Buyer Behaviour Has Changed; Is Pipeline Multiple A Distraction?

The traditional B2B sales and marketing funnel is reliant on one thing, money. Spend to put more in the top of the funnel hoping the outcome is more deals. 

Not every company has the budgets required to generate enough pipeline to achieve their growth objectives and partner channels no longer give as much as they once did, despite some amazing advancements in technology and partner programs.

B2B buyer behaviour has changed therefore our approach to developing business must do so to. 

For the most part businesses typically view the world through one lens:

1) the funnel; raising visibility within your target market, searching for and qualifying the very small percentage of businesses in-market for the solution you provide. 

As a result of changing buyer behaviour, the economic headwinds, and traditional approaches no longer being effective, this is affecting business's ability to develop new, meaningful business relationships at scale. The opposing activities between relationship development v’s lead qualification couldn’t be further from each other.  

Whilst the traditional funnel focuses on between 3% and 5% (4% on average) of any given territory in market for the solution provided it is no longer effective as a system as ‘strength of relationship’ between buyer and seller or buyer and vendor is the difference between being included in a vendor selection process or not - and this is only the beginning of the purchase process. 

A relationship begins with a conversation - one that your buyer chooses to have.

We encourage our clients to look at business growth through an additional lens:

2) one that empowers the wider team to focus on the 96% of the target audience not yet in market, to identify quick wins, opportunities invisible to them and build meaningful relationships with the target audience prior to and during the time there's a need. 

The opportunity for maximum growth is in the 96% of your territory not yet in market. With potential buyers more receptive to building a relationship, learning about new topics or different perspectives about familiar topics. It’s here your buyer is more open to developing a relationship and builds a level of trust toward you and your team, when relationship is the first priority of the day and not selling. The term selling without selling is one I’ve used for a number of years. It is possible to do your job without making your buyer feel like they are being sold to. But that requires training, coaching and a lot of practise.  

B2B Sales and marketing has moved on significantly in recent years as a result of changing buyer behaviour, buyers no longer want to be spoken to by sales people, unless they are ready and then it’s too late, buyers are doing their research behind close doors, with friends, colleagues and trusted communities. Buyers have lost faith in vendor website information and the once trusted blog or white paper created by vendors. 

Until business leaders realise their differentiating value is in their people and empower them to be that, it will be a continuous race to the bottom for many.  

Flip the traditional sales and marketing funnel in the eyes of your people so they act as micro-influencers, activating and growing their networks, standing out and looking different, increasing the likelihood your audience will walk towards your business.

How Supero can help

Our methodology provides training and coaching to your existing team, balancing current workload with the activities that elevate your brands visibility across your target audience, brands and partners alike and generate a consistent flow of new business conversations.

We work with our clients to;

1. Develop their teams digital twin, help them create buyer centric profiles that lead your target audience to the conclusion you want them to
2. Activate their existing digital networks and provide a network growth strategy aligned to their and the business' commercial objectives
3. We teach them how to create authentic, humanised content that makes them stand out, look like the experts they are to your target audience, encouraging your potential buyers to walk towards YOU and your company. 

This combined approach will elevate your business and your people into your target audience’ line of sight and keep them and you there until the time is right to buy. And the best bit is, with a relationship already developed you’re in a prime position to earn trusted advisor status quickly and increase your probability to win. 

We are the first company in the world to develop a set of social selling performance benchmarks across a range of experience levels.

We analysed performance across a range of sales roles, from SDR's, sales rep's to experienced sales and business leader (the averages of which are):

▶ 9% conversation rate - the number of calls completed for every 100 asked 

▶ 33.6% call progression rate - with a meaningful next step agreed

▶ 32.1% align on value - otherwise known as qualified opportunity

With these social selling benchmarks it is possible to predict pipeline generation and revenue growth, based on two strategic value levers. 

1) Talent acquisition - the type of and number of your workforce to up-skill

2) Skill level - the experience and skill level achieved

We have also developed a Value Selling Framework that can be tailored to your business using your language, to progress conversations, strengthen pipeline, improve close rates and accuracy in forecasting.  Together it’s called the Digital Value Selling methodology - a flexible framework that can work with any existing sales methodology or used as a standalone solution to drive growth for your business. 

Thank you for reading my article. With 23 years in B2B sales and marketing experience, selling SaaS and Services solutions to I’ve found there are three things critical to the success of any growth focused business, hiring top talent, enablement and community, for employees, customers and partners alike.  

Learn about our approach, explore if this could work for you and your business, drop me a DM LinkedIn or find my contact details in my contact section.

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