b2b buyers journey guide.v1 - admarco.netthe b2b buyers journey –a guide 4 contents 4 about this...

22TheB2BBuyersJourney– AGuide

AboutthiseBookAuthor:MarkGibsonReleaseDate:January2016Version:1.5

Topic: TheB2BBuyingProcess; whyyouneedtounderstanditandhowtofacilitate buyertransitions throughtheprocess.

Subtopics:• TheI-M-P-A-C-T buyingprocess• Theimpact ofriskonvendorengagement andbuyingbehavior• Questions salespeople mustaskandanswer tofacilitate buyingprocess transitions• Mapping thesales processontobuyingprocess• Theroleofcontent inthebuyer-seller dialogue• Sales Enablement acrosstheB2BBuyingcycle

TargetAudience: B2BSalesprofessionals, salesmanagers, entrepreneurs,marketers, sales operationsandsales enablementprofessionals

Purpose:Create anunderstanding oftheB2Bbuyingprocess, notthroughthelensofthesales funnel, butbased onwhat’sactually goingoninthebuyingorganization. Helpsalespeople tounderstandhowtofacilitate thebuyingprocess.

SummaryAbstract:Salespeople worldwide arestruggling toconnect with buyersandengage inmeaningful conversationsthat create valueforthebuyer.Buyersaremakingmuchofthebuyer ’s journeywithout salespeople.Forecasting accuracy hasneverbeenworseandno-decision outcomes offorecast opportunities waste hugeresources.Engagement andbuyerqualification ateach stepinthebuyingprocess arecritical success factorsforB2Bcompanies, yetfewsalespeople understandwhat actually goesoninthebuyingorganization.Thisoverview shedslightonthebuyingprocessandwillhelpsalespeople toqualifyand forecast moreeffectively.



IsthiseBookforyou?

3

• Are you a sales leader, sales enablement or sales operations professional?

• Are you are marketer responsible for nurturing customers as they progress their buying journey?

• Do you have sales teams engaged with B2B customers? • Is your technology product, solution or service,

disruptive or innovative?• Have you adopted or are you thinking of adopting

Challenger Selling, Selling with Insight or other consultative selling method?

If you answered yes to three or more questions, then read on.



Contents

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AboutthisBook 2Introduction 5Why CompaniesBuy 6OutcomeofForecastDeals 8TheSalesFunnel 10AIDA 11SalesRelationship/Process 12The IMPACTB2BBuyingCycle 16BuyerRiskTolerance 23Selling toEarlyAdopters 25MappingBuying- Selling Process 26TheRoleofContentinSelling 27Summary 28



WhyKillerProductsDon’tSellInpreparingthiseBook, Itriedtothinkofsome ofthequestions youmight have.Youmightbethinking, “what isMarkgoingtoteachmeabout theB2Bbuyingprocess thatIdon’t alreadyknow?”

That’s agreat question… andIdon’tknowifIcan,but letme tellyouastory.

In2003IwasworkinginaSiliconValley tech startup. Google wasjust5yearsold,theiPhonewasaglint inSteveJobs’eye, andBlackberry wasthe kingofthe smart-phonemarket. I’llneverforgetonemeeting atthediscdrivemanufacturer Maxtor;the buyersinthemeeting knewnearlyasmuchaswedidabout ourproductandtheyknewmoreabout ourcompetitors productthanwedid.

Theyhaddonetheirhomework usingGooglepriortoourmeeting. Thiswas themoment when Irealized that buyingbehaviorhadchanged forever.

Anotherproblemwasthat wedidn’treallyknowwhere theywereintheir buyingprocess.Theywent radiosilent anddisappeared afterourmeeting andreengagedmonths later.

WhenIreadWhyKillerProductsdon’tSell byIanGotts andDominic Rowsell, which istheoriginalworkonwhichIMPACT isbased, itwaslikealighthadbeenturnedoninadarkroom.AtlastIunderstoodtheB2Bbuyingprocess - notthroughthelens ofthesales funnel,butbased onwhat’sactually goingoninthebuyingorganization.



