Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 18, 2024

I go back to the data on how buying cycles are getting longer, customers are uncertain, they wander, they shift priorities, they struggle with getting alignment, they start, stop, and too often, fail. And, counterintuitively, buying cycles reduce by 30-40% because we are helping them navigate the process efficiently and effectively.

Customer 119

Customer Revelation Buying Cycle Lead Rank 119

Customer Centric Selling

MARCH 20, 2013

Sales Training Article: Electronic Starts to Buying Cycles By John Holland, Chief Content Officer, CustomerCentric Selling® - The Sales Training Company This article is a continuation from last week's article , as part of the IIWII ("It Is What It Is") series. Need some help with your sales performance?

Buying Cycle 45

Buying Cycle Training Lead Rank Lead Scoring 45

Customer Centric Selling

DECEMBER 31, 2014

Sales Tips: Know the Difference Between Buyers - and Researchers. Recent studies would have you believe as much as 80% of buying activities are complete before salespeople are involved. For complex B2B offerings, research is done mostly by non-Key Players wanting to learn about offerings without sellers influencing their requirements.

Research 92

Research Buyer Buying Cycle Vendor 92

The Pipeline

MARCH 7, 2019

Buying cycles have expanded more than measurably. As highlighted in a piece on LinkedIn , based on research by the then CEB, while there is no shortage of information available to buyers, value as a salesperson now is in providing context, insight and confidence in moving forward.

Buying Cycle 244

Buying Cycle Education Commission Buyer 244

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 3, 2023

Too often, sellers catch customers who are very late in their buying cycle. We know, through research, that 60% of these opportunities end in no decision made—so we and our competitors are hitting our goals with the 40% that do make a buying decision. And the buying cycles are shorter! 30-40% shorter!

Buying Cycle 117

Buying Cycle Up-Sell Opportunity Google 117

Allego

JULY 20, 2021

Balancing Selling and Buying Cycles: What Good Selling Is. Good selling, of course, is grounded in creating an exceptional buying experience. They tend to focus on the selling cycle versus the buying cycle. But the selling cycle, of course, is all about you and your timeline. Learn More.

Buyer 133

Buyer B2B Buying Cycle Face-to-face 133

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 25, 2015

It’s that time of year again, there are lots of posts around the popular research that indicates, “Customers aren’t engaging sales until they are, 57, 70, 90 (depending on the research you read) through their buying cycle.” There is too much at stake for them to wait.

Buying Cycle 48

Buying Cycle Ideal Customer Profile Customer Education 48

Zoominfo

MARCH 29, 2023

This often leads to larger buying committees, more avenues for approval, and elongated buying cycles. Vendr, a SaaS buying platform, recently found that sales cycles for software have settled at about 46 days, a 40% increase since 2020. And above all, know how your product or service can make their jobs easier.

Sales Cycle 130

Sales Cycle Intent Signal Lead Rank Decision Maker 130

SBI Growth

AUGUST 25, 2013

Instead, their buyer was engaging with sales later in their buying cycle. The frontline of the buying cycle is research and information gathering. In 2011, the Sales Executive Council reported the average B2B buyer engaged with a vendor 57% of the way through their buying cycle. The reason was simple.

Buying Cycle 314

Buying Cycle Collateral Software Software 314

Sales and Marketing Management

AUGUST 14, 2017

If your offerings are $50K or higher, be prepared when following up to talk with people that: Don’t have the authority to buy. Have already researched multiple vendors. There are several advantages of making proactive attempts to start buying cycles: You can start at levels that have the authority to create budget.

Gatekeeper 249

Gatekeeper Buying Cycle Call-back Face-to-face 249

Sales and Marketing Management

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

Teaser: By the time a customer engages a salesperson, they’re 60 percent of the way through their buying cycle and have done most of their research online. By the time a customer engages a salesperson, they’re 60 percent of the way through their buying cycle and have done most of their research online.

Buying Cycle 191

Buying Cycle Research Customer Sales 191

Partners in Excellence

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

There is research and other data supporting this. What about customers wanting “rep free buying experiences.” What might change is we figured out, “How do we create great buying experiences through our sales people?” ” When do we ask, “Why? Is this the right thing for them?

Buying Cycle 113

Buying Cycle Outbound Data Channels 113

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 4, 2023

His research showed those being customer focused outperformed those being more product focused by more than 2-1. For decades, we’ve seen data and research contrasting these approaches. And, perhaps, that’s successful because customers are engaging us later and later in their buying cycles.

