Make it Easier for Customers to Buy

The role customers and sellers play has changed. B2B customers have access to more information, have to gain more buy-in internally and have a growing number of options to evaluate. By the time these customers interact with sellers, they have a slew of questions and demands.

Sales organizations then respond with prompt information and answers and adjust offerings to better meet customer needs. The logic across sales organizations makes sense: To better differentiate in the market, be more responsive to customer demands. But this approach, in fact, is making it harder for customers to make buying decisions.

“ The more overwhelmed customers are, the more likely they are to regret their purchases”

“Surprisingly, being responsive to customers in an effort to drive increased differentiation is making it harder for customers to buy solutions,” Scott Collins, principal executive advisor at Gartner, says. “Instead, it gives more options and information to an already overwhelmed buyer.”

Not only does this extend the buying process, it’s making the process more exhausting to customers. The more overwhelmed customers are, the more likely they are to regret their purchases. A “win” in sales today isn’t always a “win.”

Don’t just respond; instead, recommend

B2B customers make a multitude of decisions when buying a solution. The sales organization and its reps can guide buyers based on past experience with similar clients. Their insights enable them to move customers toward a purchase that solves their business problem.

“ A prescriptive approach can increase a customer’s purchase ease by 86%”

This prescriptive approach guides customers to information, decisions and options that matter most in the purchase decision, but most importantly, provides clear recommendations that move them through the buying process with the greatest level of ease. The research shows that a prescriptive approach can increase a customer’s purchase ease by 86%.

“Prescription works because it effectively cuts through the clutter of information and choices, guiding them through key purchase decisions,” says Collins.

By providing “do this” and “do not do this” recommendations, sales organizations can also increase the chances of winning high-quality deals. Better still, customers are less likely to regret their purchases compared to a responsive approach. Eliminating customers’ purchase regret is important to maintain their loyalty and advocacy.

Learn more: 

Take a Prescriptive Selling Approach

Embed a prescriptive approach

Effective sellers learn the challenges and decisions B2B buyers face from past experiences to prescribe the way forward for customers. Sales leaders need to look at a prescriptive approach as an operational shift at the organizational level versus a sales rep skill shift.