Everything, Everywhere: It’s What You Must Be Now

What’s the most important part of the sales cycle today?

I’ve seen the answer to that question change a lot over my career.

It used to be that sellers prospered the most by building one-on-one relationships and focusing on single-point lead generation. Back then, it made sense to devote the largest chunk of time to attending in-person meetings, conducting phone call blitzes and attending as many networking events as possible. Personal rapport with your most-important-buyer was your only thing.

But things changed.

Today, all the top-performing sellers understand that a successful sales cycle hinges on them finding ways to work with more stakeholders, more deeply, all at once within their customer’s organization and sales territory.

There’s no such thing as a most-important-buyer anymore.

Just as important, there’s no longer a single path to success in sales. Yesterday’s approach was a bit like consulting a paper roadmap to plan a trip. The goal was simple: find the shortest distance between two points. Today’s approach is like consulting your favorite maps app on your phone: it gives you multiple routes, multiple junctions. And the recommendations can change in real time depending on the traffic data.

You must align with this important shift in today’s sales cycle.

Here are four ways to do that.

EMULATE YOUNGER SELLERS

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words.” That’s a quote from the Greek poet Hesiod, complaining about young people today…over 2,700 years ago. The insight here is two-fold: intergenerational back biting is an ancient tradition and it’s mostly ill informed.

Reconsider your assumptions. There is much you can learn from younger sellers on how to adapt to today’s sales cycle.

Gen Z and Millennials grew up in an environment with much more collaboration.  They have a knack for working with large groups of people all at once. They also have weathered plenty of economic downturns within a compressed period over their careers. They’re resilient. And they recognize the value and safety of groups when making big decisions. Spend more time working with younger members of your sales team: you’ll find ways to emulate their best habits to your advantage.

PLAY THE LONG GAME

Recently, Forrester’s State of Business Buying survey found that 75% of B2B marketers are reporting that buyers are taking longer to commit to purchases, compared to previous years. They attribute this to tighter budgets and a heightened sense of risk in decision making. Against the backdrop of this changed marketplace, we can no longer afford to invest all your time on single targets, one at a time. A slower decision-making cycle means a much longer sales cycle…and many more opportunities to fill it with multiple leads.

GET YOUR DIGITAL EXPERIENCE IN ALIGNMENT

The best sellers today give equal treatment to all relationships they foster: both online and offline. As discussed in my book, Right on the Money, this has had the “Amazonification” effect of bringing B2C buying habits to the B2B marketplace. Remember: in just the last half decade, we’ve seen roughly a 30% increase in the number of people who’d prefer a seller-free buying experience. Use that changing expectation to your advantage, just like the top sellers do. Leverage technology so that you show up regularly…not as a seller, but as a valued resource.

It’s not so much that top sellers—especially younger ones—have an understanding about technology that is beyond your grasp. Rather, it’s that they are simply habitual users of it. You can do that, too.

MITIGATE RISK…NOW

You’ve no control over the forces that created today’s marketplace. What’s within your control is how you choose to respond to it. Therefore, it’s a mistake to keep relying on a business-as-usual playbook when you find yourself in a high-risk economy.

A client of mine learned that lesson the hard way. They lost a multi-million-dollar contract with a client and were blindsided by it, because all their resources were devoted to a single point of contact. When the client’s spending priorities changed, they had no advance warning…and no influence within other channels to change the outcome. You must make risk mitigation an integral part of how you broaden your network of contacts within your customer’s organization.

START NOW

Today’s sales cycle rewards those who’ve adapted to the new reality of a forever changing marketplace. No more chasing that most-important-buyer mirage. Your role now is to emulate what the top performers have already figured out: be everything, everywhere for your customers.

Your next deal depends on it.