Customer 105

Customer Scale Buying Cycle Discount 105

Sales and Marketing Management

JANUARY 26, 2018

It’s called buying by committee. According to recent research, an average B2B decision involves more than a dozen individuals over many months, or even years. Now, imagine if you could influence that complex internal buying journey much earlier - reaching everyone who could influence your project.

Account Based Marketing 236

Account Based Marketing B2B Marketing Buying Cycle 236

No More Cold Calling

AUGUST 16, 2018

New research from McKinsey finds that the digital world requires a human touch for salespeople to excel. The researchers write: There’s no doubt that digital is rocket fuel for sales organizations. But most likely 57 percent of reps won’t make quota this year. Or better yet, some old ones. Read the rest of the article.).

Fashion 219

Fashion Buying Cycle Social Media Survey 219

Emissary

DECEMBER 1, 2022

Featuring Seleste Lunsford, Chief Research & Strategy Officer at Emissary and Emissary Advisor Voislav Sauca, former CISO, Santander. Banks have a reputation for a long buying cycle and can take up to two years or more. Why does it take banks so long to make purchases?

Banking 98

Banking Buying Cycle Vendor Enterprise 98

DiscoverOrg Sales

DECEMBER 18, 2017

B2B buyers research solutions months before buying. According to Salesforce, 94% of B2B buyers conduct online research at some point in the buying process. Sales should also understand prefered methods of engagement and buying cycles. Get your Content Mapping and Matrix templates in our latest free eBook!

Account Based Marketing 181

Account Based Marketing Data Ideal Customer Profile eBook 181

Zoominfo

JULY 5, 2023

In partnering with ZoomInfo, the company was aiming to align its sales and marketing teams around the same goals and metrics, and to target prospects early in the buying cycle to deliver the most tailored experience possible. BlueOcean is also using retrospective research to capitalize on new opportunities.

Ideal Customer Profile 130

Ideal Customer Profile Direct Mail Strategy Customer 130

Zoominfo

DECEMBER 28, 2020

They’re customers’ verbal buying signals—the cues your sales agent homes in on when talking to a prospect. And they’re online buying signals—the data trail—that prospective buyers leave as they research solutions online. How to Spot Buying Signals When B2B buyers need to solve a problem, they start researching online.

Lead Rank 100

Lead Rank Intent Data Closing Marketing Qualified Lead 100

Sales and Marketing Management

DECEMBER 14, 2020

This technology must be combined with research, engagement and technical aptitude in order to be effective and produce results. As many companies currently slow their buying cycles or freeze them completely, intelligent virtual selling is one of the only ways to overcome these uncertainties. You had to get it right.

Face-to-face 156

Face-to-face Conference Ideal Customer Profile Hotels 156

BuzzBoard

MARCH 28, 2024

This initial step requires extensive market research to understand potential customer needs and challenges. Most potential clients are digitally fluent and have conducted extensive product comparisons and research before even contacting a salesperson, moving the sales model from seller-centric to buyer-centric.

Webinar Metrics 98

Webinar Metrics Case Study Comparison Small Business 98

SalesLoft

JANUARY 22, 2020

According to TOPO’s latest Sales Process Design research, “ The sales process must match the buying journey. The first step is to understand how customers typically buy a similar solution. At SalesLoft, we’ve witnessed the power of aligning the sales process with the buying cycle. “By

Sales Process 122

Sales Process Buyer Buying Cycle Hubspot 122

Partners in Excellence

JANUARY 25, 2024

The old Challenger data shows customers typically involve vendors when they are about 60% through their buying process. That data is at least 10 years old, and based on what we see in most buying cycles is that buyers defer vendor engagement until as late as possible. And we see buying cycles reduce by 30-40%.

Competition 107

Competition Customer Buying Cycle Vendor 107

Pointclear

MAY 7, 2013

In 2002, Tony established the first buyer persona research methodology designed specifically for B2B marketing and sales. Interestingly, in recent years even vendors and suppliers have increased in importance in the buying cycle because of the way buyers are now networked. My guest today is Tony Zambito. Study Lead Behavior.

Buyer 189

Buyer Buyer Persona Buying Cycle Sales Qualified Lead 189

Pointclear

OCTOBER 8, 2013

One must also understand that today’s lower level contacts are doing the majority of the legwork of researching possible solutions because higher level decision makers don''t have time. Watch today''s PowerMinute to learn how to establish a meaningful lead definition that matches today’s buy cycle.

