Partners in Excellence

SEPTEMBER 4, 2013

Too often, we think of the customer’s buying process as something that, once we understand it, is fairly structured and defined. Our job as sales professionals becomes aligning our selling process with the customer’s buying process, moving through the process in a disciplined manner.

Cross-sell 98

Cross-sell Represent Account management Quota 98

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 29, 2015

Focusing viciously on this and not being distracted by customers with legitimate buying requirements, but where we are poorly positioned–likely wasting their and our time. Customers tend to scan and look at things, often far in advance of their need to buy. Read this great post by Hank Barnes on the Squishy Buying Cycle.).

Sales 93

Sales Education Prospecting Process 93

Partners in Excellence

MAY 27, 2015

There are thousands of post, articles, books glibly talking about the buying process, the buyer’s journey, the customer journey. We don’t see any literature that defines the buying process as starting with Procurement. We recognize that journey may be Squishy (thank you Hank Barnes !). Yes, you read it correctly.

Process 92

Process X-functional E-commerce Drivers/motivators 92

Partners in Excellence

MARCH 31, 2017

But something else happens, our most efficient process doesn’t match how our customers buy. The customer buying cycle is, as Hank Barnes puts it, “Squishy.” The steps they want to take when they buy are different than the steps we have designe to sell to them.

Assembly Line 58

Assembly Line Manufacturing Account management B2B 58

Partners in Excellence

JULY 15, 2015

It means we haven’t taken the time to really understand the customer—their journey to learn and educate themselves, their “squishy buying cycle,” and their quest for more learning once they’ve bought. Forcing the customer to opt-out is actually an indication of a massive failure on our part.

Customers 89

Customers Represent Trust Education 89

Partners in Excellence

JUNE 10, 2014

It continues through their buying process–again, it’s less about educating them about the product, but helping them organize themselves to buy, align different interests in their own organization, define their process and move forward. Recently, a number of people have asked me my thoughts on closing skills.

Closing 96

Closing Quota Pitch Technique 96

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 21, 2016

” But there was one sentence that captivated me: “For content marketing to succeed in driving a sales cycle 60 to 90 percent of the way , it must retain the freshness and third-party validation of thought leadership” The statement is indicative of the thinking most of us in marketing AND in sales have of the process. .”

Sales 48

Sales Gaming Start-ups Process 48