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 [...]

Buying Process Trumps Sales Process

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.

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 [...]

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 [...]