GrowRevenue

ReduceCost

ReduceRisk CompetitiveAdvantage

Beforeexplaining howcompanies buy, it’s worthreviewingwhycompanies buy.Icall thisgraphicthebuyerscompass andIsuspect that growingrevenueandreducingcostarethemain driversofB2Bbuying.Reducing riskiskeytosellinginsecurity markets.

Gaining competitive advantage isalsoadriverofbuyingbehavior.Buyersarelookingforinsightonhowtheycanapplypromisingtechnology productstogive them anadvantage overtheircompetitors.Whyelse doyouthinkcompanies buy?Whydopeople buy?

Successfulentrepreneurs,marketersandsalespeopleselling disruptive technology,mustlearn torecognize earlyadopters,understandhowearlyadoptersengagewithinnovativetechnology vendorsandhowtheymanageabuyingprocess.

TheBuyersCompass– WhyCompaniesBuy



Today’sBuyersareBetterTodaysbuyersarebetter informed.

Thisbuyeriswaymore interesting.

Theyaremoredemanding, havelesspatience thanthepriorgenerations andtheydon’t needsalespeople totell themabouttheirproducts orservices.

Theyarefirmlyincharge ofthebuyingprocess

Yourdifferentiation pointsarejustnoisetobusybuyersandyourcompetitive advantage isfleeting andoflittle interesttobuyers.

Withoutathoroughunderstanding ofyourbuyer ’s journey,arepeatable salesprocess thateveryone uses andeffectivequalification, salespeople todayhavelittlehopeofcompeting, letalonewinning.

Let’s takealookatwinratesinB2Bselling

“Themostinteresting manintheWorld”DosEquiscommercial



Theworstsinasalesperson canmake istogothedistance withaprospect andlose, either toacompetitor orthestatus-quo –nodecision. Ihaveseen the“deals endinginno-decision” numberalothigher– some analysts suggest that itsmorethandoubletherateinthe CSOreport.Accordingtoastudypublished byCorporateExecutive Board,buyersareonaverage57%ofthewaythroughabuyingcyclebeforetheycontact avendor.

OutcomeofForecastDealsWithsales winratesat less than50%andsales quotaachievement declining toits lowest pointin5yearsat58%(CSOInsights), it’s time salesmanagers andbusiness ownerstookamuch harderlookatbuyer-seller engagement.



57%CEBpublished thisnumberindicating onaverage, thatB2BBuyersare57%ofthewaythroughabuyingprocessbeforeengaging vendors,andit ledtoastormofcontroversy.

Butarebuyersreally57%ofthewaythroughabuyingprocesswhen theyengage?

Theanswer isthat itdepends.

InthiseBook, wearegoingtoexplorehowcompaniesbuyandhowandwhen theyengage salespeople.

This isgoverned byproduct/market maturity andbuyerrisktolerance.



Theonlyproblemwiththisapproachisthat inmostcases, ithasnothingwhatsoever todowithwhat buyersaredoing,norwhere theyareintheirbuyingprocess.Isthereanywonderthatforecasting accuracy isanoxymoron?.Isuggest thatthe salespipeline isuseless unless itismapped tokeytransitions inthecustomer ’s buyingprocess.

TheSalesFunnelTodaymanysalespeople andsalesmanagers view thebuyer ’sworldthroughthelensofthesales funnel.Thedeal istracked asitmoves throughthe salespipeline andpercentages increase towardaclose.These percentages areappliedtoproductthesales forecast.



AIDAAwarenessInterestDesireAction

The19th. Centurycalled– theywanttheirbuyingprocessback

In 1898 an advertising executive named, St. Elmo Lewis coined the acronym AIDA. Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action to describe the advertising process.

In the mainframe era of the 1960’s, it was adopted by technology companies to describe the buyers journey through the sales funnel. AIDA has been handed down to successive generations of salespeople and it is alive and well today.

AIDA is way too simple to describe today’s B2B buying process… yet many companies still train their salespeople using this obsolete view.

On average there are 5.7 buyers in the team to make a major B2B buying decision. As a consequence of a more complex buying process, sales cycle-times have increased.

AIDA is not a relevant acronym to describe a B2B buying process in the 21st century

An understanding of the buying process and adoption of a formal selling process that aligns with the buying process is critical success factor in improving sales performance.



