Beware – Savvy Buyers

In recent weeks, we bought a horse – it is 16 years since we last went through this process. The changes in the buying process made me think. Instead of buying local papers and using a red pen, we read web sites and search databases against a precise set of criteria. We looked at detailed descriptions. We selected some to view. One of those we viewed was described in one way and behaved in another way. That viewing lasted 10 minutes. When something is not as we were led to believe, we are all a lot more impatient now and move on to the next much more quickly. When we viewed a horse who matched the description very closely, was nice to ride and we liked him – we did a deal (subject to vetting) – very quickly.

Just as our horse buying process is more knowledge based than before, so business buyers are much more “savvy” in 2010 than they were as few as five years ago. And this has implications for all of us in our sales cycles. These buyers do more research, much earlier in the process than before and make decisions at vastly different rates depending on the business case.

Why does this matter?

It matter because one or more of the following will apply a lot more often:

Sales cycles are extending for purchases with low returns – meaning that there is a longer delay between each phase of the buying cycle from enquiry to quote to decision to order. This longer delay means that there is a much greater probability that either:
- The project will be displaced by a project with a faster or better return;
- There is a much greater probability that a competitor will sneak in at the last minute and exploit all our careful discovery and pain selling to beat us to the work with a lower price.
For purchases with higher returns (or with costs below a threshold), decisions are being made more quickly.
- Budget cycles have changed. In many organisations, the annual budget has been replaced by a plan coupled with a quarterly rolling forecast.
- This means that critical spend is often brought forward with an accelerated buying cycle or that non-essential spend is deferred until much later.
Buyers have read every detail on our web sites (and those of our competitors) and formed their own view of what they need – before we get into spin selling / solution selling/ discovery mode – depending on where we went for training.
- Buyers are much more likely to self-qualify themselves for or against our services – often before we get to meet them.
- Buyers will always have a view about how well what we are selling meets their needs – and the reality must line up with the web-site and the proposals in every detail when they start to question us – or they will move on to a competitor.
Buyers are a lot more insecure in their own businesses or jobs than they were four years ago.

What can we do?

Speak to people who buy from us and find out which characteristics have changed in their buying process in the last 6-12 months.
Refine our offers to make them easier to buy. Something from the following list should provoke your thought process.
- Entry level products
- Rent rather than buy for capital goods
- Tasters and free starting points
Change our proposition to ensure that return on investment is faster than before – especially on the first purchase.
Check our proposals, our literature and our web-sites to make sure that descriptions are complete and accurate.
Be prepared to be much more open with buyers on price and on any drawbacks – much earlier in the sales cycle than we might be comfortable with.
Provide a lot more supporting evidence
- Case studies and testimonials
- Facts and data about our products and services
- Information that will re-assure an insecure buyer that they are making a good decision.

This was a guest post by Paul Fileman of Results-Zone. Results-Zone bring extensive knowledge and experience gained in Blue Chip organisations to businesses like yours. They ensure that your business is fully exploiting a well thought through operating plan. They work alongside you and your team – as business results managers. They ensure that your team and your business are elevated to the results-zone. They bring you “hands-on” experience – similar to employing high quality management skills without the risk or costs in recruiting full time employees.

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