updatingB2B sellingTara Hagan TBWA\Chiat\Day May 20, 2015

find c-suite decision maker

c-suite decision maker

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 2

consensus buying

find c-suite decision maker

c-suite decision maker

c-suite approver

cross-functional support

mobilizer champions idea

researcher

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 3

5.4 decision makers involvedLikelihood of purchase drops to 40%

64% involve c-suite level final authority

More cross-functional

Millennials involved in half of B2B purchase decisions

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 4

loyalty ≠ profitability

Study of 16k corporate customers - • Correlation of .3 between loyalty and profitability

for corporate service providers• Long-term customers pay 5-7% lower prices than

new customers

.3correlation

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 5

loyalty ≠ profitability relationships ≠ sales

Study of 16k corporate customers - • Correlation of .3 between loyalty and profitability

for corporate service providers• Long-term customers pay 5-7% lower prices than

new customers

Study of 6k reps across 100 companies - • Of star salespeople, 54% were challengers; 4%

were relationship builders (last place)• Customers prefer sales person who pushes them

rather than someone who’s likeable, agreeable

.3correlation

4%relationship

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 6

loyalty ≠ profitability relationships ≠ sales RFP ≠ RFP

Study of 16k corporate customers - • Correlation of .3 between loyalty and profitability

for corporate service providers• Long-term customers pay 5-7% lower prices than

new customers

Study of 6k reps across 100 companies - • Of star salespeople, 54% were challengers; 4%

were relationship builders (last place)• Customers prefer sales person who pushes them

rather than someone who’s likeable, agreeable

• 60% of purchasing decision made before even having conversation with supplier

• “To win a deal, you’ve got to get ahead of the RFP”

.3correlation

4%relationship

60%before RFP

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 7

loyalty ≠ profitability relationships ≠ sales RFP ≠ RFP

Study of 16k corporate customers - • Correlation of .3 between loyalty and profitability

for corporate service providers• Long-term customers pay 5-7% lower prices than

new customers

Study of 6k reps across 100 companies - • Of star salespeople, 54% were challengers; 4%

were relationship builders (last place)• Customers prefer sales person who pushes them

rather than someone who’s likeable, agreeable

• 60% of purchasing decision made before even having conversation with supplier

• “To win a deal, you’ve got to get ahead of the RFP”

.3correlation

4%relationship

60%before RFP

role of marketing in B2B sales more important

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 8

decision-making now involving more people across more levels and functions

need mobilizers within company

+ value of loyalty and relationships decreasing

+ decision-makers doing their own research

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 9

Harvard Business Review study of 700 stakeholders involved in complex B2B purchases…

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…found 7 distinct stakeholder profiles

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climberteacher friend

guide

skeptic

go-getter

readily available, happy to help you network

prioritizes personal gain

blockercontent with status quo

shares latest gossip

wary of large, complicated projects

values ideas over relationships

passionate about sharing insights; sought out by colleagues for advice

…found 7 distinct stakeholder profiles

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 12

climberteacher friend

guide

skeptic

go-getter

readily available, happy to help you network

prioritizes personal gain

shares latest gossip

wary of large, complicated projects

values ideas over relationships

passionate about sharing insights; sought out by colleagues for advice

mobilizers advocates

blockercontent with status quo

blockers

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 13

teacher

skeptic

go-getter

wary of large, complicated projects

values ideas over relationships

passionate about sharing insights; sought out by colleagues for advice

mobilizers

why mobilizers? • motivated to improve organization • ask smart, probing questions • organizational clout (informal)

mobilizers > advocates harder to find than climbers, friends, guides more skeptical than advocates less loyal and relationship-driven than advocates

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1/2 of people who report willingness to buy product/service

are not willing to publicly advocate for it

silencingmobilizers

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address perceived risk appeal to identity

offer support

motivating mobilizers

1/2 of people who report willingness to buy product/service

are not willing to publicly advocate for it

silencingmobilizers

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 16

reduce perceived risk

• Loss aversion• “Risk that looms largest is not about losing

money; it’s about losing your job or shedding prestige.”

• Willingness to advocate for a purchase more than doubled as perceived organizational support for a supplier increased

brand

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 17

reduce perceived risk

• Loss aversion• “Risk that looms largest is not about losing

money; it’s about losing your job or shedding prestige.”

• Willingness to advocate for a purchase more than doubled as perceived organizational support for a supplier increased

brand brand

appeal to identity

• 4,000 person survey found appealing to identity more powerful in inspiring mobilizers than appealing to company value or professional value

• Factors such as whether a solution could advance a person’s career or help him/her be seen as a better leader were five times as potent as the offering’s business value

human corporation

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 18

reduce perceived risk

• Loss aversion• “Risk that looms largest is not about losing

money; it’s about losing your job or shedding prestige.”

• Willingness to advocate for a purchase more than doubled as perceived organizational support for a supplier increased

offer support

• 80% of mobilizers want support in communicating value of solutions

• Emerging need or state of organizational flux; marketing needs to be real-time and topical (Dodd Frank, Net Neutrality)

• Intangibles matter (24 hour service, global deployment)

brand brand brand

appeal to identity

• 4,000 person survey found appealing to identity more powerful in inspiring mobilizers than appealing to company value or professional value

• Factors such as whether a solution could advance a person’s career or help him/her be seen as a better leader were five times as potent as the offering’s business value

human corporation

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 19

old

customer journey

changing

c-suite initiates

awareness

reach out to potential vendors

purchase decision

repeat purchases

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 20

c-suite initiates

awareness

reach out to potential vendors

purchase decision

repeat purchases

mobilizer initiates

awareness

research advocacy across functions/levels research

reach out to potential vendors

consensus purchase decision

approval from c-suite

repeat purchases not guaranteed

old new

address new

elements of journey

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 21

old new

broaden definition of audience

support mobilizers in research and advocacy phases

increase emphasis on marketing, not just sales and relationships

c-suite initiates

awareness

reach out to potential vendors

purchase decision

repeat purchases

mobilizer initiates

awareness

research advocacy across functions/levels research

reach out to potential vendors

consensus purchase decision

approval from c-suite

repeat purchases not guaranteed

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 22

mobilizers across organization = ability to communicate matters

higher-level = brand matters credibility prove due diligence to get board approval

cross-functional = safe bet matters language-mapping loss aversion practice leaders vs. business leaders

lower-level = proof matters half of B2B researchers are millennials 71% of research starts with generic search educational video, mobile on personal devices

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 23

conventions

• not appealing to humans and identity • not addressing complicated approval process

brand impactfeatures

Deloitte SAP

Siemens Cisco

Microsoft

smaller technology companies

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 24

features

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 25

brand only

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 26

impact

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 27

impact

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 28

Adobe (Woo Woo?) HSBC (Lift)

GE (The Boy Who Beeps)

appeal to humans not corporations

address complicated approval process

GE (Ideas are Scary) Marketo (Guide on how to sell internally) Quartz (10 Tricks To Appear Smarter)

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 29

address complicated approval process

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 30

opportunity

value to corporations

relationships with c-suites

value to humans

support for mobilizers

old new

TBWA\CHIAT\DAY 31

Links and References 1.Brent Adamson, Karl Schmidt, and Anna Bird, “Why Self Image Matters in B2B

Sales,” Harvard Business Review April 2015, accessed May 2015. 2.Brent Adamson, Matthew Dixon, and Nicholas Toman, “The End of Solution

Sales,” Harvard Business Review July-August 2012, accessed May 2015. 3.Das Narayandas, “Building Loyalty in Business Markets,” Harvard Business

Review September 2005. 4.Karl Schmidt, Brent Adamson, and Anna Bird, “Making the Consensus Sale,”

Harvard Business Review March 2015, page 109. 5.Kelsey Snyder and Pashmeena Hilal, “The Changing Face of B2B Marketing,”

Think with Google, accessed May 2015. 6.Matthew Dixon and Brent Adamson, “Selling is Not About Relationships,”

Harvard Business Review September 2011, accessed May 2015. 7.Paul V. Weinstein, “Make it Easy for Decision Makers to Approve Your Deal,”

Harvard Business Review January 2015, accessed May 2015. 8.Rebecca Chadwick, Rimma Kats, Stephanie Wharton, “What Makees B2B

Decision-Markers Tick?” eMarkter.com, October 2014. 9.Steven Woods, “What Really Matters in B2B Selling,” Harvard Business Review

September 2010, accessed May 2015. 10.Werner Reinartz and V. Kumar, “The Mismanagement of Customer Loyalty,”

Harvard Business Review July 2002.

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