Being Prepared Shows You Care!

By Michael J Griffin of ELAvate

3 minute read

I have often encountered the sales training ‘flavor of the month’ called “Sales Enablement.” This is possibly is an oxymoron! Why? I thought B2B salespeople are in the business of “Buyer Enablement?” I believe our role when in discussion with the customer is to shepherd the him/her to a mutually beneficial decision on moving forward. This means a decision is a Win3 for the customer, you and your organization.
 
Having the attitude to serve the customer for win3 buyer enablement is the start. You need though to back it up with very good preparation as most times the B2B customer is very well prepared. Gartner research back this up.
 
In B2B decisions, what percent of the buying function time is spent by customer talking with a salesperson? Only 17%! You better be prepared!
 

Buying Function                                                         % of Time Spent

• Total time in meeting with potential suppliers              17%

• Time spent independently on online research              27%

• Time spent in meeting with the buyer group                 22%

• Time spent independently on offline research              18%

• Other                                                                                       16%

• Total                                                                                       100%

What this means is the B2B salesperson must be prepared and skillful to enable the customer to make a good buying decision hopefully employing your product or solution. Remember, being prepared shows you care but also that you are professional and value the customer’s time and effort to make good buying decisions. Being prepared shows you care AND is your competitive advantage.
 
Being a prepared B2B salesperson involves the following activities:
 
         Doing customer research - the prospect, buying process and culture
            Doing market and industry research
            Being fluent in your solution features and benefits
            Employing your business discussion and selling skills effectively
            Employing a sales call planner to prepare your customer discussion
            Getting your sales coach advice on moving the account forward
            Ensuring your laptop is equipped with back up information to share
            Being aware of your attitude, stress level, and distractors
            Being early for the appointment
            Any others you may think of
 
Using this simple checklist helps you and the customer have a more fruitful discussion that creates more positive “buyer enablement.”
 
In case you are interested in reading the “buyer enablement” research, click on this link to take you to the Gartner website to download this informative report.
 
Have a great week enabling your customers to buy your solution!
 
Michael J Griffin
Founder ELAvate
Sales Productivity Consultant