Unlock Faster, More Cost-Effective Business by Selling the Way Your Buyers Buy!

Unlock Faster, More Cost-Effective Business by Selling the Way Your Buyers Buy

To accelerate your sales process, win more business, and reduce costs, it’s essential to align your sales approach with how buyers make decisions. This means understanding both how the buyer views you and how you view the buyer.

Phase 1: Unknown

At this stage, you’re a complete unknown to the buyer. They are unaware of you, your company, or the problem you solve. The buyer is just a name on a list—a target you aim to sell to, with no prior contact.

Phase 2: Aware

Now, the buyer has heard of you. They know who you are and what your company does. At this point, the buyer is considered a "suspect"—a company you're trying to engage with by building curiosity and interest.

Phase 3: Curiosity and Interest

Here, the buyer starts to view you as a vendor, someone who could potentially provide a solution to a problem they face. The buyer is now a "prospect"—you’ve done discovery, qualified the pain points, and identified a problem you can solve. This phase is when you begin finding a coach and the account enters the pipeline.

Phase 4: Desire

At this stage, the buyer sees you as one of the few companies capable of solving their problem. They’ve acknowledged the acute pain and have committed to an action plan for resolving it. The buyer is a "qualified prospect"—you’ve successfully elevated their pain from latent to acute, identified a coach, and gained support from a power sponsor who will influence the economic buyer. This is when the account is qualified and can appear in the forecast for the current or upcoming quarter.

Phase 5: Conviction

The buyer now views you as the exclusive provider of the solution they need. They’ve confirmed that your solution will deliver the necessary business value, ROI, and change they desire. The buyer is a well-qualified prospect—your solution has been proven to solve the problem, deliver ROI, and drive the desired transformation. You’ve also identified funding sources and secured commitment that, if proof is delivered, they will buy. This is when the account is ready to be added to the forecast.

Phase 6: Close

The buyer sees you as both a supplier and a trusted partner. They’ve decided to purchase your solution, making them a customer. This phase includes finalizing the negotiation, contract, legal and purchasing processes, and securing the signed agreement and purchase order.

This is the universal process that all B2B buyers go through, and it doesn't change.

Aligning Your Sales Process with the Buyer’s Journey

When you look at this buyer journey, you’ll realize that these phases should align directly with how your CRM is set up. But surprisingly, most sales organizations don't do this. If they did, it would provide a clear blueprint for how salespeople should be selling.

By aligning the activities of your sales team with each stage of the buyer’s journey, you not only create a structured sales approach but also ensure your salespeople are focused on the right actions at the right time.

The Final Step: Align Resources for Success

Once you’ve mapped out the activities for each phase, the next step is to align the right resources with those activities. This enables your salespeople to execute the necessary steps more effectively, at the right time, and with the right support.

When this alignment happens, you create a sales framework that helps your team sell the way prospects buy. This ensures smoother, more efficient sales cycles with better results.

The Results: Increased Productivity and Revenue

A well-defined sales framework leads to:

• Improved productivity: Salespeople are focused and effective, following a proven process.
• More revenue: Streamlined processes help close deals faster.
• Reduced cost of sales: You’re using resources in the most efficient way possible.

With the right setup, the activities in your sales process remain consistent, and the enablement remains aligned. It becomes part of a productive, easy-to-measure sales framework that is supported by your team, predictable, and incredibly beneficial.

Would you like help implementing this strategy? Feel free to reach out!