The buying environment faced by many sellers today is volatile: it almost seems as if the once-reliable commercial approaches no longer apply. But for CEOs and GTM leaders looking to capture the immense growth potential in 2024, it’s time for them to consider a revolution in how their companies approach their customers' shifting concerns and expectations.
For leaders who face this risk of unpredictability in trying to secure deals, our survey of 643 B2B buyers has uncovered valuable insights into the realities faced by buyers today and what you can do to get ahead of a rapidly evolving buying environment.
Decision Dynamics: Consensus is just the first step
Buying groups are getting larger, and it’s not just the usual stakeholders. In addition to the core members, there are now more ad-hoc members involved in the decision-making process, making up half of the average 12 members in a buying group. Critically, senior executives and even CEOs could be part of the ad-hoc group, allowing them to veto any consensus that may have been achieved earlier, forcing sellers to start from square one.
Based on our discussions with surveyed buyers, we discovered several developments in the buying decision process:
- 78 percent of buyers agree that their decisions had been overruled by senior executives
- 41 percent of buying groups had direct CEO involvement in decision-making
While the buying process is no stranger to executive approval, sellers today can expect to see much greater involvement from senior leadership, who at any point can delay or stop the purchase if they no longer deem the decision to be relevant to their strategic priorities.
For sellers to succeed under increased scrutiny, commercial teams must evolve their approach to expect and prioritize executive demands. Commercial teams must prepare value propositions targeted at C-suite buyers and begin tracking executive involvement. By leveraging a more nuanced understanding of the buyer’s evolving business situation, representatives are given more insights to engage executives in strategic conversations.
Digital Fatigue is Eroding Buyers’ Trust
Who is in the buying group can slow deals down, but sales friction can also come from how sellers communicate with buyers. While buyers have utilized digital and in-person touchpoints to engage with sellers over the years, an increasingly volatile buying journey can make re-engaging with representatives exhausting.
In our survey, we asked buyers their preferred ways of interacting with sellers. We found that if they had to choose, a significant portion of them would prefer in-person engagements, with over 95 percent of buyers feeling they were more enjoyable, trustworthy, and effective. It’s clear that buyers have been going through digital fatigue over the years since the pandemic, and in an environment filled with changes, they need a trusted partner more than ever.
For sellers, this means buyers will choose suppliers that they feel understand their goals. They want a partner they can trust to resolve unpredictability in their business and a supplier that understands how change can impact their needs. Achieving commercial excellence will start with getting the right commercial talent and developing them to build trust with buyers. Commercial teams need to demonstrate to buyers that they are more than just suppliers; they are extensions of the team with their best interests at heart.
SBI is hosting a webinar to provide an in-depth discussion on this topic. Here's the link to the registration page: Reviving Commercial Productivity Requires Easing Buying Friction.
