Sell The Way Your Buyers WANT To Be Sold | Selling Made Simple

Here’s a bold statement—more has changed in sales over the last 20 years than has changed in the 1000 years before it. Crazy right? But it’s true! And it’s especially true when you look at the buyer’s journey.

So what’s the big deal? What’s so different today than just a few decades—heck, even a few years—ago? And what are the 3 takeaways you need to build into your sales process if you even hope to survive the shifting buyer's journey?

How the Buyer’s Journey Has Changed

Let’s look at how the buyer’s journey has changed. Now, as any sales rep worth their salt knows, understanding your unique buyer’s journey is key to selling successfully.

As Wistia’s VP of Sales & Customer Success Peter Von Burchard told me in our interview…

“Customer success is really understanding the journey that the customer is on, and the problem that you're solving as a solution and finding a way to align yourself as a company with getting those customers to achieve that end. And I think it's really about aligning the business and the solution with the goals of the customer and helping execute on that.” – Interview with Peter Von Burchard, VP of Sales & Customer Success at Wistia [01:10]

Now in the old days, the buyer’s journey started with materials educating the prospect about the problem. But soon after, it’d then be taken over by the sales rep. They’d build rapport, explain the various solutions, differentiate their product from the competitors, and close the sale.

But in the past twenty years or so, that’s changed quite a bit. Today, sales reps are way less involved along the way. A study from McKinsey found that up to 80% of B2B decision-makers prefer digital self-service models to “traditional” in-person models. Buyers now expect to be able to access loads of educational themselves, without the help of a rep.

On top of that…

Sales cycles are getting longer

Deals are increasingly complex

And more decision-makers are now involved

Those are some pretty big changes, I know. So the question is, how do you navigate them?

Well first off, you need to know…

1. How to Deal with a Longer Sales Cycle

How to deal with a longer sales cycle. A report from Demand Gen found that nearly 60% of buyers say the decision-making process is becoming longer year over year. Plus, Gartner found on average it takes input from 6 to 10 decision-makers to settle on a solution. And that means more emails, product demos, sales calls, and nurturing cycles than ever.

Now there are ways to speed up that process. Like spending extra time qualifying your prospects, making sure you’re selling to an authority figure, and relying more heavily on referrals.

But in general, you’ve simply got to get used to dealing with a longer sales cycle.

What You Can Do About It

So, what can you do about it?

Well first and foremost, you can work on your sales cadences. If your buyers need more time to make their decision, that’s okay. You just need to make sure you’re keeping them engaged and answering all their questions along the way. That means developing sales cadences that continue to share industry insights, facilitate free and open communication, and ensure that when they are ready to talk, you’re the first person they think of.

So start putting in a bit of extra time to lengthen your cadences this month.

2. The Shifting Importance of Content

Now takeaway number two is about the shifting importance of strategic content.

In the world of B2B sales, the salesperson with the best content is king.

Research from FocusVision found that B2B buyers now consume at least 13 pieces of content before making a buying decision.

That’s why it’s so important for you as a sales rep to make the shift to creating valuable,