The internet and caller-ID have redefined how sellers must manage the “sales cycle.” The definition of the sales process – “a series of actions to achieve a result” – which conveys the concept that there is a beginning and, hopefully, a revenue-producing end to the cycle also implies that the seller controls the process. At one time, when the sales rep was the broker of product information, this may have been true.
Today, the focus has shifted – today it’s the “buyer’s journey.” Buyers can and will find product information, prices and sources through internet research and will not talk to sellers until they are ready to buy. Sellers must be able to respond to the buyer’s journey when the seller is asked by the buyer to participate.
And since the buyer controls the process, the seller is “out” – usually irrecoverably – of the sales opportunity the first time a link in the sales chain is broken by something the seller does – or fails to do. As the seller, isn’t this how you feel when engaging in a sales cycle?
Posted in Sales Enablement, Sales Relevance