TrustedPartner

StrategicContributor

SolutionsConsultant

PreferredSupplier

ApprovedVendor

RandomProcess

InformalProcess

FormalProcess DynamicProcess

Level1.SleeplessNights27%

Level3.SuccessfulYears25%

Level2.ChallengingMonths48%

SalesRelationship/Process

As the relationship strengthens and moves up the y axis, sales performance improves. As the selling process moves to toward a formal and dynamic process, that is aligned with how companies buy, sales performance improves.Lets drill down on the data to see what we discover.

This CSO Insights Sales Relationship Process Matrix illustrates the impact sales process and customer relationship have on sales performance. What CSO Insights found was that on average, companies that fell into certain segments on the SRP matrix had similar types of sales performance



VendorUnderstandingoftheBuyingProcess

This isanother interesting tablefromCSOInsights anditshowsthecorrelation between the levelofrelationship with thecustomer andanunderstanding ofcustomer buyingprocess.

1. Acompany thatexceeds expectations inthe understanding ofthecustomer buyingprocess isfourtimesmorelikelytobeperceived bythecustomer asatrusted partner.

2. Wherecompanies haveapoorunderstanding ofcustomer buyingprocess,they aretwice as likelytobeperceived asapprovedvendors.

3. Thebottom linehereisthat companies withapoorunderstanding ofthecustomers buyingprocess winless, losemoreoftenandmoreoftheirdeals endinnodecision

1

2

3



AverageCustomer BaseChurn 21.7% 15.9% 14.4%

SalesRelationship/ProcessPerformance

1

2

3

4

5

ThisCSOInsights table showsthedifference inperformance between the threelevels1. InCompanies withaformalsalesprocess ordynamic formalsalesprocess, 14%morerepsmakequota.2. Companies withaformalsales processarebetter atmaking theirplan14%ofthetime.3. Companies withaformalsales processwinmoreoften, theyloseless oftenandfewerdeals endinnodecision.4. Sales turnoverin

companies withformalanddynamic salesprocessisnearly43%lowerthanlevel 1organizations.

5. Finallycustomer churnislowerincompanieswithaformaldynamicsales process.Customer churninSaaScompanies isamajorbarriertoprofitability.ManySaaScompanies donotbegintomakemoneyuntilthecustomerrenews forthe 2nd or3rdyear.


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Whatif?

Whatifyoutrulyunderstoodhowyourcustomers buy?

Whatifyoucouldcommunicate clearly withcustomers tounderstandwhere theyareintheirbuyingprocess?

Whatifyoucouldpreparesalespeople fortheconversations theymusthaveandthequestions theymustanswer tohelpbuyerstotransition each stepinthebuyingprocess?


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TheI-M-P-A-C-TCycle– HowCompaniesBuy

EveryB2BpurchasegoesthroughtheIMPACT cycle,withorwithoutthesupplier.

WellyoucanandIwanttointroduce theIMPACT Cycle– howB2Bcompanies buy.

Whyisthis important?Because ifyourselling processismisaligned withcustomer buyingbehavior,youarewastingmoney andsales cycles.

• Thebuyingprocess startswithanIDEA.• Theidea isthenMENTORED andalternatives areresearched.• Ifthere isaviablepathtoimplement the idea, it isPOSITIONED asaninitiative anditmust

compete forfundsandresourceswith ahostofotherprojects andpriorities…which iswhyit’s inred,because this ismost qualified leadsdie.

• Assuming theideagets throughpositionitbecomes aqualified opportunity, anASSESSMENT oftheprosandconsisconducted.

• Ifthe assessment ispositive, abusiness CASEwillbecreated. Ifthe casemakesbusinesssense andconsensus isachieved among stakeholders, itwillgotoprocurement.

• FinallyaTRANSACTIONwilloccur.

IMPACT Concept frombook WhyKillerProducts Don’t SellUsedwithpermission ofauthors


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ItstartswithanIDEA

Idea• Ideasphase• Blue-sky• Growrevenue,containcost,etc.• Howcantechnologyhelp?

BuyerQuestions• HowcanIgetmoreoutof…?• Isthereabetterway?• Whatdowewanttobe?• Howdowetighten…?• WhatpersonalrisksamIexposing

myselfto?

CXO’sconstantly lookforwaystocutcosts, increase revenue, become morecompetitive andtolowerrisk.

