ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Research
from CEB (NYSE: CEB), a best practice insight and
technology company and the creators of the Challenger™ Selling model, shows that 51 percent of customers who might be willing to buy from a supplier are not
willing to advocate for them and help them get deals over the finish line. This is a direct result of the difficult, internal
buying process. Unfortunately, sales organizations lack a true understanding of their customers and are unable to simplify the
complexities of buying for them.
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"Willingness to buy is not the same as willingness to advocate; suppliers need customers to advocate and fight for them to get
deals done today," said Brent Adamson, principal executive advisor at CEB and co-author of
The Challenger Sale and The Challenger Customer. "In order to move past 'good enough' and 'status quo,' suppliers need
to go beyond just understanding how customers interact with them, to gaining a thorough understanding of how they work, what is
important to them and how they interact with each other."
In the five years since the introduction of the Challenger model, CEB has found that while B2B buyers are undoubtedly
empowered to learn – completing 57 percent of the purchase process before engaging a sales rep – they are nonetheless struggling
to buy. In fact, 39 percent of customers report they are overwhelmed by the buying process. Much of that buying challenge arises
from the rapidly growing number of customer stakeholders now involved in the purchase decision (which has risen from 5.4
stakeholders in 2014 to 6.8 in 2016) as each of those stakeholders comes to the table with different, often competing,
objectives, metrics and priorities. In this environment, it's no wonder that customer champions are often unwilling customer
advocates.
In order to overcome these challenges, suppliers must learn to address:
- Empowered customer learners
- Large and diverse buying groups
- Overwhelmed buyers
Leading sales organizations do this by teaching their customers a new way to view their own
business (Challenging), connecting customer stakeholders to one another (Aligning) and guiding customers across the hurdles they
will face throughout the buying process (Prescribing).
CHALLENGE
The best sales organizations understand what their customers' goals are and how they plan to achieve those goals. They
then seek ways to credibly demonstrate to customers that they've overlooked an opportunity to make money, save money or mitigate
risk despite all of their independent learning. They do this through concrete insights specifically tailored to that customer's current operations and competitive
landscape. This kind of insight allows suppliers to compete against competitors' sales ability and customers' learning
ability at the same time.
ALIGN
With an ever-growing number of customer stakeholders involved in the buying process today, sales organizations need to
better understand each of the various stakeholders that impact deals – who they are, how they connect and what motivates them.
Rather than building tighter connections to each stakeholder independently, leading sales organizations work to identify and
overcome the points of disconnect among those stakeholders, connecting these stakeholders to one another and driving them towards consensus. This helps
suppliers avoid lowest common denominators of "do nothing," "save money" and "study it more" that unaligned customers are likely
to achieve on their own.
PRESCRIBE
"Great sales organizations make it easy for customers to buy. They do this by understanding the anticipated and
unanticipated obstacles customers may face throughout the entire purchase process," added Adamson. Too often, suppliers provide
customers with more information and options to be flexible to their requests. This kind of "responsive approach," however, only
exacerbates customers' struggles to buy. Instead, leading sales organizations adopt a prescriptive approach to buying, providing
customers clear, credible recommendations throughout the entirety of the customer's purchase process to help anticipate problems
and ease decisions.
CEB's Challenger™ model
is based on the research and insights featured in the best-selling books The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer
Conversation (Penguin, 2011) and The Challenger Customer: Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your
Results (Penguin, 2015). Both have been named Wall Street Journal best-sellers, been featured in media outlets around
the globe and have helped shape the successful sales and marketing transformations at numerous Fortune 500 organizations. To learn more about CEB's
full suite of Sales and Marketing offerings, visit us at
www.cebglobal.com
About CEB
CEB is a best practice insight and technology company. In partnership with leading organizations around the globe, we
develop innovative solutions to drive corporate performance. CEB equips leaders at more than 10,000 companies with the
intelligence to effectively manage talent, customers, and operations. CEB is a trusted partner to nearly 90% of the
Fortune 500 and FTSE 100, and more than 70% of the Dow Jones Asian Titans. More at cebglobal.com.
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SOURCE CEB