Lead Rank 230

Lead Rank Lead Scoring Leads Marketing Qualified Lead 230

Zoominfo

MAY 25, 2021

Training wasn’t as immersive as it needed to be, either, says Gupta, who recently co-authored a research paper on this topic for the Journal of Business Research. Perhaps this drawn-out buying cycle explains why automation has taken so long to truly gain hold at companies despite Harvard Business Review’s early endorsement.

Marketing 252

Marketing Decision Maker Telecommunications Lead Rank 252

Zoominfo

APRIL 20, 2022

A more nuanced understanding of marketing’s effect on the sales cycles, a better case for increased budgets, and another step forward in the age-old struggle for better sales and marketing alignment. Data from Forrester Research shows how rapidly marketing metrics are changing. In 2020, that figure was down to 47%.

Account Based Marketing 130

Account Based Marketing Marketing Lead Rank Top of Funnel 130

SBI Growth

APRIL 26, 2013

So I asked the next logical question: “ Tell me about your buyer research; How do you do it? ” Unfortunately, most marketers are ill-equipped to do in-depth Buyer Research. In-depth buyer research captures both the articulated and unarticulated aspects of buyer thinking and decision-making. A Framework for Buyer Research.

Customer 316

Customer Buyer Persona Survey Demand Generation Targets 316

Sales and Marketing Management

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

This includes prospects and people who aren’t in a buying cycle for your product but who may share common attributes with your customer base. Every organization has pre-conceptions about what customers want, what they buy and why they buy it. Abandon what the organization “knows” while you do your VOM research.

Conversion 177

Conversion Marketing Customer Trade Show 177

Zoominfo

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Shorter sales cycles – Sales cycles are already long for B2B organizations, and automated emails serve as a virtual sales rep to nurture them. Automated emails encourage leads to move from the product research phase into the buying cycle. How Do You Set up Email Automation? Basic Steps.

Prospecting 262

Prospecting Scale Lead Nurturing Campaigns 262

SBI Growth

OCTOBER 4, 2013

This type of research will earn you respect and a listening ear. To assist you further, sign-up for SBI’s Sales & Marketing Research Review here. The review presents findings from SBI’s market research in 2013. Understanding the buying cycle of large customers helps establish a reasonable quota.

Quota 306

Quota Ideal Customer Profile Territories Demographics 306

The Pipeline

MARCH 23, 2017

They may be better informed than ever, but CEB research shows that they’re deeply uncertain and stressed… Customers are increasingly overwhelmed and often more paralyzed than empowered. This has inadvertently added complexity to the buying cycle and process. Customers don’t see it that way.

Buyer 185

Buyer Face-to-face Vendor Buying Cycle 185

Emissary

MARCH 2, 2023

The average buy cycle is now more than seven months long and involves five to eight (or more) decision makers, most of whom spend only 17% of their time meeting with potential suppliers. By mining this library, teams can collect more detailed and actionable research in less time than previously possible.

Decision Maker 98

Decision Maker Ideal Customer Profile Top of Funnel Networking 98

Mindtickle

JUNE 22, 2023

Research from our 2023 State of Sales Productivity Report found that during a call, buyers asked an average of 18 questions, a significant increase from 13 questions in the 2022 report. Do your research Do you actually know who you’re calling? Let’s not beat around the bush: nobody likes getting cold calls.

Cold Calling 98

Cold Calling Lead Rank Lead Scoring Ideal Customer Profile 98

Partners in Excellence

OCTOBER 5, 2023

This isn’t just for buying initiatives, we see the same thing happen in internal projects and other change initiatives–just like the example demonstrated by my client. We’ve seen the research supporting this. Through that process, she also realized she wasn’t the decisionmaker, even though she was the CEO.

Face-to-face 96

Face-to-face Buying Cycle B2B Customer 96

Partners in Excellence

DECEMBER 6, 2022

A few colleagues and I sat down, looking at research data of overall sales performance for a number of years. Buying cycles have gotten longer. Customer preference on “rep-free” buying experiences have gone from the low 40s to over 60%–with some research showing 72% preferring rep-free experiences.

Face-to-face 96

Face-to-face Maximizer Report Buying Cycle 96

SBI Growth

NOVEMBER 9, 2013

You can access the guide when you sign-up for SBI’s Sales & Marketing Research Review. Discover insights and market trends from SBI’s research in 2013. When you understand your buyers, you are better equipped to help them maneuver the sales cycle. In this article I cover the value of persona-based selling. This isn’t a lot.

Buyer Persona 307

Buyer Persona Buyer Tools Trends 307