Idea in Brief
The Problem
A trove of easily accessible and reliable information has proved valuable to B2B purchasers, but it has complicated the buying process. Too much information exists for buyers to make sense of it on their own, leading to indecision.
The Cause
When B2B buyers aren’t confident in their ability to make impactful purchase decisions, they delay them or make only incremental upgrades.
The Solution
The best sales reps emphasize simplicity over comprehensiveness. They employ a variation of the Socratic method, avoiding telling customers what to think and focusing instead on helping them create a framework within which to make their own decisions.
The amount of product and service information available to B2B customers has become overwhelming. Analyst reports, corporate blogs, display advertising, email marketing, infographics, podcasts, white papers, word-of-mouth recommendations: All are competing for the opportunity to influence buyers. So much accurate and trustworthy information exists online that B2B customers dedicate only 17% of their purchase process to talks with potential suppliers. They spend most of their time independently researching vendors and the industry at large. The trove of easily accessible information has proved valuable, but it has complicated the purchase process. Too much information exists for buyers to make sense of it on their own.