According to a Gartner survey conducted in November and December 2022, a staggering “75% of B2B buyers prefer a rep-free experience. [1].”

What does it say about sales professionals? Are sellers that boring that B2B buyers would rather not talk to them? Or is it that they don’t bring much value to the conversation and are just perceived as motivated by their self-interest? Since reps usually belong to the extravert category, I vote for the latter.

 The survey underscores a growing divide and disillusionment with traditional sales interactions. This trend is a clear signal that sellers must bring more to the table than just product knowledge or a persuasive pitch. They need to deliver real value and insight, transforming the sales experience from a transactional encounter into a consultative partnership.

The Unparalleled Impact of Sales Experience

Several years ago, CEB -acquired by Gartner since, published a study that is counter-intuitive to most sellers ─and still is. This study shed light on the drivers of customer loyalty, revealing that the sales experience accounts for a staggering 53% of the loyalty equation. To this day, each time I ask my audience of sellers and sales managers to guess which one of these four drivers is the top one, Sales Experience rarely comes first:

But what sets a superior sales experience apart? The study revealed that it boils down to five key characteristics of successful sellers and customer's expectations:

1. Offering Unique, Valuable Market Perspectives: Today's buyers are inundated with information but starved for insights. Sellers who can help customers to identify new opportunities to cut costs, increase revenue and mitigate risks in ways they themselves have not yet recognized not only capture attention but also earn trust and credibility.

2. Navigating Alternatives: Buyers face a plethora of options. A seller who acts as a guide, helping customers navigate these alternatives, becomes an invaluable partner in the decision-making process. A large majority of deals nowadays are lost to indecision—61%, according to a study by Ebsta, which is more than those lost to maintaining the status quo. Offering choices is an effective strategy to minimize this risk.

3. Avoiding Potential Land Mines: The path to purchase is fraught with risks and uncertainties. Sellers who preemptively address potential problems or "land mines" can save their customers from future headaches, fostering a sense of security and trust while avoiding buyer’s regret.

4. Educating on New Issues and Outcomes: The most impactful sellers are those who enlighten their customers about new challenges and opportunities, expanding their understanding and helping them to envision unforeseen possibilities.

5. Garnering Widespread Organizational Support: Sellers who have the backing of their entire organization can draw upon a wealth of resources and expertise, ensuring that they can fully address their customers' needs and challenges.

The Customer-First Approach: A Win-Win Strategy

Embracing a customer-first approach means redefining success. Instead of measuring achievement by the number of deals closed, albeit an important one, the new metric is the customer's success. This paradigm shift requires a deep understanding of the customer's business, their industry, and the specific challenges they face. It's about becoming a trusted advisor whose primary goal is to help the customer achieve their objectives.

The Power of Insightful Selling

In a market where information is abundant, the true currency is insight. Sellers must go beyond understanding their product; they must have a deep grasp of their customer's industry, market trends, and the broader economic landscape. This knowledge enables them to bring new, sometimes provocative, ideas to the table—ideas that challenge the customer's thinking and introduce them to new solutions and strategies they hadn't considered.

Experts recommend to dedicate 20% of our time in continuous learning. A time sellers could use to cultivate these insights while marketing leverages analytics to identify patterns they can embed into their company’s narrative.

The Role of Provocative Insights

Remember the 2008 subprime financial crisis? Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it? Well, the downturn of the economy seems to be a reminiscence of that time. In March 2009, Geoffrey Moore, the legendary author and father of ‘Crossing the Chasm’, published in the Harvard Business Review an article he coined “In a downturn, Provoke Your Customers” (yes! I kept that article since then). The idea was that, at a time when budget got scarcer and decisions were subject to high scrutiny, developing a provocative point of view was the right way to go to reach the level of attention at the right executive level.

Since then, The Challenger Sale methodology has been advocating for a sales approach that is not afraid to challenge the customer's assumptions and present thought-provoking perspectives. This doesn't mean being confrontational, of course. Instead, it's about respectfully presenting evidence-based insights that prompt customers to view their problems and potential solutions in a new light. This approach can be particularly effective in a market where buyers are knowledgeable and have access to vast amounts of information.

Building a Culture of Customer Advocacy

To truly adopt a customer-first approach, organizations must cultivate a culture of customer advocacy. This means aligning every department and function with the goal of customer success. Sales teams must work hand in hand with product development, marketing, and customer service to ensure a cohesive and supportive experience for the customer. This organizational alignment ensures that the seller's insights are backed by a team ready to support the customer's journey at every step.

If you're looking for an anecdote that embodies a culture of customer-centricity, consider this: It's said that after John Chambers became CEO of Cisco, he was several hours late to his first board meeting. He made a deliberate choice to prioritize resolving a major issue for one of his largest customers instead. This decision reflected his customer-first approach to leadership, which has become legendary."

Buckle-up! 2024 is going to be interesting.

Everyone in the B2B market agrees to recognize that all signs from late 2023 indicate that 2024 will be increasingly challenging. If you are in a start-up mode, you know that access to funding has become a lot harder. In the world of great uncertainty, we are living in, if anything, selling to B2B enterprise buyers is becoming a lot harder.

In a world where B2B buyers are increasingly seeking rep-free experiences, the value of a seller lies in their ability to act as a trusted advisor, offering unique insights and solutions that genuinely address the customer's needs. By prioritizing the success of their customers over short-term gains, sellers can build lasting relationships that drive loyalty, repeat business, and ultimately, sustainable growth for both parties. This journey requires a deep commitment to understanding and advocating for the customer, backed by a culture that supports this mission at every level of the organization.

If you want your sellers to learn how to engage in valuable and insightful conversations with your B2B buyers, and construct though-provoking insights in order to help your customers to identify new opportunities in ways they themselves have not yet recognized, schedule a call right from this website. We can discuss how I can assist you in overcoming your challenges.

Contact me at lvanhuffel@croforscale.com

#customercentricity #customerinsight #customerjourney #customerfirst #challenger

[1] Gartner survey: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-03-07-gartner-survey-finds-aligning-commercial-functions-as-sales-leaders-top-priority-for-2023