Buyers have moved on, and that means your sales approach must, too.
B2B selling used to be simple. You’d either call a prospect or they’d call you and set a time for a meeting.
You would then run through the features and advantages of your service and it’s key USPs.
Classic. Simple. And, if done well, effective.
But the buyer moved on. They got fed up of being spoken at and having to sit through creds deck after creds deck.
So sales moved on too. To Consultative Selling. Finding out pain points. Listening and asking good questions. Collaborating on the solution and then delivering a tailored proposal.
More relational. Better client understanding. More value delivered.
But the buyer moved on again. Parts of Consultative Selling are still working but it began to feel like something was missing. Meetings like interviews. Suppliers taking too long to come back with solutions. Too many complex ideas. Low value to the buyer in the key contact moments.
The buyer has now moved to a position where:
They get information way before they get in touch with potential suppliers
They are adept at getting that information from multiple sources
The team is happier delivering work than finding new work
They identify the problem inside the organisation, without outside help
A lot of buyers (particularly millennials) don’t even want to engage with sales reps, so use different channels up until they feel they must speak to one.
They are more self-reliant and independent than ever before. Which begs the question, do you even need a sales team anymore?
The answer to that is a resounding yes. You need them more than ever. But in a different way.
Today, and for the foreseeable future, the successful sales/commercial person is one that can help navigate the buyer through all the information they encounter.
Critically, they also need to be known for helping buyers do that. This is so buyers begin to put your salespeople at the top of their mind.
This means moving:
From
Being reactive to opportunities – waiting for the buyer to show themselves
Focused on outcomes – targets and numbers
Being linear in approach to the market
To:
Leading the buyer to the right solution for them
Being available across the buyer journey
Being relevant before the buyer has even come into the market
On that last point, being relevant when you don’t know where they are on their buyer journey is both achievable and a must-do in today’s B2B market.
You need to communicate continuously about how you can help buyers, no matter where they are on that journey.
You need to communicate continuously about how you can help buyers, no matter where they are on that journey.
If this all seems like a lot to take in, our experience shows that there are two key activities that will help you get started:
Think about the priority clients/sectors that you want to focus on
Build as much knowledge as you can about the context in which they are trying to succeed, their plans and priorities
This will set the platform for you to constantly communicate in the channels that they use.
Those channels could include LinkedIn, industry websites, events, Twitter…some you may need to pay for, others you can use for free.
The important thing is that when they do come to market, you have a voice, a presence that is there already, helping them think about their challenges and building your, as Byron Sharp calls it, mental availability.
Sounds like marketing, right? Well, it is. And it’s critical in the new way to sell.
If you want to find out how this represents part of closing the gap to your buyers, get in touch.