Competition — The 7th Thing You (Don't Want) Need to Accelerate Sales

When it comes to B2B sales leads, the starting point makes a HUGE difference. Did your buyer come to you? Or did you reach out to the buyer? Here's why it matters.

Guess where we have been???? The last time we talked, we were sitting in a coffee shop trading notes on the questions you need to ask your buyer if you are going to be a good co-driver.

Then our driver – your buyer – came back, we jumped in the car, and we went on a road trip.

To the United States of America.

We went shopping. Outlet malls galore. Nordstrom Rack where I bought a really cool Eileen Fisher sweater. Dillard's where I bought the most basic and versatile black dress on the planet. (Yes, Eileen Fisher.) And we even ate at the Cheescake Factory.

I HATE shopping. And chain restaurants. But it had to be done because that is where our driver was taking us. And thank goodness, there were little side trips to a few funky coffee shops and a stop for picnic lunch at a state park on Lake Erie where we swam.

Ahhhhhhh. That beach and swim saved me.

But here’s the point.

Your buyers go shopping.

Maybe they went shopping before they met you and you became one other product or service that they are considering buying.

Or maybe your buyer met you first, liked you, and then went shopping for other products or services like yours just to make sure YOU were really the right decision.

I go shopping, too. Even though I sometimes set a goal of NOT GOING IN A MALL for a whole year at a time, I still need to shop. I need Eileen Fisher clothes. I need Frye boots. And I need more m0851 leather. I really, really do.

So we need to be prepared for the fact that our buyer shops.

WHEN they shop – before you or after you – makes a HUGE difference in you being the final seller or co-driver in the car when your buyer arrives at the City of More Customers.

I'd like you to MEMORIZE this question: How did this START?

A simple question. What I'm asking you is, “How did this opportunity with this particular buyer begin?"

Let’s think of it first in these terms: INBOUND and OUTBOUND.

If it was an INBOUND opportunity that came via your website, you need to assume that it is competitive. In other words, you need to assume that your buyer has already been shopping and that he is comparing you against a bunch of other products and services. And you likely aren't his favourite.

And you have a 20% possibility of winning that business.

Do you have a business, maybe even a SaaS business, that runs on an inbound engine?

Do you hate me right now?

I know I know I know I know I know.

Sorry, passenger, them's the facts. An inbound business is a competitive business, and most companies I work with tell me that they win 5% of the inbound opportunities that come through their “door."

That's way lower than 20%. (I'm being SOOO generous today. Smile.)

Are there exceptions? Yes. In companies with highly differentiated products or services. And in companies with an exceptionally effective sales process.

Why am I bothering telling you this, as Dr. Seuss would say?

If your buyer has already been shopping ...

Knowing, or thinking, that there is a GOOD possibility your buyer has already been shopping changes how you act in your sales process.

It gets you on the defensive. (Or is that the offensive? I dunno. I am so NOT a team sport player).

Anyway, it gets you in the crouchy position they call the "athletic position" where you are ready for anything that comes your way, Left, right, back, front, Center, over, under.

Let's switch for a minute to OUTBOUND.

If most of your business is OUTBOUND, you calling on people who have never heard of you before, then you can safely assume (for now) that the opportunity isn't competitive. And that you have 80% of winning that opportunity.

Better, you say? Yes.

Harder, you say? Yes.

Takes longer, you say? Probably quite most likely for sure.

You get to decide whether you build a business on customers who are already shopping, where you will have a large number of B2B sales leads with a low close rate.

You get to decide whether you build a business on customers who are new to you and maybe even new to what you do, where you will have a smaller number of B2B sales leads with a higher close rate.

That is a big decision, and it takes way more discussion that the time we have in the car together today.

But there are three pointers I will give you before we pull off for a bathroom stop:

1. If you are a startup, you are LIKELY going to start with an outbound sales process. Salesforce.com did. Many SaaS companies do. At least for the first 20 to 25 customers.

2. I like to see companies have a combination of outbound and inbound sales processes unless their business is ideally and ONLY suited to an inbound model because of what they sell, the price structure, etc.

3. Leave aside the BIG BELLY BUTTON GAZING issue of your business model or sales process for now and just think about the last 5 opportunities that came your way. Were they INBOUND or OUTBOUND? Based on that, how competitive do you think they are?

And, most importantly, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ABOUT IT???

Maybe we'll talk about that next. Or demos. I have demos on my mind.

Think about it.

Talk soon.