Seller Beware

Caveat emptor!  Julius Caesar and the Romans understood the value of information in commercial relationships when extolling “buyer beware.”  Trust wasn’t a big thing in the empire, we all know how Julius ended up.

Current research indicates that 69% of the B2B buyer’s journey was complete before a sales person was actively involved in the process.1

Today it is the seller in B2B who needs to be more thoroughly aware of the market, the buyer’s mindset and their own organization’s messaging.  B2C sellers arrived at this realization much earlier,  now crowds rate products, restaurants and services on social media.  Amazon reports that most filtered searches are for products based on 4-stars or higher, not brands or manufacturers.  Consumers trust other consumers.

After speaking at a recent event, a soon-to-be client approached me indicating she had searched the web on her smartphone, looked at our organization and decided to come hear what we had to say.  She had some questions about next steps. During our conversation she lamented a common refrain, “we don’t get any leads from our website.” 

As a sales leader or chief operating officer, one question you want to ask your marketing pros, what's the bounce rate on your website?  Bounces are single visits where the visitor leaves without clicking on the next link.   A high bounce rate indicates your website could be a dis-qualifier. People visiting may determine that your organization does not have the necessary products or services to meet their needs or worse yet, is unskilled. They will come to that conclusion based on the appearance of your website on their smartphone.  Today, over half of all web searches originate from mobile devices. Yet many websites don't render properly on a mobile device.  In April Google, who owns 65% of the search market, changed their search algorithm, downgrading non-mobile ready sites. If buyers can’t find your website or read it, you are disqualified. You’re not getting any leads from your digital footprint, but your competitors are.

Have you contributed to, commented or shared your company's blog?  Buyers will search for your organization and you.  Showing up for the meeting and having the buyer ask you about your organization's current blog could result in an embarrassing moment.  Because let’s face it, if you aren’t current, why should your buyer trust what you have to say?

Does your organization have clearly defined terms and metrics for demand generation, market qualified leads and sales qualified leads?  If not, you are losing valuable leads and revenue potential.  Are you getting reports from marketing on demand generation from your digital strategies?  Who’s reading what?  What’s been re-Tweeted?  Which topics garnered the most impressions?  You need to know which 3 people from your buyer’s organization downloaded your company’s white paper or interacted with your company’s blog post. 

Early in my career a mentor counselled me, all selling is relational, even commodities.  We were selling petroleum products in bulk at the time.  And while price was important, I learned that relationships trumped price time and time again.  At the core of relationships is a level of trust between seller and buyer.  If the buyer can’t find you, can’t read what they find or doesn’t like what they find, trust will not follow.  

With 69% of the B2B buyer’s journey occurring prior to sales engaging...

Cavete vendit.  

1 2016 Annual Report, 9th Annual Research Project, Sales Benchmark Index, pg. 4.