Sales prospecting is a term that generally makes salespeople break out in a cold sweat. But it doesn’t have to be that way. A new study conducted sheds some light on sales prospecting that might help salespeople this year. Mike Schultz, interviewed by John Golden, explains this study on buyer behavior.
This expert sales interview explores buyer behavior:
- A general explanation of the study
- Buyer tactics
- The myths behind prospecting
Study of Buyer Behavior:
“We wanted to know what it’s like for buyers who are sold to every day. What is their experience like? Do they give people meetings if they’ve never met them before? And if so, what does it take for the seller to secure a meeting? If they dismiss a sale, what was it that made the buyer not want to work with the seller?” said Schultz. A study was conducted with 488 buyers, making up a total of 4.2 billion dollars in buying power, as well as 498 sellers to answer some of these questions.
Buyers:
Buyers want to hear from sellers, and they want to understand early on. There’s a myth that buyers won’t contact you until they’re far along in the sales process, or that so much buying is done digitally that it’s not worthwhile to make contact with a salesperson. But this study found contrary results. 82% of all buyers took meetings from sellers who reached out when the conditions were right. Of this 82%, 71% of buyers wanted to hear from sellers when they’re looking for new ideas or possibilities to help improve their results. 62% said they reach out or take meetings when they’re actively looking for a solution to fix or solve a problem. Both of these scenarios indicate that buyers want to be communicated with early, which highlights the benefit of prospecting. “The buyers are there, they’re waiting for you to reach out, and if you reach out in the right ways they’ll take meetings with you,” said Schultz. “It’s just that sellers aren’t actually doing that.”
The Myth of Prospecting:
A lot of sellers have done away with prospecting, stating that it doesn’t work, it’s impossible to get through to buyers, and that it is a waste of time. But this isn’t reality. The study on buyer behavior showed that buyers were receptive and took meetings with sellers through prospecting if they needed the product or service, and if they had the budget for it. But, sellers can influence those things. “If you have something that buyers want, and a lot of us are, but the buyers don’t know the impact that this thing could have, you can introduce them to this idea that they need what you have. You can show them how they can achieve their goal with the product or service you’re providing,” said Schultz. To think that prospecting isn’t a worthwhile task means losing out on selling opportunities.
To learn more about this study and get insights into how to improve sales prospecting, watch the expert sales interview.
About our Host:
John is the Amazon bestselling author of Winning the Battle for Sales: Lessons on Closing Every Deal from the World’s Greatest Military Victories and Social Upheaval: How to Win at Social Selling. A globally acknowledged Sales & Marketing thought leader, speaker, and strategist. He is CSMO at Pipeliner CRM. In his spare time, John is an avid Martial Artist.
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