Business-to-business (B2B) selling is no longer about finding that one C-suite executive at the golf course. It's now about consensus sales. It takes average of 5.4 decision makers to approve a B2B purchase. 60% of the research is done before reaching out to sales. Half of B2B purchases involve millennials as decision-makers. How should marketing adapt to address the new dynamics of B2B purchases?

1. updatingB2B
sellingTara Hagan
TBWAChiatDay
May 20, 2015

2. find c-suite decision maker
c-suite decision maker
TBWACHIATDAY 2

3. consensus buying
find c-suite decision maker
c-suite decision maker
c-suite approver
cross-functional support
mobilizer champions
idea
researcher
TBWACHIATDAY 3

4. 5.4 decision makers involved
Likelihood of purchase drops to 40%
64% involve c-suite level
final authority
More cross-functional
Millennials involved in half of B2B
purchase decisions
TBWACHIATDAY 4

5. loyalty ≠ profitability
Study of 16k corporate customers -
• Correlation of .3 between loyalty and profitability
for corporate service providers
• Long-term customers pay 5-7% lower prices than
new customers
.3
correlation
TBWACHIATDAY 5

6. loyalty ≠ profitability relationships ≠ sales
Study of 16k corporate customers -
• Correlation of .3 between loyalty and profitability
for corporate service providers
• Long-term customers pay 5-7% lower prices than
new customers
Study of 6k reps across 100 companies -
• Of star salespeople, 54% were challengers; 4%
were relationship builders (last place)
• Customers prefer sales person who pushes them
rather than someone who’s likeable, agreeable
.3
correlation
4%
relationship
TBWACHIATDAY 6

7. loyalty ≠ profitability relationships ≠ sales RFP ≠ RFP
Study of 16k corporate customers -
• Correlation of .3 between loyalty and profitability
for corporate service providers
• Long-term customers pay 5-7% lower prices than
new customers
Study of 6k reps across 100 companies -
• Of star salespeople, 54% were challengers; 4%
were relationship builders (last place)
• Customers prefer sales person who pushes them
rather than someone who’s likeable, agreeable
• 60% of purchasing decision made before even
having conversation with supplier
• “To win a deal, you’ve got to get ahead of the
RFP”
.3
correlation
4%
relationship
60%
before RFP
TBWACHIATDAY 7

8. loyalty ≠ profitability relationships ≠ sales RFP ≠ RFP
Study of 16k corporate customers -
• Correlation of .3 between loyalty and profitability
for corporate service providers
• Long-term customers pay 5-7% lower prices than
new customers
Study of 6k reps across 100 companies -
• Of star salespeople, 54% were challengers; 4%
were relationship builders (last place)
• Customers prefer sales person who pushes them
rather than someone who’s likeable, agreeable
• 60% of purchasing decision made before even
having conversation with supplier
• “To win a deal, you’ve got to get ahead of the
RFP”
.3
correlation
4%
relationship
60%
before RFP
role of marketing in B2B sales more important
TBWACHIATDAY 8

9. decision-making now involving more people across more
levels and functions
need mobilizers within company
+ value of loyalty and relationships decreasing
+ decision-makers doing their own research
TBWACHIATDAY 9

10. Harvard Business Review study of
700 stakeholders involved in complex
B2B purchases…
TBWACHIATDAY 10

11. …found 7 distinct stakeholder profiles
TBWACHIATDAY 11

12. climber
teacher
friend
guide
skeptic
go-getter
readily available, happy
to help you network
prioritizes
personal gain
blocker
content with
status quo
shares latest gossip
wary of large,
complicated projects
values ideas over
relationships
passionate about sharing
insights; sought out by
colleagues for advice
…found 7 distinct stakeholder profiles
TBWACHIATDAY 12

13. climber
teacher
friend
guide
skeptic
go-getter
readily available, happy
to help you network
prioritizes
personal gain
shares latest gossip
wary of large,
complicated projects
values ideas over
relationships
passionate about sharing
insights; sought out by
colleagues for advice
mobilizers advocates
blocker
content with
status quo
blockers
TBWACHIATDAY 13

14. teacher
skeptic
go-getter
wary of large,
complicated projects
values ideas over
relationships
passionate about sharing
insights; sought out by
colleagues for advice
mobilizers
why mobilizers?
• motivated to improve organization
• ask smart, probing questions
• organizational clout (informal)
mobilizers > advocates
harder to find than climbers, friends, guides
more skeptical than advocates
less loyal and relationship-driven than advocates
TBWACHIATDAY 14

15. 1/2 of people who report
willingness to buy product/service
are not willing to publicly advocate for it
silencing
mobilizers
TBWACHIATDAY 15

16. address perceived risk
appeal to identity
offer support
motivating
mobilizers
1/2 of people who report
willingness to buy product/service
are not willing to publicly advocate for it
silencing
mobilizers
TBWACHIATDAY 16

17. reduce perceived risk
• Loss aversion
• “Risk that looms largest is not about losing
money; it’s about losing your job or shedding
prestige.”
• Willingness to advocate for a purchase more than
doubled as perceived organizational support for a
supplier increased
brand
TBWACHIATDAY 17

