| | |  | How2 Better Understand the B2B Buyer's Journey
It can be so frustrating when a potential B2B buyer, who has already indicated a need for your product, decides not to buy. Find out why they do this and what you can do to remedy the situation.
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| | | | | | The main thing to remember is that people buy products and services for one reason only: to solve problems. They may have too much of something they don’t want, or too little they do want.
Sales training instructors stress the importance of advantages and benefits, in addition to simply listing features. The memory-jogger “FAB” - Features
- Advantages
- Benefits
is a useful sales aid for your sales force, and the ability to draw out all three is taught on many sales training courses.
“FAB” seems logical from the seller’s point of view – you’re explaining why a particular feature is useful by describing the advantages and benefits it can provide. However, from a buyer's perspective, the full extent of FAB is often only relevant after they have purchased a product or service, when they discover all of the features, advantages and benefits.
Buyers take time to clarify what they need before making the final purchase. So, needs are established very early in the buying cycle. However, businesses will have many needs, so how do they determine how to prioritise one need over other needs?
To answer the question, we need to examine another step which the buyer takes even earlier than prioritising the need: the acknowledgment that there is a problem which needs to be solved.
The need which can solve the most pressing problem usually becomes the number one priority. Problems can be thought of as the gap between where buyers are at present and where they would like to be. Before a need is established, there is a problem – and this is the “gap”.
Consider the 6 key steps that the B2B buyer takes on his or her journey: - first of all, the buyer doesn’t have a problem
- a problem is identified
- the buyer decides that a solution is needed
- different options are considered
- a choice is made
- the hoped-for benefits are achieved.
| Unfortunately from the seller’s point of view, the prospect rarely skips any of the above stages. If they accept the need for your product but are not too bothered about the gap between where they are at present and where they would like to be, they will often not place an order.
From the seller’s perspective, this is double trouble. “Failed prospects” will often have taken up considerable amounts of time - attending events and requesting White Papers, asking for demos and then still not placing an order. Your company incurs the costs and gets no revenue out of all the hard work.
Sales departments are often well-aware of the problem and teach their sales force to ask searching questions to uncover buyers’ problems. However, these very same companies often make the mistake of organising a marketing event to promote their products and services without highlighting the problems that they solve. A seminar must focus on solving the buyers’ problems – the products are secondary. |  | | I hope this doesn’t sound odd to you, because one of the main reasons marketing campaigns fail to create sales leads is because they try to sell the product rather than position it as the answer to the prospect’s problem. | | | | The best B2B marketing tactics help buyers realise the problem and position your company as the supplier with whom to discuss that problem.
By getting your B2B marketing tactics right you will have a much better chance of closing the sale! | | | | | | | | For more information on our services and products: | | | | | | |
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