Today’s customers have access to not only more information, but also to more high-quality, trustworthy information. This is not a relatively new situation, but still presents a challenge, as it delays direct interaction with suppliers and buyers will engage sales late in the buying decisions.
“According one survey from Gartner Group (2019) In fact, 88% of surveyed B2B customers report that the information they encountered during a recent successful purchase decision was high quality. While this might seem to empower customers, it actually overwhelms them.”
Purchasing is more complex than before
Today’s buying groups are incredibly diverse and in average there are 5-10 people involved in buying process. Each new stakeholder in the buying process brings individual diverse concerns, priorities and opinions to the table, making the buying process extremely difficult as they struggle to come to consensus over the solution — or even the problem — that works for everyone.
Buying takes longer and is more complex. Buying today is complicated by complex solutions, financial instability, and data security concerns.
Customers have increasing channels to purchase and source products.
Customers are channel agnostic as they seek information. Customers are equally open to receiving valuable information through either in-person or through digital channels. Customers looking for trusted advisors that can help to develop their business and add value.
New ways of interacting with the customers – easier to meet and organize 1:1 meeting online
Data analysis and usage of advanced technology will help to design new features and functionality to solutions.
Customers sift through and assess a mountain of seemingly high-quality information, prioritize relevant sources and make sense of data from different sources. This leads to customers spending a full 15% of the buying cycle time deconflicting information.
Below a few tips, maybe not for buyers, but for sellers of a hard-to-buy offering:
- Describe a new innovation as a story – stories inspire everyone
- Look for enthusiasts and early-adapters, they are enthusiasts who want to try new ideas
- Build a team with different professional profiles. Crazy and – fearless to the front-line, at least in the beginning
- Understanding and tools from management, but also follow-up, coaching and corrective feedback.
- The recipe for success – the methodology – is the same as before, do not repeat the mistakes, repeat success. And believe in yourself
- Improvising is easy, but expensive. Systematic approach brings results