-ABP – Always Be Publishing with PartnerOn
Every time a new salesperson starts there are often standard quotes and phrases that the head of sales uses to help motivate new team members. In the old, and very much outdated movie, Glengarry Glen Ross, they use some iconic quotes. Such as:
“Coffee is for closers!” and “Always be closing”
But what would the head of sales say to their team today to help them understand the secret to success? Perhaps:
“LinkedIn is for winners”
“Always be engaging!”
“Content is an absolute, where do you get the content?”
These quotes represent a new paradigm in which buyers are not on a clear journey. They are not waiting for the phone to ring and oftentimes they are not picking up the phone to make a call. In fact, according to a study by Gartner Research, buyers spend only 18% of their time talking to a salesperson.
So where does the journey start, and who is leading it?
This chart is a telling tale of the buyer’s experience…
Take notice that 27% of a buyer’s time is spent doing research independently online, and 22% of their time is meeting with the buying groups. So how is the journey of the buyer happening? I see it as a scatter graph.
Remember how group projects in school were divided up? Each person would run in different directions to research and retrieve the assigned information. Everyone would then return to the group and share results. At that point, the group would piece them together for the final outcome.
The scatter strategy for group projects is more reflective of a buyer’s journey today. If this is the strategy then how are salespeople supposed to close deals?
It requires the seller to become an educator and to build trust among the consortium of buyers, not just the one. The best way to do that is through sustained content marketing, content marketing that supports the multi-dimensional approach to solution development and procurement.
Content marketing performed at the local level (or by the seller) offers the buyers who are scattering a unique opportunity to bring together all the data they researched from a single source. In turn, that source becomes the trusted source most likely to close the deal, and following the lead of Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross, earns themself a cup of coffee.
That is why ParterOn has become such a powerful ally to the sellers. What is your motivational quote? PartnerOn is for winners, remember ABP -Always Be Publishing.