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The Fifth Buying Stage

December 31, 2014 //
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The first four stages of the B2B buying process – at least as far as I’m concerned – are awareness of a problem or opportunity, defining that problem or opportunity, briefing the requirements to fix the problem or capitalise on the opportunity and evaluating the alternatives.

The fifth stage is selecting the best of the available alternatives. This is the narrowing down of the candidates to one preferred candidate and negotiating with them on the terms of the deal. This is where the risks start to further increase for the buying company, since they are moving towards investment and tying themselves in with a supplier for some defined period of time.  There is also the opportunity cost of not going with any of the other alternatives to consider.

As with the fourth stage, the selection phase can take a frustratingly long time for both buying and selling organisation, but it’s important that the terms are correct and fair for both parties for the long term welfare of the partnership.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales

The Fourth Buying Stage

December 29, 2014 //
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In our series of posts, dear reader, on the buying process for B2B companies, we covered awareness of a problem or opportunity, defining that problem or opportunity, and briefing the requirements.

The next stage, the fourth as far as I’m concerned, is where the company evaluates its alternatives. Among these alternatives might be answers to the following questions:

– do we have to do anything?

– can we do it ourselves or internally?

– if we can’t do it ourselves, who shall we evaluate?

– how shall we evaluate them?

If the answer to the first question is yes, and the answer to the second is ‘no’, then you have a buying situation, and not before.

Evaluation of the buying alternatives can take many forms, mini stages and time before the buying company can move to the next buying stage. The bottom line, though, is that the company should select the alternative that best fits their unique set of requirements.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales

The Third Buying Stage

December 26, 2014 //
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In previous posts on the buying process for B2B companies, I shared my view that the first buying stage is awareness of a problem or opportunity, followed by the second stage, namely defining that problem or opportunity.

The third stage is the brief, where the company sets out its requirements for removing the barrier to achieving its objectives. The brief can come in many forms, from the ultra-short verbal brief, to the more formal requests for information, quote, or proposal, through to the ultra-formal Invitation to Tender.

At this stage companies may still decide they can meet these requirements internally, that they don’t need to go for outside help. Don’t forget that for you the selling organisation your two biggest competitors are ‘internal solution’ or ‘do nothing’.

Most importantly, the requirements stage is where the customer outlines what they think they need. They might not need what they think they need. Crucially too, they’re pre-occupied with the ‘what’.

They’re not as focused on the ‘why‘, which is the key question, nor the ‘how’, which is down to you.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Planning, Sales, Strategy

The Second Buying Stage

December 24, 2014 //
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If the first buying stage is awareness of a problem or opportunity during normal business operations, the second buying stage in the B2B buying process is an acknowledgement and definition of the problem to be solved, or the opportunity to be captured.

Your prospective customer – or existing customer – has identified that there is a barrier to achieving an objective, or to capitalising fully on the opportunity that has come to light. Something is broken and they need to change the way they do things. At this stage, they haven’t decided if they can fix the problem internally, such as by reallocating their resources. They still might need to go outside their organisation and invest in your product or service.

In this buying stage the customer needs to define these three important questions:

– what are we trying to achieve?

– what is currently broken that is stopping us from getting there?

– what will happen if we don’t fix what’s broken?

Companies are generally very good at answering the first two questions, but less good at quantifying or qualifying the the answer to the third question, which is effectively the ‘opportunity cost’ of not doing something.

Once the customer has defined their problem, they’re in a position to move forward. If they can’t articulate their problem, they’ve got problems, plural.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Planning, Sales, Strategy

The First Buying Stage

December 22, 2014 //
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I’m beginning, dear reader, a series of posts on the various buying stages for business-to-business customers. These buying stages correspond – as you’re probably sick of reading on this blog by now – to the sales stages of the selling organisation.

There will inevitably be generalisations, and of course you should adapt – through experimentation – what I say to your own customer groupings, but in the main the vast majority of this holds true. The terms, jargon and definitions may vary, but the essence is the same.

The challenge for the selling organisation is that nowadays it’s possible for the buying organisation to complete quite a few of the buying stages without the selling organisation ever knowing. So, unless you’re on top of your game and the available technologies, sales may simply pass you by.

So, back to the first stage. This stage is what I call ‘ongoing’. It’s the ongoing operation of the business. It’s in the day-to-day running of the customer’s business that problems, issues or opportunities arise. It’s the stage where the customer first becomes aware – awareness is the key behaviour here – that a situation exists that they need to address or capitalise on. This is the inflexion point where the company starts to contemplate spending money in order to make more money than they’re spending.

This is also the stage where companies are also evaluating the investments they’ve already made, reviewing their performance and making decisions about whether they will reinvest. As such, this stage both starts and completes the buying cycle.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales

The Poison of Perfection

December 19, 2014 //
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‘When I play the perfect set of tennis,’ I used to say to myself, ‘a set I couldn’t improve on in any way, I’m going to hang up my racquet and never play again.’ I’m still playing. You can’t get to perfection, nothing’s ever perfect for anything other than a fleeting moment.

It always used to amaze me that you’d find typos in printed books, especially first editions. Who’s checking these things? I would mark the errors on my copy, contemplate contacting the author – especially if I knew them – and never get round to doing it. I used to be a voracious reader of Seth Godin’s daily blog. Very rarely, because his work is pretty meticulous, I would find a typo, maybe once every 200 posts. I would send Mr G a note with the correction and he would unfailingly acknowledge me, like he has nothing else to do. I don’t do it any more.