Abuyingcycle isofteninitiated asaresultofanideathat sparkedcuriosity inaCXOatanoffsiteexecmeeting.Thiscouldbefromaconversationwith otherbusiness leaders, asaresultofaquestionorfromastrategic presentation fromexternal consultants oradvisorsworkingattheCXOlevel. Alternatively iscouldbeanideafromasub-ordinate thatdemandsattention. This isblue-sky thinkingandbrainstormingwaystoachieve buyerscompassoutcomes.

Alternatively avendorsparksthe ideaandthroughtheirdisruptivemarketing approach orvalue-created selling effort.Whatquestionsmustbuyershaveanswered tostartabuycycle?


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Mentor• Ideallywithpassion,vision,energy• Workswithsmall team• Scope,isitfeasible, credible,acceptable?• Planhowitcanbedelivered,whoandhow

TheideaneedsaMENTOR

BuyerQuestions• Isitfeasible?• Isthereapossibility?• Whoelse isdoingit?• HowdoIgetseniorlevel

support?

Tomove theidea forwardrequiresaMentororChampion – CEB callsthemMobilizers, torunwithandvalidate the idea.Ideally thispersonhaspassion visionandenergy… this isyourearlyadopterifyouridea isdisruptive.

Thementor typically worksinasmall team, the ideaisunderwraps.TheMentor scopes andtests the ideaforfeasibility,credibility acceptability.

Uses Internet eBooks, videos, whitepapers andopinionsofexperts togather ideasandtoplanhowitwillbedelivered asaninitiative. This istypically thereason forthefirst inboundlead.


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Position• NeedExecSponsorship• Execdiscussion: resource,$$available• POLITICAL:Change =emotions• Manyprojectsdiehere

TheideaisPOSITIONEDasanInitiative

BuyerQuestions• Whychange?• Whynow?• Whycan’tweuseexisting?• HowdoIfundapilot?• What$$$evidence?

Ifthementor isnotaMobilizer,they willneedtofindasponsororChampion, because tomoveforwardthe ideaforwardasaninitiative needsresources (money, people, time)Theidea couldstillbeunderwraps,butthis iswhere politicalmuscle isrequiredasthis ideawillcompete with other idea-drivenprojects sponsoredbyotherexecs.

95%ofB2Bleadsget killed-offatPosition.Question: Foryoursales forecast, what isthepercentage oflikelyclosing ofanopportunity atPosition?(Answer, itshouldnotbeintheforecast until itclears PositionandmovestoanAssessment).


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Assessment• ImportantinaPost-EnronWorld• Qualitative, quantitativeassessment, $$• POCorPilottocreateevidence&data

AnASSESSMENTweighspros&consoftheinitiative

BuyerQuestions• Isitfeasible?• Isitworthrisk?• Howlongwillittake?• Howdifficulttoimplement?• Whoelse likeushasdoneit?• Canwemake itcompelling?• Whatarecriticalmetrics?

Intoday’s worldofcorporategovernance andaccountability, anassessment playsanimportant part.Particularly inmajorprojects involvingstrategic investment anddirection.

This ismorethan acost justification; anassessment means evaluation ofeverything, qualitative andquantitative.Anassessment team isassigned andpilotproject orPOCisconducted. The vendorshoulddriveforapaidpilot.Iwillcome back topaidpilotsvs.freeconsulting alittle later.Whataresomeofthe questions thatmust beanswered atAssessment?


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Case• Useassessment, createbusiness case• Casebouncesbetweenmentor– sponsor• Budgetappliedandmadepublic• MayissueanInvitationtoTender(RFP)

ThebusinessCASEfortheinitiative

BuyerQuestions• Whocanhelp&how?• Whatareouroptions?• WhatistheROI?• Whatreferences?

Theoutput oftheassessment isusedtobuildabusiness Case.Case bounces between mentorandsponsoruntildecision stakeholders reach consensus thatallbusiness andpoliticalgoalscanbemet.Thecase willthen havebudgetassigned whichsignals thestartthe formalprocurement process.

Projectmaynowbetakenoutofhandsofsponsor-mentor intohandsofITorprocurement.


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Transaction• Confirmationofprojecttoallstakeholders• Procurement involved• Competitive tendering,bake-offs,etc.

