How the B2B Buying Process Has Changed
Ten years ago, all you had to do was leave a voicemail that piqued your customer’s interest to get a call back. The reality today is that the B2B buying process begins when prospects accesses a company’s website, blog, white paper, or signs on to a webinar that it is hosting. They go online and Google your website but they also look at competitive offerings, reviews of your company, and check out forums or blogs discussing your company and the solutions you offer. Combine that with the fact that 92% of business-to-business buyers start their search for a solution to their problem online, and the customer buying process has drastically changed.
What Marketing Can Learn From Sales
In the past, B2B would talk to a sales person when they were in the need development or solution development phase; they are now doing that research themselves online. But there are some lessons that many top sales people learned that today’s marketers can also learn. For instance, being there first can be the biggest indicator of success. While many “hunters” were great at taking a prospect from latent need (i.e. something that they did not previously realize they should be focusing on) to active need, the biggest advantage was being the first person assisting the B2B buyer develop their requirements. By helping them develop the key factors that they will be evaluating all solutions by, top B2B sales people were able to make sure that their companies’ key differentiators be incorporated into the requirements in their prospects’ final decision. This is why the winning vendor is known before others are even invited to bid.
Instead of targeting the same keywords all your competitors are targeting, today’s progressive marketers need to target the buyers earlier in the buying cycle. Here is an example: if you sell office printers, instead of targeting the keywords “office printers”, you would target the problem that you solution solves, such as “how to create award winning presentations”, or” how to decrease your office equipment expenses”. Not only will you find that these keywords are less competitive, but with an effective lead nurture program that helps educate the B2B buyer as they develop their solution requirements, you become the natural 1st choice when they are deciding which solution works best for their company.
Today’s B2B buyers are developing their “requirements” list long before they talk with a salesperson. The list is an aggregate of visiting multiple vendor web sites, reading blogs, and engaging in social media. The buyer can readily learn a ballpark figure for what an offering will cost. This means that the buyer has entered the next stage in their buying process without ever talking to you and is now starting to evaluate vendors to determine which one represents the best buying decision. If you are not involved in this education process, you are coming too late to the party.
How Sales Has Changed
For complex offerings, even though buyers are now reaching out to sales people already in their evaluation stage, most sales people are acting as though the buyer is still in the early solution development stage. While there most certainly will be some requirements that either are on the list and don’t belong there or that should be on it but are missing, most buyers feel as if they already have past this stage. Sales people who are trying to still develop solution requirements with knowledgeable buyers can begin a premature downward spiral.
Early on in the conversation, if the salesperson is trying to add requirements that are not on the buyer’s list (i.e. push their product) the buyer will feel that they are being manipulated. That is why it is so important for your marketing department to work with your sales team to develop this aspect through your online marketing. In order to align with a buyer who has done extensive research, the first questions your salespeople should be asking should relate to interest qualification: finding out what the buyer feels his requirements are and establishing competence in the mind of the buyer.
It is important for the salesperson to also try to understand the business drivers behind the potential purchase(a sales 101 lesson that most salespeople forget, jumping directly to the close). As each goal is uncovered, a good salesperson will continue their probing questions in order to learn how each of the requirements relates to achieving the buyer’s stated goal. If done effectively, the buyer will allow a salesperson to take them back and further develop and refine the requirements lists. The buyer is not a blank canvas, but the salesperson can develop strong creditability by uncovering additional requirements and/or by having the buyer realize that some of the requirements on the original list either are unnecessary or won’t work in their environment.
Awareness is the first step in taking corrective action. Companies that understand the new way in which their prospects are evaluating (acquisition of) B2B offerings have a tremendous opportunity to make their company’s business development process (sales and marketing) a sustainable competitive advantage. This begins with aligning with the customer’s buying process. While this is challenging, tremendous benefits will develop to those who can facilitate positive online buying experiences.
Want to learn more about lead generation tactics check out these free resources:
SALES AND MARKETING ALIGNMENT
Learn how to solve the 2 biggest things that affect how sales and marketing work together. Download our free Sales and Marketing Alignment eBook.
HOW TO CONVERT INBOUND LEADS INTO SALES PERFORMANCE
This eBook suggests specific solutions tools and tactics to help you address the four key sales performance issues. Learn more about How to Convert Inbound Leads into Sales Performance.