Three Deadly Cs (CONT’D FROM PAGE 30)
BCN
says,
Prospects commoditize us when we fail to reach that connection. We show up and say many of the same things as our competitors. Our differentiators never make a pros- pect think This is going to make a threat disappear. Compressed Selling Time What if we lived in a world where information had no value? Years ago, winning deals was based on proximity and responsiveness. If a prospect wanted to learn about a product or a solution, they had to contact the companies selling it to gather information. Today? That’s no longer the case. Prospects that enter the marketplace have all the in- formation they could ever want. Like anything, when the marketplace is flooded with a particular item, that item los- es value. Since the internet started to really work, information has lost all value. Because of this, prospects do most of the buying with- out you. They do the research. They name a solution. They contact three to five organizations they think can do what they want. Is it possible that the prospect got it wrong? Absolutely! In fact, when prospects buy with a trusted advisor (seller) at their side, from the very beginning, they report less re- morse and higher satisfaction. But here’s the problem: Sellers that only offer information provide no value, so why bring them in? If you want to take back some of that time, you have to show up with something of value. Insights that help them understand emerging threats and explain why things are happening to them are the way to unlock access. They get you in, earlier on, so you have the time you need to find their priority and connect with it. Consensus Decision-Making When was the last time the whole family wanted the same thing for dinner? For most of us, planning something as predictable and repeatable as dinner can be a challenge. Here’s some bad news: your prospect is trying to decide something way more complicated, with far more people, and even stron- ger competing priorities. Every time the economy restricts, buying teams get larger. Every time the economy expands, the size of those buying teams stays the same. It’s not unheard of today to deal with seven or more members of a buying committee. It’s a wonder anything gets bought at all. As sellers, we often work against ourselves by trying to meet the individual priorities of individual members. Unfor- tunately, making this work relies on the committee finding their own cohesion. It leaves too much to chance. Sell- ers that understand how to unite the committee around a shared priority will shorten cycle times and lose fewer deals.
to the sponsors of our 2021 calendar!
®
JB MACHINERY
Please visit www.nvpublications.com to view the 2021 industry events and links to our sponsors’ websites where you can learn more about their products and services.
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September 27, 2021
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