Why IT Sellers Are Approaching Personas the Wrong Way

By now, most VAR organizations have begun to group their customers into personas—the fictional representations of ideal buyer types. You know, “Chris, the IT Manager.” Or, “Susan, the IT Decision Maker.” These general descriptors do a reasonably good job of encapsulating the people who recommend, influence or drive a sale in one way or another. They make it easier to envision who you’re trying to convert into evangelists and buyers of your solutions. And that’s great. I’m a huge fan of using personas in B2B sales and marketing.

But here’s the problem: Lately, I’ve noticed that many VARs’ personas don’t really help their teams capture deep buyer understanding.

Sure, their personas may convey what a prospective buyer looks like (a 50-year-old white male who graduated from a four-year university and has steadily climbed the ranks) and they might be labeled with a cute nickname (David Decision Maker). But personas are about much more than that. In fact, truly effective personas help sales reps quickly do two things:

1. Recognize what a particular buyer really cares about at key points throughout the sales process
2. Effectively deliver value propositions that more precisely align with those things the buyer really cares about throughout the sales process

Now, ask yourself this question, and be honest with your answer: Are your personas helping your sales team accomplish both of those actions? If not, you’re missing a huge opportunity.

The truth is, whether you’re in sales or marketing, a deep understanding of personas allows you to deliver stronger, more relevant messaging to every prospect and more effectively capture their attention. In marketing, detailed personas increase the likelihood that prospects will read your content, click through in your emails, attend events, engage on social media and accept appointments. In sales, detailed personas translate to competitive differentiation as you guide prospects through the sales process. And in your prospects’ eyes, all of that leads to you becoming the company that understands who prospects are, what they’re trying to accomplish and what they need to get there.

Conversely, when you don’t fully consider the personas you’re targeting, you’ll experience lower response rates in both sales and marketing, lower brand recognition and longer sales cycles.

So, the question is: Why wouldn’t you properly define the various personas in your target market? The answer should be clear. A small investment of time and energy can go a long way toward ensuring that every interaction with key prospects is highly relevant and explicitly targeted to their individual needs. And the more you’re able to do that, the better your sales and marketing results will be in 2015.

Kendra Lee is a top IT Seller, Prospect Attraction Expert, author of the newly released book “The Sales Magnet” and the award winning book "Selling Against the Goal" and president of KLA Group. Specializing in the IT industry, KLA Group works with companies to break in and exceed revenue objectives in the small and midmarket business (SMB) segment.