The same applies to our working lives I think. Whatever you’re doing, it won’t ever be perfect! You occasionally get these very exciting periods during a land-grab, dot com-type situation where people talk about ‘ready, fire, aim.’ ‘Just get it out there,’ they say. ‘It’s good enough.’ When you’re in those periods it seems like you need to move so fast that good enough is all you have time for.

I’m not saying you should give up and get it out there. The ‘perfect’ approach is to aim for somewhere in the middle, between ready, fire, aim and perfect. Exactly where in the middle is down – or up – to you. You should always give something your best shot, or there’s no point doing it. It needs to be more than good enough. It needs to be the best you can do, in the time available.

You can always change something, tweak something, improve it or correct it a touch, with one more iteration. At some point, time is up, and you have to hit the ‘go’ button. As I was fond of saying, ‘life’s too short, and so am I.’

‘Perfect’ poisons you. Your best shot is your best shot.

 

 

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Categories Communication, Customers, Marketing, Planning, Sales, Strategy

Paranoia and Trench Warfare

December 17, 2014 //
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How do leaders and leading companies stay at the top? What keeps them innovating, trying, extending, refusing ever to rest on their collective laurels?

I think it’s a mindset, a mentality if you like. I’ve observed it in companies that I’ve had dealings with who were the acknowledged leaders in their field, and all of us as consumers are on the receiving end of leading  – and also-ran – products and services.

Two types of mindset seem to provide a constant focus for the intensity of winners. The first is paranoia. It’s the healthy version where you know you can’t stand still, you can’t rest on your laurels, or your last product, or your last quarter. There’s always someone coming up behind you, looking to take your place and be at the top of the tree. Someone’s out to get you. Fear of competition is a constant catalyst.

The second is the mentality of trench warfare. Even when they’re the stand-out leader in their field, the number 1 is constantly active, constantly ducking and diving, picking battles at close quarters, presenting a moving target to competitors, living to fight another day.

They’re not paranoid and fighting for themselves, however, they’re fighting for their customers, in every sense of the phrase. The new ones, the ones they have, and the ones they want.

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Categories Customers, Sales, Strategy

Who is your Supplier of the Year?

December 15, 2014 //
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In any type of business, the general idea is that you pay a supplier for something which you then make better, pass on or add to, in order to be able to sell on to someone else at a profit. This is true when you make and sell products. When you’re in the services business, your suppliers are generally your staff, or perhaps contractors, so it’s a little different.

One of the things I mentioned in my very first post was that we’re generally focused on our customers, but hardly ever our suppliers. We fawn over our customers, treat them like royalty, we’ll do anything for them. Our suppliers? Well, we treat them less well, we hammer them down to improve our margins, we give them the runaround when we have to. After all, they’re our suppliers, right? They’re lower down the food chain than us, or the supply chain at least.

Here’s a question for you: when was the last time you gave your best supplier an award? You put them on a pedestal and made them your supplier of the year, amid much fanfare? I remember listening to a presentation over 20 years ago from a much admired member of the graphic design community, long since dead, who talked about how his company was made a supplier of the year and how it caused him to totally rethink his own relationship with his suppliers.

Remember that your supply chain is often where you can get the early intelligence on emerging trends in your industry, so your suppliers can often become the source of your competitive advantage. Treat your suppliers well, treat them like partners, and good things will happen to you. Amplify and celebrate your best suppliers. They deserve it, they’ll thank you for it and it will serve you well in the long run.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales, Strategy

The Two Types of Busy

December 12, 2014 //
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There are two types of busy.

In our yin and yang working lives, the first type of busy is the productive type, where you are focused, you have the end goal in mind, and you are getting through stuff. You’re giving people what they need to progress their own projects and they’re giving you what you need for success. You’re like a machine, energised, nothing can stop you. This is good busy.

The other type of busy is bad busy. You’re bogged down, maybe in admin, you’re doing tasks of low value, you’re switching between tasks and not getting them done. You can’t reach the people you need and the stuff that people need from you is long or difficult to complete. You’re frustrated and annoyed. You’re not productive.

It goes without saying that you need to maximise good busy, and minimise bad busy. How do you achieve this? By planning, being honest with yourself and others, setting the right expectations and executing. In other words, working smarter. Working smarter is always good busy.

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Categories Customers, Marketing, Sales

The Internet and Inferiority

December 1, 2014 //
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Years ago, we used to read about the people whose exploits in a certain field brought them fame and fortune. They inspired us and encouraged us to get to their heady heights.

If we were lucky, we got to see them do what they were the best at, and if we were really lucky, maybe we got to actually meet them once.

Then we got to listen to them or watch them on electronic devices as they made the ridiculously difficult look easy. We were more regularly exposed to the greatness of modern day gladiators, the greatness that we admired but didn’t yet have.

Nowadays, the Internet assails us with a 24/7 bombardment of greatness, or people claiming greatness. It’s especially true in business, where you hear success stories in sales, marketing, technology and social media – and they’re simply the ones I tend to see – on a more or less constant basis. Of course, the people getting all the lion’s share of the attention are the leaders in their field, or they’re doing a very good job of moving in that direction. They are today’s business heroes.

It’s easy to get an inferiority complex when you’re swamped by information from people who seem to be better than you at what you do. They must be better, right, because it’s here for all to see?

I try to stay focused on what I’m doing, learning from the great ideas out there, and trying things that are proven to have worked, but mostly staying true to my own instinct and my own path.

The Internet is an amazing, inspiring mechanism, but it can also be a hugely distracting and detracting one.

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Categories Communication, General, Marketing, Sales
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