When Big Companies Buy: The Sophistication of Buying Revealed
Organisations are increasingly organized, structured and careful in terms of how they buy. As salespeople we know this to be true. Yet, it is easy to underestimate just how sophisticated many buyers have become. Let us take the example of the buying process for major IT purchases in a large telco (as shown in the […]
Is this the Golden Age of Buying? – Implications for sales professionals
Professional buying has come of age, reaching new heights in terms of importance and sophistication. But what are the implications for sales people? In this article we turn to the UK Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply and the US Institute of Supply Management to provide a new insight to the changing roles and perspectives […]
Buyers Are Doing it For Themselves
To borrow from the lyrics of the popular song ‘buyers are doing it for themselves.’ They are ”standing on their own two feet and…’ identifying their requirements, defining the solution, writing the specification and building the business case. All this often takes place before they ever meet a vendor! This leaves the salesperson looking for a […]
10 Questions That Reveal What You Must Do To Win The Sale
The professional salesperson is a student of buying. This is particularly important at a time when buying decisions have become increasingly complex. The success of a deal depends on understanding now only how the buying decision will be made, but also the business decision that so often underlies it. With this in mind we have put […]
BEWARE: There Is Always A Buying Process
Just because the steps involved in making a major purchase are not documented, does not mean that there is not a process, even a sophisticated one.
Buyers Have Funnels Too!
Sales people are not the only ones who have funnels, buyers have them too! I will let the IT Director of a large multi-national explain: ‘Last year we had 300 million worth of projects for consideration across the organisation, but only a budget of 100 million. That meant we were faced with some very hard […]
Better Buying Here We Come
The UK press puts UK public sector buying under the microscope resulting in some fascinating insights to the nature of public procurement decisions and an impetus for better buying.
How Misreading the Buying Decision Could Cost You the Sale
Key lessons from Neil Rackham’s ‘Major Account Sales Strategy’ ‘Major Account Sales Strategy’ by Neil Rackham’s is a bible for the savvy sales professional. It is as relevant today as when it was first published in 1989. So, we dusted it off and pulled out its key points. The key message of this ground-breaking book […]
Win, Lose, or worse of all Stalled!
There was a time when the worst that could happen to a salesperson was that he, or she would lose the sale. But, even more dreaded are those sales cycles that are stalled. A stage cycle gets to the stage where a salespeople needs closure. That is a definitive yes, or no, that would enable […]
Today’s Buying Is More Structured Than Ever Before
Most large organizations, and an increasing number of smaller ones, have a defined buying process. These processes are increasingly structured and indeed sophisticated. (a) More Sophisticated Buying Organizations have never been better, or at least more careful at buying. In particular, when it comes to major purchases they are applying greater rigor and sophistication to […]
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