Over 80% of B2B marketers are going online to commence their Buyer's Journey. Therefore, the importance of content marketing is rapidly increasing and is now being seen as the the key to engaging with one's target audience. But here's the bad news, most B2B Marketers just don't understand their target buyer's world and particularly their purchasing journey.

For those of you unfamiliar with the movie "Glengarry Glen Ross", Alec Bladwin's character, Blake’s philosophy of salepersonship is that, if sales people do nothing else, then they should at least Always Be Closing. ABC. That may strike you as a neat acronym - but it’s at the heart of a lot of sales problems.

On the face of it, the strongest solution should always win the new business, regardless of how much the client likes you. However, it’s commonly accepted that personality factors can influence decisions in awarding new business. So to what degree does this happen - if you have the strongest solution, is that enough to get you over the line? Or are decision-makers swayed by how much they like the person behind the solution?

Sales and marketing teams are geared towards success, but it's how they handle failure that will make them rich. What do we do with the prospective customers who don’t proceed? Those who leak from our funnel? The answer is usually “not much”. They are usually dropped like a hot potato.

The buyer’s journey describes the process for typical business buyers as they move through the sales funnel. The journey is not an administrative process, but a cognitive one. How, though, can you more fully acknowledge buyers when shaping your sales process?

Although events require a lot of preparation and effort, we often find that the results are well worth the hard work. A good event can achieve buyer progressions through multiple stages of the funnel, and deliver qualified, sales-ready leads. 

Even experienced B2B marketers are finding the rapid shift to online/digital/website/inbound marketing (pick your favourite acronym - we prefer Inbound!) challenging. Buyer behaviour is rapidly shifting and B2B marketing campaigns need to adapt to catch up. There is no time to waste. Delay and your competitors will eat you alive.

In sales and marketing, we celebrate winners – the salesperson who returns with the signed contract is a hero, as is the marketer who exceeds their quota of qualified leads. But what about recycling?

Nothing is more frustrating for a salesperson than a potential buyer who, after acknowledging they need your product or service, decides not to buy. Why do they do this, and what can you do about it? Remember that businesses buy products and services, in essence, to solve problems. They may have too much of something that is undesirable, or too little of something that is good.

All businesses strive to recognise the needs of buyers when developing strategies for sales success. Well, at least you should.