“People buy from people” is a sales mantra that’s been around for decades, so what’s changed? Quite simply, there is too much at stake for today’s B2B buyer to buy from you just because they like you. I guess in truth, the headline for this post should be titled “Why people don’t buy from people (just because they like them)”. I’ll be honest, this wasn’t quite as catchy, but it is certainly true.
So, let’s look at the what’s changed.
According to a recent Harvard Business School survey, 60% of smartphone users are connected to work for 13.5 hours or more a day. In Britain, 40% of managers say they put in more than 60 hours a week. Your clients’ time is precious and they can no longer afford long, unfocused lunches with salespeople.
Research from the CEB shows that there now an average of 6.8 stakeholders involved in every B2B buying decision. It doesn’t matter how much your client likes you, or how great that lunch was, none of the other people know you and all of them can say ‘no’.
Performance is easier to measure than ever before. Your buyer is under pressure to deliver healthy ROI and if they fail to do so, everyone knows about it. They have to prioritise results over friendships.
The Rain Group’s ‘What sales winners do differently’ looked at 700 B2B purchases across multiple industries and asked buyers: “What are the winners of actual sales opportunities doing differently than the sellers who come in second place?” Here’s what they found:
Today’s busy buyers haven’t got time to simply make friends with sales people or listen to longwinded identikit sales pitches. They want every interaction with a salesperson to be worth paying for in itself. Today’s most effective sellers provide valuable ideas and insights during the sales process. These sellers become the value themselves.
70% of buyers agreed that sales winners didn’t simply make a recommendation, they collaborated with them to craft a solution that appealed to all of the stakeholders within their business.
Sales winners connect the dots between buyer problems and seller solutions. They convince buyers they can achieve maximum return, that the risks are acceptable, and that the seller is the best choice among all options.
People do still buy from people they like. However, relationship selling is more than just a nice lunch and some witty conversation. Now the sales process itself needs to deliver value, solutions should appeal to multiple stakeholders and results need to be real.
Nike transformed their fortunes by focusing on the ‘why’, not the ‘what’ of their product. Are your sales team doing the same? Get in touch with Flume today and start your team’s transformation. Just do it!
For more content on relationship selling, follow us on LinkedIn.
Do ONE crucial thing to boost your 2023 sales success
28th March 2023
Join Flume Live for an introduction to sales velocity – crucial hacks to power your pipeline
23rd March 2023
Selling in a tough climate – 5 key takeaways
14th March 2023
The sales funnel is dead. Long live the sales ‘nail’!
7th March 2023
Preboarding | Onboarding | Everboarding
13th February 2023
Selling in a tough climate – the challenges
31st January 2023
Sales 2023 : Three big questions
30th January 2023
Flume’s trends and predictions for the events industry
30th January 2023
5 Steps to Power your 2023 Pipeline
14th December 2022
5 Key recession-busting sales behaviours
13th December 2022
Sales Innovation Expo 2022 Trends
30th November 2022
How to align your customer success team with your sales process
2nd November 2022
Sales velocity: How to increase average order value in sales
17th October 2022
Sales velocity: Increasing the number of sales opportunities
17th October 2022
28 Sales Acronyms used daily
8th September 2022
Sales velocity: Speeding up the decision-making process
24th August 2022
Sales velocity: How to improve conversion rates
13th July 2022
Sales kick-off meetings: How to use the momentum to power long-term change
17th May 2022
Drive retention and performance through a sales academy
9th March 2022
Call AI: The sales coaching technology you need in 2022
22nd February 2022
Drive real results from sales training in 2022: Why the traditional model doesn’t work
2nd February 2022
Sales Engagement Summit – Hosted by Raoul
16th December 2021
How business development reps can give buyers the confidence to say yes
3rd December 2021
The biggest mistake sales development reps make (and three things you should do instead)
9th November 2021
Five myths you need to know about customer success teams
11th October 2021
The four levers you can pull to increase sales velocity and how to make an impact
1st September 2021
Outcome Based Selling
3rd August 2021
Why most sales training doesn’t work and what to do about it
1st July 2021
3 reasons why writing a proper proposal is worth your time
18th March 2021
How to win a sales pitch…
26th February 2021
Sales Professionals: Why you shouldn’t assume you’ve got remote selling nailed
15th January 2021
Is your sales team ready for 2021?
4th January 2021
Selling Virtual Events
26th November 2020
Why salespeople must be ‘long-term greedy’: A five-step approach to winning more sales
13th November 2020
Closing skills: Why the pandemic has made it even harder to close that deal and what to do about it.
1st November 2020
Post Covid: How to fill your B2B pipeline with customers who do want to speak to you?
5th October 2020
3 steps for monetising virtual events
15th July 2020
Storytelling
18th May 2020
5 tips for closing in the crisis
4th May 2020
Using audience insights to engage with customers
20th April 2020
Biggest challenge of leading a remote sales team
15th April 2020
“Clients don’t want to engage with me”
6th April 2020
The world has changed – what should I sell?
31st March 2020
Leading remote sales teams
30th March 2020
Selling in a crisis
25th March 2020
Proposal writing research: Why your proposal doesn’t work
17th March 2020
How to accelerate your sponsorship revenue
17th February 2020
How selling to the individual increases your chance of them buying by 2x
7th February 2020
New Year, new rules. How to deliver sales training that actually works!
2nd January 2020
Half of B2B sales people will miss their 2020 targets. It’s time to shift perspective.
18th November 2019
Questions that drive more sales
15th November 2019
How to speed up prospect decision making… PART TWO
21st October 2019
How to speed up prospect decision making – PART ONE
14th October 2019
The biggest mistake salespeople make… and how to avoid it
26th July 2019
You have the right to demand more ROI from your sales training (and here’s how you get it)
16th May 2019
How to grow customer accounts this year
22nd March 2019
5 big sales mistakes from this year
23rd December 2018
How to turn the marketing trust crisis into sales opportunity
5th October 2018
Why is it so hard to find great business development talent?
21st September 2018
It might be hot outside but you still need a SCARF.
12th July 2018
The Peter Principle: Great Salesperson, Crap Manager
25th June 2018
The ‘great deal graveyard’ and how to avoid it
8th June 2018
The secret to selling in today’s market: Old-school to New-school
22nd March 2018
Why people DON’T buy from people they like
28th February 2018
What salespeople can learn from Nike
5th February 2018
Why “yes” doesn’t mean YES
26th January 2018
Take charge of your sales career in 2022
15th January 2018
How sales and marketing must work together to deliver results: tips from the front line of B2B selling
20th July 2016
6 facts and stats B2B sales people cannot ignore
26th May 2016
The amazing power of stories and 5 ways to make them sell
15th October 2015
The trouble with Blitz Days and how to increase their effectiveness
7th October 2015