Transaction

BuyersQuestions?• What’syourbestprice?• What’snext?• WhatsupportwillIget?• WhocanItalkto?

Transaction iswhere thecustomer willmake theirdecision.Ifyoudidagreat jobandinitiated theopportunity atIdeaorMentorandcreated the biasforaction, then youhavean80%chance ofwinning.Ifyougotinvited inforthe bake-offatTransaction andit’s afairfightyouhavea20%chance atbest…realistically it’s 5%.Getting infirstbysparkingthe ideaandcreating thebuyingvisionaccounts forthepopularityof insightdrivensalesandmarketingmethodologies, suchasdescribed in“TheChallenger Customer”

Giventhat 95%ofbuyingprocesses commence withanInternet search, wouldyouidealcustomers findyourcompanywebsiteinanInternet search inresearching solutions tobuyerscompass issues atIdeaorMentor?Ifyouarelikemosttechnology companies andyourWebsite isallaboutyourproduct, then thenthereisnotime towaste –youhaveaseriousmarketing effortahead!


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Ideasubjecttoriskatallphases,• Political– internal• Product– is itproven?• Value– whatisbusiness valueoftheidea?• Financial– liabilities, costs,competition forfunds• Brand- doesit fitourself-image?

ManagingRiskTheidea issubject toriskateverytransition inthe buyingcycle…. evenatTransactionIheardastoryrecently where theCEOofasoftware company hada6-figuredealteed upandreadyforsignature andhegotaphonecallfromhischampion, apologizing, butthathewasleaving. That dealwasstone deadinaninstantandwhenthishappens, it’s backtothedrawingboarduntilyoufindanother champion… a6monthset-back at least.

Political Risk:- occurs inthe fightforfundsandresources orfromthosewhosimply don’tunderstandyourideaandwillvetoit.Productrisk: - isamajorproblem forstartups – iftheproductseems toorisky,thentheycandopilotafter pilot,butthebigdeals nevercome.Business risk:- theidea doesnotcreate enoughbusiness value.Financial risk:- thecompanymayexpose itselftotoomuchcostorliability.Brandrisk:- theideaisperceived astoofarfromthefirm’sself image – thisandproductriskaretwobighurdlesforemergingcompanies toovercome.Whatcansalespeople dotoreduce riskforthevendor?


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BuyerRiskToleranceAffectsVendorEngagement

EA EM LM

IMPACTistheprocess thatbuyergoes through,withorwithout thevendor.

Ofcritical importance isthe pointatwhich youengage orareinvited-in, asitaffects yourbusiness relationship withthebuyer.Andthis inturndetermines theoperating cultureofyourcompany, i.e howyouorganize, runandmeasure performance.

There arethe EarlyAdopters(EA)whoarehappybuyinginnovative solutions.There arethe EarlyMajority buyers(EM)whowant tobuythemarket leader.AndtherearetheLate Majoritybuyers(LM)whowanttobuyacommodity atthecheapest price.

Hereiswherethe buyerstartstoengage vendorsintheirbuyingprocess.Innovative solutions:EA’s areinspiredwhen youconnect withanevangelist tocreate anopportunity.Mainstream solutions:EM’s reach outtovendorswhen theyhaveasetofrequirements andabudget (57%)– theybuilttheirownbusiness case &shortlisted you.Youworkwithcustomer (IT&procurement) throughCase &Transaction.Commoditysolutions:LM’smake contact when theyarereadytobuyatTransaction.


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SellingtoEarlyAdopters

Pilot BigDeal

Paid consultingFree consulting

EA EM LMConsulting ProjectsValueCreated

Ifyouareaninnovative vendorwithdisruptive technology youmusttarget earlyadopters. This isaValue Created operationalculture… salespeople create valueforthecustomer bybringinginsight &instigating change.Inthe Value Created sale toanearlyadopter,youworkwiththecustomer fromMentorthroughtoTransaction.Why?– because thebuyerknowsthe direction theywanttomovein,butthey don’t knowhowtogetthere… that’s yourjob– toguidethem. Theinnovative vendorpartners withthebuyertohelpthem understand howtoexploittheirdisruptive technology andhowtoassess andaddressthe risks.It isimperative forstartups togetpaidfortheirconsulting intheearlystages ofthe buyingprocess….even ifit islower margin, itislikelytobeessential tosurvival.Precisely because theValue Created company isemerging fromstartup, theremaybemultiple pilotsrequiredbeforeabigdeal ispossible - inordertobuildtrustandevidence forthe businessCase.Whenthebuyerengages anEarlyMajority vendoratAssessment, the vendorwillbeaskedforandwillmost likelyagree todofreeconsulting toprovetheirsolution.

