John Asher - The Future of Sales: The 50+ Techniques, Tools, and Processes Used by Elite Salespeople

Radical and Permanent Changes in Buyer Behavior

Most buyers now have a preference for digital interactions with companies and their salespeople. Face-to-face (F2F) interactions have fallen out of favor for a number of readily apparent reasons.

• The purchase can be accomplished much more quickly and easily.
• There will be a digital record of the entire transaction.
• It is more efficient.
• There are many untrained salespeople who do not have the standard sales skills.
• There are some salespeople who are not likable.
• Some salespeople have the opposite personality style from the buyer and do not know how to mirror the buyers style.
• There are no delays because of the need for out-of-town travel.
• Traffic jams can cause salespeople to be late to meetings.

As they become more comfortable with the technology, buyers are more frequently using mobile apps to make purchases. According to Forbes , the mobile payment market in the United States alone is exceeding $130 billion. This is ultimately why buyers also expect their online purchases to be simple, safe, secure, and easy to navigate.

Large-scale surveys support observations that buyer behavior has changed in interactions with salespeople. The LinkedIn State of Sales Report 2020 with data from ten thousand online surveys of salespeople shows:

• Virtual selling is going mainstream: 77 percent of respondents are holding more virtual meetings.
• Buyers are less responsive: 44 percent of respondents anticipated a decrease in responsiveness to outreach.
• Sales cycles are longer: 44 percent of respondents said buyers sales cycles increased.
• Their responses to unsolicited emails are down by 30 percent.
• Four out of five buyers prefer to have a video-conferencing meeting, for example through Zoom, than a phone call.
• Three out of four believe that digital selling is more effective than F2F selling.

Many B2B buyers have challenges that are now different because of the COVID-19 pandemic and post-pandemic recovery considerations. In addition, many of their customers are also facing new challenges. Because of these new and changing circumstances, buyers expect salespeople to be able to provide deep insights into their business. Many buyers know they need to change, but they do not have the knowledge to be able to do so quickly, efficiently, and with a significant return on their investment.

Buyers are looking for intelligent salespeople who have done their homework and who can challenge them to think differently and guide them through their change journey. In normal times, buyers can evaluate sellers in F2F meetings or at sporting events or business meals. When they are unable or choose not to do so, the next best and most helpful process is to use referrals from others they trust. Referrals have always been important, and now they are more important than ever.

According to Gartner Research, 80 percent of B2B sales interactions between suppliers and buyers will occur in digital channels by 2025. In most cases, the first interaction between a prospect and your company will be digital. The significance of this shift is clear. Seventy-five percent of buyers no longer see the value of interacting in-person with salespeople. My companys research and discussions with B2B sales leaders show the following: