Mike Bergen’s Post

90% of B2B buyers choose a vendor that was on a shortlist at the beginning of their process, according to a study by Bain & Google. More importantly, 80% of B2B buyers want to start their purchasing journey with a referral, aka Partners. Explains why cold outreach has a 97% failure rate. The second-best time to overlay partnerships into your GTM strategy is now.

A quick read/reminder for all B2B marketers out there: “Unless a company truly understands what buyers value, how they gather information, and how purchase decisions really get made, sales efforts will fall short.”

Ever wondered why a deal suddenly went south? The answer lies in truly understanding the #B2B buyer. In this insights-driven piece, Harvard Business Review sheds light on key B2B decision makers: their values, where they get information and how they really make purchase decisions. It’s full of real-world examples. A must-read on the B2B purchaser and their journey. https://bit.ly/497gkqe #B2Bmarketing #Insights #Innovation #Data

B2B tech buying committees are tough to navigate. But if you can recognize and cater to each member’s unique requirements, your chances of closing the deal skyrocket. 🚀 Use these tips to develop a comprehensive strategy for earning their collective support and landing your team at the top of their vendor list! 🔗 Get all of the details: https://lnkd.in/dgFD_Gby #b2btech #b2btechindustry #b2bsales #b2bmarketing

👋 Do you know why B2B tech buyers don't choose your product? 🫣 Is it because of their budget? The timing? Or did they choose a competitive product instead? Those ⬆️ are the top three reasons vendors *think* deals are lost. The top choice could be close to the truth since 66% of buyers (58% of enterprise) said their number one reason for choosing a product was because it met their needs for the best 💲 price. However, next in line for reasons buyers (39%, 51% enterprise) chose a product is because it was the safest, most trusted option. 😐 That means having brand awareness and trust is crucial in the buying decision. 💯 🔍 Find out more game-changing insights in our 2024 B2B Buying Disconnect report: https://bit.ly/3RRL9bM #YearOfTheBrandCrisis #BrandAwareness #BrandTrust

The sale starts long before the buyer moves into the market for their needs. People can’t buy what they don’t know about. Nor can they buy what they can’t find. This underpins the concept of mental and physical availability: easy to mind and easy to find. This aligns with B2B buying research by Bain and Google, which found that 90% of B2Bs end up choosing a vendor on their shortlist at the very beginning of the sales process. Our own research by Wynter, looking into how B2B SaaS marketing execs buy software, showed that about half of them go to specific vendors when looking for a new tool. Which ones? The ones top of mind. That’s what mental availability is: being thought of by category buyers in buying situations. 1. Figure out what your target buyers need to hear so it resonates (your messaging). 2. Put that message every week in front of your category buyers to increase awareness. 3. Do something every week to educate those people about your use cases. And repeat, repeat, repeat. The point is to invest in making every target customer think of your brand next time they have a need and budget.

How do you close more deals for your B2B business? It actually starts long before an initial sales call. You have to be known to buyers before they are ready for a purchase. Bain & Co. surveyed over 1,000 U.S. companies across a range of industries and found: 1.) Up to 90% of the buyers already have a list of vendors in mind before they start researching products and services. 2.) After researching, 90% of those buyers choose a vendor from their original list. Those findings are eye-opening and should highlight the value and importance of an effective marketing strategy that can build brand awareness. https://lnkd.in/gcUgyTnH

Greg, it's definitely a fair to say it's an argument Sales hears, and fully support the notion of including it as a trackable data point in CRM/MA. Having that insight can then help Marketing and Sales identify trends, and adjust their campaigns, messaging, outreach, value prop, qualifying criteria, etc. to meet those trends. i.e. A timing trend: such as does that reason occur more frequently around a certain time of year with certain size companies, meaning their decisions might be tied to budgeting seasons? or perhaps a company size/type trend: such as does that reason occur most frequently with VC-backed companies where decisions for purchasing solutions is impacted differently than say a privately held or public company? Etc. Etc.

B2B Sellers, here's a Strategic Move for your open Year-End Offers. Take two key steps: 1) Prepare for the Future: Develop a revised offer with terms effective January 1st. 2) Transparent Communication: Share upcoming changes with prospects, ensuring transparency. Maintain a positive tone; this proactive step benefits both parties. Whether closing in December or January, you foster trust and eliminate surprises. For you it's win-win and can only strengthen your position.

82% of B2B buyers are convinced reps are not prepared…😳 Using a partner will almost always be better than using a person who is only paid if you sign “their contract” Remember, partners have “ALL”the contracts 😉 This coming in 3-2-1… “Ya but Stan, how can I trust a partner will make the best decision for my business if they are being PAID by the supplier “ Great question! First, the days of being a straight up broker as in a company or individual that just pushes a sheet of paper and is paid by a supplier, is virtually dead. Second, there is no real difference between the revenue splits these days, So, why would I sell one over the other for an additional $100-450 bucks ? Most likely I wouldn’t… I know there are some people reading this right now though, that have either been the partner who actually has picked a vendor cause the money was better. Or Have known a partner to do this. Those aren’t partners , those are brokers!!! Brokers are there at renewal time and Partners are there ALL the time. Partners are knowledgeable extensions of your team that you can bounce ideas, projects and new technologies off of almost always at no expense to the organization. Most partners have already seen your use case or an environment just like yours. Too many people going direct to the supplier… Who holds the supplier accountable , you 👉👈👆👇🤣🤣🤣 It’s a lot easier to hold the supplier accountable when you’re bringing them 7mil/yr in revenue as opposed to your little deal… On your next project, no matter what, do yourself a favor #useapartner #alittlebetterthanfree