Your Sales Process is Not Buyer Centric, Mr./Ms. CRO
Nov 20, 2024
Revolutionizing Your Sales Process: Are You Still Seller-Centric?** 
Most sales processes are designed for sellers, not buyers. And it’s costing you millions.
If your sales stages are named Discovery, Demo, POC (Proof of Concept), and Negotiation, you might not realize it, but you’re running a sales-centric process. Let’s dive into why this is a problem and how shifting to a buyer-centric approach can transform your sales outcomes.
The Problem with Seller-Centric Processes
1. Focus on Seller Activities, Not Buyer Needs:
- A sales-centric process highlights what the Account Executive (AE) is doing rather than what the buyer truly needs. For instance, just because you’re moving from discovery to demo doesn’t mean there isn’t more to learn about the buyer’s needs. Discovery should be a continuous process throughout the sales cycle. The terminology used in these stages can mislead AEs into believing that they have completed their learning phase.
2. Pushing for Sales Activities Over Buying Activities:
- Your process might pressure AEs to push for the next sales activity instead of focusing on the buyer’s journey. For example, after finishing demos, the buyer may not be ready for a POC; they might need to build a business case first. If a CFO is involved early on, asking questions about ROI, it’s crucial to address these concerns instead of rushing to the next step.
3. Premature Closure Attempts:
- When AEs finish a POC, they may believe the deal is ready to close, but the buyer might still be working on gaining internal consensus. If the AE pushes for closure too soon, it could jeopardize the deal as the buyer hasn’t yet confirmed the urgency of solving their critical problem.
Introducing a Buyer-Centric Process
1. Stage Names Reflect Buyer Tasks:
- In a buyer-centric process, stage names align with the buyer’s internal tasks. For example, stages like Problem Alignment, Needs Assessment, Evaluation, and Decision help AEs understand that discovery is an ongoing effort. This approach emphasizes that consensus about the problem must be reached before proceeding to a POC.
2. Stages Based on Buying Objectives:
- While AEs may still conduct Discovery Calls, Demos, and POCs, a buyer-centric process integrates activities that facilitate the buying journey, such as Business Case Building, Multithreading, and Co-creating Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), Return on Investment (ROI), Cost of Inaction (COI), and Market Access Plans (MAP).
3. Exit Criteria Tied to Buyer Progress:
- Instead of measuring success by phrases like “Finished Demos with 2-3 key stakeholders,” consider using criteria such as “High priority problem confirmed by 2-3 key stakeholders.” This small change makes a significant difference, as it ensures that both the seller and buyer are moving forward together.
TAKEAWAY:
From 2010 to 2021, AEs needed a standardized process to follow. However, transactional sales are dead, as is the era of Growth At All Costs. Today, 95% of sales teams encounter multiple stakeholders and intense budget scrutiny. If your team isn’t facing these challenges, it’s an outlier, or it will soon be replaced by AI and Product-Led Growth (PLG) strategies.
Adjusting your sales process to reflect how buyers actually buy can empower your sellers to become truly helpful, ultimately leading to increased deal closures.
Most sales processes are designed for sellers, not buyers. And it’s costing you millions.
If your sales stages are named Discovery, Demo, POC (Proof of Concept), and Negotiation, you might not realize it, but you’re running a sales-centric process. Let’s dive into why this is a problem and how shifting to a buyer-centric approach can transform your sales outcomes.
The Problem with Seller-Centric Processes
1. Focus on Seller Activities, Not Buyer Needs:
- A sales-centric process highlights what the Account Executive (AE) is doing rather than what the buyer truly needs. For instance, just because you’re moving from discovery to demo doesn’t mean there isn’t more to learn about the buyer’s needs. Discovery should be a continuous process throughout the sales cycle. The terminology used in these stages can mislead AEs into believing that they have completed their learning phase.
2. Pushing for Sales Activities Over Buying Activities:
- Your process might pressure AEs to push for the next sales activity instead of focusing on the buyer’s journey. For example, after finishing demos, the buyer may not be ready for a POC; they might need to build a business case first. If a CFO is involved early on, asking questions about ROI, it’s crucial to address these concerns instead of rushing to the next step.
3. Premature Closure Attempts:
- When AEs finish a POC, they may believe the deal is ready to close, but the buyer might still be working on gaining internal consensus. If the AE pushes for closure too soon, it could jeopardize the deal as the buyer hasn’t yet confirmed the urgency of solving their critical problem.
Introducing a Buyer-Centric Process
1. Stage Names Reflect Buyer Tasks:
- In a buyer-centric process, stage names align with the buyer’s internal tasks. For example, stages like Problem Alignment, Needs Assessment, Evaluation, and Decision help AEs understand that discovery is an ongoing effort. This approach emphasizes that consensus about the problem must be reached before proceeding to a POC.
2. Stages Based on Buying Objectives:
- While AEs may still conduct Discovery Calls, Demos, and POCs, a buyer-centric process integrates activities that facilitate the buying journey, such as Business Case Building, Multithreading, and Co-creating Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), Return on Investment (ROI), Cost of Inaction (COI), and Market Access Plans (MAP).
3. Exit Criteria Tied to Buyer Progress:
- Instead of measuring success by phrases like “Finished Demos with 2-3 key stakeholders,” consider using criteria such as “High priority problem confirmed by 2-3 key stakeholders.” This small change makes a significant difference, as it ensures that both the seller and buyer are moving forward together.
TAKEAWAY:
From 2010 to 2021, AEs needed a standardized process to follow. However, transactional sales are dead, as is the era of Growth At All Costs. Today, 95% of sales teams encounter multiple stakeholders and intense budget scrutiny. If your team isn’t facing these challenges, it’s an outlier, or it will soon be replaced by AI and Product-Led Growth (PLG) strategies.
Adjusting your sales process to reflect how buyers actually buy can empower your sellers to become truly helpful, ultimately leading to increased deal closures.