In the March 2015 issue of the Harvard Business Review, key leaders at CEB published the article, “Making the Consensus Sale,” which noted the changes in the buyer’s landscape. No, this is not the “ah-ha” moment of the blog, sit tight.
We’re all very well aware that the buying landscape has changed. It seems that the “buyer’s market” the real-estate industry has experienced is rubbing off not just on home sales, but general B2B sales, as well. Buyers have a variety of vendors to consider for the problem they’re trying to solve: from point solution providers, to best in breed, to vendors with a suite of solutions. The rise of the internet has provided buyers with the ability to hone in on what they perceive is the best provider through a variety of outlets such as LinkedIn community groups, business service review solutions like G2 Crowd, social media and the list goes on. Consequently, buyers often have a sense of what they want or need before ever knocking on a company’s proverbial door.
Do Buyers Really Know What They Need?
By identifying the problem, your buyers have taken step one of many. But if you understand your “Buyer’s Landscape” then you probably realize that your buyers don’t have just the one identified problem. In fact, the one identified problem is usually a bandage for a larger problem that requires a more holistic approach. Taking the time to work with your buyers to identify and outline their “Problem Landscape” is where your differentiation comes to bear. But asking them, “Is this your only problem,” isn’t exactly the communication that will lead to a “closed-won” notation in your CRM. As cliché as it sounds, there’s a journey and you have to help them navigate that journey for everyone to be successful.
Here are 5 ways to help your buyer’s overcome obstacles along the buyer’s journey and guide them to a shared vision of success:
- Cross-collaborate: Break down walls and reach across the entire organization to see if this problem exists in other parts of the business. Navigating the halls of your office is a great first step, but think bigger. Reach across all business units and geographies to see if the problem exists elsewhere. Communicate with various people in different roles to ensure your buyers are hearing the right information. If the problem exists in other business units or geographies, then they need to identify the stakeholders that can work with them cross-functionally to identify the extent of gaps and problems, and perceived solutions.
- Understand Technology Shortfalls: Analyze existing technology investments that are already in place to help solve the problem at hand. While this may sound counter-intuitive, helping buyers understand what their SaaS stack looks like now probably means less road blocks down the line. This process should also identify all existing platforms, applications and solutions. Listing all existing solutions and average use will allow buyers to understand relevance of their existing solutions. If no one is using these applications, then shutting them down and freeing up budget will certainly be favored in the long run. And if the technology in place is already solving one of the problems, it can help your buyers understand how to position your solution to solve not only their existing problem, but other related problems.
- Pinpoint Budget Owner: Identify what business unit or stakeholders will pay for the solution. This is obviously a key step in the purchasing process, so if it really takes 5.4 people to sign off on a single purchase, then this owner is probably not the person who originally identified the problem. It can also be a shared cost if the solution is going to solve a problem across multiple groups. Understanding this will allow your buyers to align to the budget owner and help them understand why the solution is needed.
- Create a Checklist: Keep the end goal in mind and organize around these objectives. At this point, the buyer has identified the problem, but it’s critical to also understand what the “ideal” state could mean – whether that means selling more, or selling faster, or selling stronger to a particular region, etc. Creating a checklist that is signed off on by all stakeholders across all departments and across all regions can ensure that everyone’s needs are met. More importantly, it can help identify problems or gaps that were never considered.
- Establish Solution Owner: Determine who will be responsible for the implementation and adoption of the solution. This doesn’t simply mean signing the contract; this means seeing the project through, potentially across multiple business units and geographies, while also navigating internal company politics. And once a solution is in place, there has to be a resource to own the solution and make sure they’re properly trained when new efficiencies come out. It’s always helpful to have several people manage this process, but even one full-time employee can get most of the work done.
Once these points are discussed and all needs identified, then you can help your buyer create a shared vision for success. By aligning key stakeholders across all buying groups and regions, identifying any obstacles that could lead to roadblocks and having a full understanding of the needs of the buyer, you’ve paved your road to success.