Fuentes Fridays #0024

The latest from sales teacher, business advisor, and investor Will Fuentes.

Here is your end-of-the-week insight into what I see going on in the business world, what I’m thinking about, and what I’m learning about. Forward anything that you feel inspired to share.

What I’m Hearing From Sales Leaders/Professionals

No, it’s not just you. There has been a slowdown in deals over the last 18 months. This has been caused by many factors (Maestro will be releasing a white paper on it—email or DM me if you want a sneak peek) but two of the biggest you’re likely encountering are novice buyers and a “rebuilt” buying process.

Yes, it’s true that election uncertainty influences spending. Yes, it’s true that organizations have become more judicious with their purchases. However, these factors have been true at many other points in time.

What is unique today is that we are encountering more and more buyers that have two distinct attributes: 1. They grew up in the digital world where all information is readily available and they’re incredibly comfortable self-serving that information; 2. They were just starting or started their careers when the majority of offices went remote. These two factors are huge and are heavily influencing sales cycles.

Let’s start with 1: Buyers growing up in a digital world.

This is the first generation of buyers that has always had access to digital information in all aspects of their lives. That means that, on average, they come better prepared and more knowledgeable that any other buying generation. The majority of sellers, however, are showing up as a salespeople and not sales professionals. They still follow a seller-centric model instead of a buyer-centric one.

What does a buyer-centric model look like? Well, it looks like strong discovery, a clearly laid out follow-up with the prospect, a defined sales process, and then transparent conversations to align the sales process to each unique buyer’s process (more on this later).

Further, organizations are causing slowdowns in the sales cycles by not providing enough relevant self-service material to educate the buyer before and during the sales cycle. Everyone wants to discuss the ROI on marketing pieces, LinkedIn posts, webinars, and thought leadership. Well, I am going to say it—that is the old way of thinking. Yes, it can be measured, but you should be more concerned about meeting your buyers where they are, and where they are is in the digital world looking for that content.

For those that follow me on regular basis, you know I have a few core beliefs: everything is a bell curve and the world (like interest) compounds. In the fat middle of the buyer bell curve are people who want self-service content, and that content compounds as well. There is no lightning-rod piece, but many pieces stacked together lead to desired outcomes just like a good stretching program. No one day makes you flexible, but over time, many days stacked together do.

Now on to number 2: Buyers have been working in a remote world.

A lot has been written already about what remote learning has done to academic achievement in children. What has not been studied as much is what has been done to professional effectiveness. Yes, many CEOs say that employees must return to the office, but that is not what we’re talking about here.

What I am talking about is that, while new buyers are incredible at navigating the digital world, they struggle with the politics of the physical world. What does this mean to you as a seller? You are asking someone to navigate a very difficult path without either the skills or the map to do so. It is very rare that sales are a straight line. The majority of sales, those in the fat middle of the bell curve, are more circuitous.

And to help Dorothy(the buyer), you must be the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Lion. You have to be smart and provide good advice. You have to be an honest broker about the process and be empathetic that you are asking a prideful individual to venture into unknown territory (buying process). You have to have courage to ask the tough, bold questions. You also must have a map of how others have done it.

All of this is tough, and it is compounded even more by the fact that many buyers are remote and, thus, have not built the connective tissue in the organization necessary to get things done quickly. If, once you have earned the right to ask them the tough questions by being the Scarecrow and the Tin Man, you lose your courage and don’t ask them those questions, it will be a long time before you say "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" . (Editor’s note: The lyrics of “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” don’t make sense in this context, but I know how much Will likes the song, plus it connects to the Wizard of Oz, so I’m letting it stay.)

If you want to strategize on this or get a copy of our White Paper, send me an email or DM.

What Made Me Laugh

Who knew that the Red Hot Chili Peppers wrote a theme song for LinkedIn ? I am feeling extra generous today, so you get a second link. This one I imagine is the theme song for toddlers that love dogs—check it out!

This Week’s 40/20

For every 40 hours of work, I believe you should spend 20 (additional) hours mastering your craft. This is how I spent some of my 20 hours this week.

A few years ago, Maestro auditioned voiceover actors for our self-paced training courses. I was impressed with all of them, but was most impressed with the group we selected, VoiceImage Productions , a father-and-daughter team.

At Maestro, we teach that a large part of communication is based on tone, pace, etc. I don’t think I have ever found a better example of that than this awesome one-minute video. Well, I guess you could make the case for the second link in “what made me laugh.”

Potpourri for 800

Potpourri (shoutout to Jeopardy!) is a category that covers a variety of topics.

For those of you who follow me daily on LinkedIn, you know I was obsessed with the Olympics. I am also sure that, given what you know about me, you were expecting me to post about Raygun (if you don’t know, look it up after you crawl out from underneath your rock) but that would be too on the nose. Instead, I am going to post this fascinating video about what the hardest race in all of track and field, the 400M, does to your body.

Quote for My Son

Every day, I leave my son a note with a quote. This was my favorite from this past week:

“Confidence and hard work is the best medicine to kill the disease called failure.” Abdul Kalam