18. reduce perceived risk
• Loss aversion
• “Risk that looms largest is not about losing
money; it’s about losing your job or shedding
prestige.”
• Willingness to advocate for a purchase more than
doubled as perceived organizational support for a
supplier increased
brand brand
appeal to identity
• 4,000 person survey found appealing to identity
more powerful in inspiring mobilizers than
appealing to company value or professional value
• Factors such as whether a solution could advance
a person’s career or help him/her be seen as a
better leader were five times as potent as the
offering’s business value
human
corporation
TBWACHIATDAY 18

19. reduce perceived risk
• Loss aversion
• “Risk that looms largest is not about losing
money; it’s about losing your job or shedding
prestige.”
• Willingness to advocate for a purchase more than
doubled as perceived organizational support for a
supplier increased
offer support
• 80% of mobilizers want support in
communicating value of solutions
• Emerging need or state of organizational flux;
marketing needs to be real-time and topical
(Dodd Frank, Net Neutrality)
• Intangibles matter (24 hour service, global
deployment)
brand brand brand
appeal to identity
• 4,000 person survey found appealing to identity
more powerful in inspiring mobilizers than
appealing to company value or professional value
• Factors such as whether a solution could advance
a person’s career or help him/her be seen as a
better leader were five times as potent as the
offering’s business value
human
corporation
TBWACHIATDAY 19

20. old
customer
journey
changing
c-suite initiates
awareness
reach out to potential vendors
purchase decision
repeat purchases
TBWACHIATDAY 20

21. c-suite initiates
awareness
reach out to potential vendors
purchase decision
repeat purchases
mobilizer initiates
awareness
research
advocacy across functions/levels
research
reach out to potential vendors
consensus purchase decision
approval from c-suite
repeat purchases not guaranteed
old new
address
new
elements of
journey
TBWACHIATDAY 21

22. old new
broaden definition of audience
support mobilizers in research and
advocacy phases
increase emphasis on marketing,
not just sales and relationships
c-suite initiates
awareness
reach out to potential vendors
purchase decision
repeat purchases
mobilizer initiates
awareness
research
advocacy across functions/levels
research
reach out to potential vendors
consensus purchase decision
approval from c-suite
repeat purchases not guaranteed
TBWACHIATDAY 22

23. mobilizers across organization = ability to communicate matters
higher-level = brand matters
credibility
prove due diligence to get board approval
cross-functional = safe bet matters
language-mapping
loss aversion
practice leaders vs. business leaders
lower-level = proof matters
half of B2B researchers are millennials
71% of research starts with generic search
educational video, mobile on personal devices
TBWACHIATDAY 23

24. conventions
• not appealing to humans and identity
• not addressing complicated approval process
brand impactfeatures
Deloitte
SAP
Siemens
Cisco
Microsoft
smaller
technology
companies
TBWACHIATDAY 24

25. features
TBWACHIATDAY 25

26. brand only
TBWACHIATDAY 26

27. impact
TBWACHIATDAY 27

28. impact
TBWACHIATDAY 28

29. Adobe (Woo Woo?)
HSBC (Lift)
GE (The Boy Who Beeps)
appeal to humans not
corporations
address complicated
approval process
GE (Ideas are Scary)
Marketo (Guide on how to sell internally)
Quartz (10 Tricks To Appear Smarter)
TBWACHIATDAY 29

30. address complicated approval process
TBWACHIATDAY 30

31. opportunity
value to corporations
relationships with c-suites
value to humans
support for mobilizers
old new
TBWACHIATDAY 31

32. Links and References
1.Brent Adamson, Karl Schmidt, and Anna Bird, “Why Self Image Matters in B2B
Sales,” Harvard Business Review April 2015, accessed May 2015.
2.Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, and Nicholas Toman, “The End of Solution
Sales,” Harvard Business Review July-August 2012, accessed May 2015.
3.Das Narayandas, “Building Loyalty in Business Markets,” Harvard Business
Review September 2005.
4.Karl Schmidt, Brent Adamson, and Anna Bird, “Making the Consensus Sale,”
Harvard Business Review March 2015, page 109.
5.Kelsey Snyder and Pashmeena Hilal, “The Changing Face of B2B Marketing,”
Think with Google, accessed May 2015.
6.Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, “Selling is Not About Relationships,”
Harvard Business Review September 2011, accessed May 2015.
7.Paul V. Weinstein, “Make it Easy for Decision Makers to Approve Your Deal,”
Harvard Business Review January 2015, accessed May 2015.
8.Rebecca Chadwick, Rimma Kats, Stephanie Wharton, “What Makees B2B
Decision-Markers Tick?” eMarkter.com, October 2014.
9.Steven Woods, “What Really Matters in B2B Selling,” Harvard Business Review
September 2010, accessed May 2015.
10.Werner Reinartz and V. Kumar, “The Mismanagement of Customer Loyalty,”
Harvard Business Review July 2002.
TBWACHIATDAY 32