There are plenty of strategy templates and articles out there sharing how to build a sales strategy. They are usually fairly basic and cover important (but not differentiated) topics such as objectives, hiring, compensation, sales activities and the like. These sales strategy documents are incredibly helpful to align your organization. But, here’s the problem: your customer(s) don’t care about your organization’s processes. In fact, they are likely getting in the way of your ability to close deals.
The effects of standardized sales processes on buying decisions are evident. According to the Florida State University Sales Institute research:
- 61% of buyers said sellers don’t understand their buying process.
- 68% said they don’t adapt to their situation.
- 90% of sales conversations were not important to the customer or differentiated.
Think about that – 90% of what they heard was either noise, boring or just flat out annoying.
According to Gartner, there are now 11 people involved in complex B2B buying decisions. (Remember when a few years ago they reported that there were 5 and we all freaked out? Ah, the good old days). Furthermore, they also reported that prior to COVID, only 4 of 10 reps were making quota – despite billions of dollars spent on sales strategies, best practices, training and technology. Below is a quick illustration of the endless cycle of investments vs. ROI. Look familiar?