Nurture Marketing meand Alignment With Their Buying Cycle

Last week, our Nurture Marketing Guild meeting had the pleasure of hearing a critical dissection of the timing
required and the content used to gain access to and the attention of a C-Level executive. Our guest presenter,

Dr. Steven Bistritz pinpointed the process of earning the right to influence decisions with the attached graphic.

Copyright: Steven Bistritz

The challenge with many sales organizations is that reps are so intently focused on the selling cycle
they lose sight of the buying process they are trapped in for reasons beyond their control.
In the high value or complex sale, in order to effectively sell, reps need first to understand exactly
how your customers go about buying.

How long ago did you buy your last vehicle? Are you a compulsive buyer who drove by an
automobile dealer one day, saw a nice looking 50,000 $ SUV in the lot, and went in and just bought it?
I am sure that some do, but I don’t. When risk or investment is high, most buyers first do a fair
amount of research. For businesses making capital investments, the first step is to recognize that
they have a problem and to articulate it.

As a study done a few years ago revealed, executives work to first understand their underlying needs,
set objectives, and then set a strategy for identifying, evaluating and integrating a solution.
It is at this early time in their process when senior management is most involved.
It is at this time that they eagerly read articles in trade journals, search for information on the Internet,
attend trade shows, talk with consultants, and ask other companies in their industry what they have
done to solve a similar problem. It is during this stage that these companies are seeking answers,
even from helpful vendors.

Unfortunately, when a sales rep hears from a customer “…we have no budget yet.…”,
“…we are just looking around….”, or “….we don’t expect to do anything for another 12 months….”
her/his patience or compensation quickly turns off any immediate interest in that customer.
Sales reps are still, after all, rewarded for sales they make today, this quarter, not a year from now.

Now, look what happens when this same customer finally gets a budget and actually, seriously,
starts to evaluate different options and sources. The sales rep gets excited but as Mark Twain said,
“When you need a friend, it’s already way too late to have made one”

At this stage senior management is now dropping out of the process. Your sales rep now will find
even the best “consultative” or solution selling methodology difficult to use. The vision has
already been set. The strategy is solidly in place. The rep at this stage is working with analysts
or staff members, often responding to a RFQ for RFP well beyond any chance to interact and
influence the real decision authorities.

Clearly, the best time to do your most effective selling is long before the customer is ready to
consider different vendors. In fact, the more complex the product you sell, the more critical the
need to help them very earlier in their buying cycle.

But how can you do this effectively? After all, it is at this very stage of their buying process that
the customer does not want to be “sold to”. And few would even accept regular phone calls from
your sales reps at this late phase of the process, even if sales reps did have the time, persistence
and motivation to make them.

If the early planning stages is the most fertile, then gentle, intelligent,
appropriate nurturing is the most appropriate and vital selling activities to be engaged.

Dr. Steven Bistritz

Steve Bistritz brings more than four decades of high-technology sales, sales management

and training management experience dealing with companies ranging from start-ups to

global leaders. Steve is a published author and lecturer in the field of sales, sales

management and selling at the executive level. He is currently president of his own sales

training and consulting firm, based in Atlanta.

His website address is www.sellxl.com

Good Nurturing

Jim

Jim Cecil

Nurture Marketing Inc.