Why sales is different today than in the past!

Last week I read the interesting article by Andreas Kassat entitled “Bad manners or new trend: Unreachable contacts“. You should do the same. The article talks about the fact that many contacts do not call back, cannot be reached and simply do not get in touch at all during the sales process instead of rejecting an offer. Andreas Kassat brings up a very interesting topic that I can relate to as a supplier and as a buyer. First of all, I don’t believe that people no longer have any decency. But people are constantly changing their behavior patterns and this has quite serious consequences in terms of sales. A few thoughts on an area that is indirectly driven more by technology than we realize.

(Reading time: 5 minutes)

Saturation, especially in the B2B sector

With all the details, we must not forget that we are in a saturated world. There is demand, of course. But compared to, say, the 1980s, it is much lower. And there are barriers to investment, which are due to the fact that the amortization of investments has to happen much faster. There is also more competition, particularly as a result of globalization. This makes the environment for more conventional products much more difficult.

Information at your fingertips

And thanks to the Internet, customers rarely spend a long time looking for a solution to their problems. For most conventional questions, 30 minutes of research is enough to evaluate suitable providers. This is why trade fairs have also become less relevant. The customer has hijacked the entire purchasing process, so to speak. They usually want to set the pace themselves, define the rules of the game and march through to the purchase. Or leave it at that.

In this context, guided sales processes, as we know them from traditional sales, are to a certain extent an intervention in the customer’s self-determination.

I think it is due to this circumstance that customers suddenly just disappear after a supposedly good conversation and contact. It’s too much of a good thing for them. This is an attempt at an explanation, not a justification.

What makes it even more difficult is that customers are usually in contact with different providers who are very close to each other. And they simply don’t have enough clarity about who they want to continue with. The more heterogeneous the product or service, the worse. I am regularly contacted by companies who are evaluating an internet agency and in the end cannot decide between 3 providers. Not because they are stupid, but because it is really difficult to make a good decision.

And yes, of course some people find it difficult to say no, I don’t want to do business with you after making a decision. Simply “disappearing” isn’t the smart thing to do, but I think it’s usually more due to the fact that you don’t want to disappoint anyone.

I know that from the buyer’s point of view too. It’s hard to openly and directly reject a supplier whose people have made a real effort and who you usually like. Because it means disappointing someone and breaking off the relationship at the same time. Basically, the message behind it is: You’re not good enough in this case here. That’s not a good thing.

My personal, non-representative experience shows that in very few cases people are totally ignorant. Of course, I also know the bad feeling of simply not hearing anything more from the customer. Not a good thing either.

Self-determined attention

I now have a very special relationship with telephone canvassing. I think it’s indecent. And I don’t just mean that in relation to cold calling, but also in relation to follow-ups. I’ve actually stopped answering the phone at all. That sounds really stupid now, doesn’t it?

But it’s not really. Because I get a lot of phone calls. So many that if I’m not in the office for a day, there are usually 15+ missed calls on the display.

Calling back is the most unproductive thing of all: if the number is recognized, I know who it was and could prepare myself and if I catch the other person at a time when he or she is not in a meeting or otherwise busy with quiet work, that would be very good. But that happens very rarely. Because I usually don’t know the number and my potential conversation partner is somehow busy.

The result is a laborious and ineffective coordination process. I could afford to do that, but I don’t want to. My time is irretrievable. I am my own master of my attention.

That’s why I only pick up the phone very rarely. And I never just call back at random, from the display, so to speak. This also has to do with the fact that you simply get an incredible number of cold calls. There are probably at least 3-7 per day. It’s just too much. And I don’t perceive myself as a naughty person. I find the constant and continuous intrusion into my attention more of an imposition.

I really enjoy talking to people. Sometimes on the phone. But I try to coordinate this in advance, especially with customers. To arrange a telephone appointment. I’ve practically never experienced these being deliberately missed.

Passive selling

I think this proactive selling is dead. The “pro” usually stands primarily for excessive activity. And that can quickly backfire. Namely when I annoy potential customers instead of helping them. That turns around so quickly and has brought salespeople into disrepute.

I have long been a big fan of solution selling. The focus is not on “pulling the trigger” on a deal, but on developing a solution for the customer – with the products and services I have to offer. It’s more about checking whether the customer and provider fit together and whether the solution makes sense, rather than hijacking the sales process.

And that’s how I try to see it for myself: at first glance, a collaboration between our company and the customer naturally makes sense. It’s like a hypothesis that you try to disprove. Is there a catch? Does it not fit after all? The first question should be about the budget, because this is fundamental. This is where I usually fail, and that’s okay. It saves me an incredible amount of time – time that I spend on those interested parties who are right for us.

Openness

This approach has taken me a long way. I like to mention at initial meetings that I came to listen. You wouldn’t believe how many interested parties take note of this in an almost cathartic way. “Finally someone who doesn’t text us, who doesn’t say it’s all easy and no problem”. And then I actually listen.

I go back to the company with the material collected in this way. We discuss solutions as a team and try to put something together that really helps the customer. In many cases, this is not possible. The solution doesn’t fit 100%. In such situations, many sales people make the mistake of not being able to let go.

Credibility

And so they try to sell the customer the 70% solution after all. However, the customer usually notices this and I would say that they resent it. Maybe not so consciously, but they feel they’ve been taken for a ride. I try not to do that. I just go and offer what we can do and also say if I have the feeling that there are more optimal solutions but we can’t offer them.

In the vast majority of cases, interested parties are very grateful for this openness. The deal is lost for us. But I have a good relationship with the customer. You always meet twice. At least. The alternative would be to squeeze the sale through, if that works at all, to do a project that goes wrong, puts a strain on the employees and then ultimately lose the customer. I think that’s a pretty easy decision.

Sitting in the cave

I used to make fun of people who made passive sales. They would sit in the cave and wait for someone to come along. In a world where information was not available in every trouser pocket, that was actually wrong. Acquisition was hugely important.

Today, I think this has changed enormously. For service providers in particular, it’s primarily about making yourself findable and tangible. So that the customer not only finds you, but can also assess you very quickly. Today, this is known as inbound marketing, but should rather be called inbound lead generation. And storytelling is part of it.

It is simply important to really be there at the moment he stands in front of the cave. To be present. Not to get on his nerves by trying to command his attention. And to be as honest and open as possible. I don’t think there’s much that can go wrong then.

Rethinking

I think Andreas Kassat is doing a very good job. The way he deals with the subject alone shows that. The question “What have I done wrong? ” is the basis for further development. The answer to this question is: Nothing. You can expect decency today, and you should. As a decision-maker, this includes calling back if you are already in talks with a provider and rejecting offers if you don’t want to go any further. That’s the minimum.

On the supplier side, however, decency today also means not “cold-calling” or ringing through out of the blue one day after the offer has been sent or sending follow-up emails every other day. Today, it means respecting the customer’s attention span. Adapting to the changing behavior and expectations of customers. And to benefit from this for your own work.