few random buying signals as incontrovertible evidence of interest or commitment. They are called "signals". Look for patterns.

  • Confirm Force 2 buying signals by trial closing.

  • Don’t sell past the close. The goal is to close the sale, not to complete your presentation or speech. Selling should be about the customer, not about you.


    • Great salespeople don’t sell past the close, because they know that great selling requires attention to customers’ perspectives. They use buying signals to recognize interest and commitment. They are able to distinguish between the two classes of buying signals. Really outstanding salespeople readily differentiate between the types of buying signals within each class.

    There are other subtleties and nuances to master regarding buying signals. But salespeople who begin with this knowledge and develop the ability to detect, classify, and respond appropriately to buying signals witness a whole new world of opportunity right before their ears!


    Alan E. Brisco is the Founder and CEO of Sterling Performance Corporation – the source of "measurable performance improvement for your sales organization". For over 20 years Alan has been a consultant and leader of project teams for Canadian and US sales organizations, particularly in the technology, telecom, pharmaceutical, petroleum, and financial services sectors. He was the host of Air Canada’s global, in-flight audio program, "Perspective on Performance". He has also pioneered several methodologies to improve sales performance and evaluative metrics. Alan can be reached at aeb@sterlingperformance.com
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