Over the last 5-plus years, the high-tech industry has gone through a revolution - a customer revolution. While we've all felt the effects of enormous disruptions to the world's economy, we've also been lucky enough to have witnessed and contributed to an incredible transformation in how we communicate, share knowledge and work with one another. As a result, our prospects and customers have taken near-complete control of the sales cycle. Your prospects are actually 70% through the sales pipeline BEFORE ever talking to a sales rep.
12. 12
We turned from buyers into researchers.
Source: 1999 20th Century Fox
13. 13Source: 2013 gyro “The At-Work State of Mind Project”
Work became a state of mind.
It's imperative to understand their motivations, emotional attitudes and
levels of satisfaction with round-the-clock, all-device messaging.
22. 22
78%of B2B tech buyers feel that a brand’s reputation
is very important when looking for business
products/services.
Source: Google B2B Customer Study, June 2012 (n=629)
23. 23
“Today, B2B sales and lead generation
are about your brand assets,
thought leadership and emotions
built from the vast amount of information that
prospects now have access to.”
27. 27
Help my team be better. Help me make good
decisions.
CIO
Peers
CIOs
C-LevelsIndustry Influencers
Competitors
ProvidersExperts
CEO
Investors
Board
Analysts
C-Level
Peers
Lines of
Business
Channels
Partner
Suppliers
Customers
IT
Department
Competitors
Providers
Peers
29. 29
Death of the Funnel as We Know It
AWARENESS
CONSIDERATION
PREFERENCE
PURCHASE
CUSTOMER LOYALTY AND
SUCCESS MANAGEMENT
“It’s time to abandon the
traditional sales and
marketing funnel and instead
adopt an approach that
revolves around building an
ongoing relationship with the
prospect/customer.”
Source: Forrester Research, 2014
33. 33Source: 2013 IDC Sales Enablement Overview
43% of IT buyers are willing to
change vendors to save time.
34. 34
“You talk to more CIOs in a week than I do in a year. Teach me something.”
"First ask what problem we were trying to solve…
didn't start with a solution.”
"Provide a good demonstration of the product.”
”Go the extra mile to understand my needs and those of my customers.
Then give me excellent communication and accurate quotes.”
”Take me through examples of other companies using the solution and send me examples of
independent research and reviews from companies with similar issues.”
"Follow-up, timely follow-up, let me know you are looking
into it and getting back to us regularly."
“Help me create the bill of materials needed for a project.
43. 43
Source: UBM, “The Mind of the Engineer” study, 2012
The Mind of the Engineer in 2014…
44. 44
Source: Google/Compete Tech B2B Customer Study, Jan 2013. (n=1024 Tech B2B customers)
+30B Searches in IT B2B in 2013
45. 45
Source: Google/Compete Tech B2B Customer Study, June 2013
91% of Tech B2B customers make purchase
related searches from a mobile device.
46. 46
Source: Google/Compete Tech B2B Customer Study, June 2012. (n=1024 Tech B2B customers)
Product/Service Features Customer Reviews “How To” Instructions
66% of Tech B2B customers who view a video are likely
to search for more information or visit your website.
What’s the Worlds’ #2 Search Engine?
47. 47
19%
81%
81% of IT Buyers Say they Do Not
Think Social Media Impacts Their
Purchasing Decision Making
Source: 2013 EAG Buyer’s Experience Survey; n=200
So….
• IT buyers don’t think they use
social to buy.
• Use Social to LISTEN (blogs,
communities, forums, LinkedIn
groups, twitter) then become part
of the discussion.
• But they do use social media
to develop trusted peers and
sources because…
48. 48
52%Feel that their colleagues’ opinions are very important
when looking for business products/services.
Source: Google B2B Customer Study, June 2012 (n=629)
53. 53
40%
22%
12%
9%
9%
6%
2%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
Ability to understand & solve my challenges
Industry knowledge & expertise
Ability to leverage company's resources
Technology expertise
Likability & personality
Ability to communitcate differentiators
Product knowledge
Top Sales Rep Attributes in Terms of How They Influence Buying Decision
Source: 2013 IDC Sales Enablement Overview; n=204
What Do Your Prospects Want?
54. 54
Business
Leaders
IT
Leaders
Overall
Knowledgeable about their
products/solutions
88% 88% 88%
Understands my issues and where
they can help
34% 43% 38%
Can relate to my role and
responsibilities in the company 38% 29% 34%
“When you meet with a vendor salesperson, how often are they
prepared for the meeting with you in the following ways?”
Source: Forrester Research, Inc. (n= 166 North American enterprise business and IT decision makers)
What Are They Receiving?
60. 60
The #1 reason companies don’t hit their sales quota isn’t
because their CRM system doesn’t sync with their sales
methodology, they don’t have enough leads or they aren’t
active enough on Twitter.
It’s because salespeople don’t
know how to articulate value.
62. 62
6 Key Takeaways:
1. Buyers are in control
2. Know your why
3. Align sales/marketing
4. Understand “value” and go the extra mile
5. Stop the B.S. and execute
6. Enable sales
64. 64
Scott Salkin
Founder & CEO
ssalkin@idstm.com
602.881.1718
@scottsalkin
@idstm
IDS is a business-to-business (B2B)
marketing and lead generation firm
whose mission is twofold:
1. to help technology companies
and startups GROW through
smart, impactful sales and
marketing, and
2. to help our communities GROW
through technology and
entrepreneurial advocacy and
mentorship.
Editor's Notes
Buyers desire value. Obtaining value far outweighs the influence of relationships or even cost. However, delivering value to IT buyers is an art that requires an understanding of how context changes the perception of value.
Value = balance of quality, risk and cost.
Most of the leading sales methodologies in use today will help ensure that your sales teams are addressing these key issues along the buying process