Engaging EarlyAdopters isaboutcreating trueinsight attheoutset. Salescalls intheearlybuyingstages areconsultative innature,typically aconversation ofpossibilities, because thebuyerdoesnotyetunderstandwhat thesolutionis,orhowitcanbeused tocreate value. Salespeople whobehave likeconsultants willbemoreeffective thansales-closers, infactconsultants make excellentsalespeople inearlystage companies.


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MappingtheSalesProcessontotheBuyingProcessMapping salesprocess ontothe buyingprocess isacritical taskforsalesmanagers. Sales processvaries bycompanyandeverycompany hastheirownflavor.Whatis important torecognize isthat thesales funnelstarts atdifferentengagement points inthe buyingprocess, based onbuyer/organizational risktolerance.

EarlyAdopter

Commodity

Mainstream

Innovator/disruptor

Mapping theSalesFunnelontotheBuyingProcessEarlyMajority

LateMajority


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Summary:HowB2BCustomersBuy:I-M-P-A-C-T

Idea Mentor Position Assessment Case Transaction

*Do Nothing*Build it*Explore*Find alternative

A B C

þþþ

ýýþ

þþ

þFitPrice

People

Awareness Evaluation Decision

Why Meet

Why You?

Why ChangeNow?

Shared VisionWe need to change!

Champion/MobilizerStatus-quo


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Idea Transaction

FacilitatingtheBuyingProcessthroughContent&ConversationsDoyouremember when youwereachildplaying atschool? Inthe playgroundthere wastheJungle Jimamongotherplay-things.WhenIwasakid,weused topretendthat there werecrocodiles inthesandbelow theJungle Jimandwewouldbegobbledupifwefelloff.

Whatdowemeanbycontent?Ifwecancapture andmodel theconversations oftopsalespeople intheformofconversationsupport inplaybooksorsalesguides andmakeitavailable toeveryoneonthesales team andteach andcoach them howtouseit,wecanimprovesales effectiveness andteam performance.

• Doyoursalespeople havetheconversational content theyneed todeliver insightandcreate abiasforaction?• Cantheyanswer critical buyerquestions, inordertotransition tothenextstepintheir buyingprocess?• Isyoursales team armedwithquestions youneed answers to,inordertoqualifyandfacilitate theprospect’s movement

througheachstep inyoursales process?• Ordotheyhavecontent gapsthat cause them tofalloutofthe buyingcycle andget eaten bythecrocodiles (sales

managers)?

ConversationSupportElements• ConversationMap(tobuyingprocess, by

topic, role,persona)• Problem/cause, capabilities, differentiation• Facts, data, researchresults, graphics• Pointofview, storyline• Innovative insights• “WhoI’vehelped” stories• Visual support, images• Questions andanswers• Coremessages, phrases• Inventoryofemails


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SummaryWehaveexamined the B2BbuyingprocessandtheIMPACT cycle.

Weknowthatsales performance improveswithbetter understanding ofhowyourcustomers buy.

Weknowthatbetter alignment between yourselling process andthecustomer buyingprocessreduces customer churnandreduces lostsales andno-decision outcomes.

Weidentified someofthequestions buyersaskandthatwemust answer tohelpthemmake thetransitions intheirbuyingprocess.

Ifyouwouldlikehelpwithcontent yoursales team needs toaskandanswer thequestions forbuyersateach transition inthebuyingprocess, contact us,http://www.admarco.net/contact-advanced-marketing-concepts

Ifyoufoundthispresentation useful, please shareit.

Ifyouwanttolearnmoreabout theIMPACTBuyingprocess, please visithttp://hubs.ly/y0f_c60 andgetaninstantdownload ofthe20pagewhitepaper.

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