B2B Marketers Topic: Is Your Marketing Aligned to Today’s Buyers?

This is the first of a series of articles written from my book Buyer Steps. I am exposing my book one topic at a time through these articles. I would welcome feedback since my goal is to improve the book and thus help the users of the book improve their revenue efforts. The reason understanding the new buyer is important is so that we can start to get our senior management team’s minds right about the marketing and sales approach. Our first challenge is that many providers have not adjusted to today’s B2B buyer and their process.

21^st Century Marketing must address buyers who are

1) …drowning in decisions that do not have to be made

They have excess opportunities to improve their business through the purchase of products and services. Prioritizing the value, achievability, and timing of those choices is their challenge.

2) …can only see the world from their unique viewpoint

It starts with a problem or opportunity specific to the buying organization, not the provider’s offering. The buyer sees the world from where he or she sits. Buyers identify with and ultimately select providers who can describe the world through their eyes.

3) …aggregate knowledge, opinions and use technology to improve decisions

Rash purchasing by one person has been transformed into a more rigorous and inclusive approach within an austere economic environment. A buyer who has become an advocate for a provider must be armed with arguments that convince other decision influencers within their organization.

By acknowledging the shifted mindset of the 21^st century B2B buyer, providers can organize themselves to help the buyer go through their natural buyer steps or process. It is through this constant effort that the provider improves their buyer fitness. The buyer, who used to wait to be called on by the informative salesperson, has morphed into a buyer who is incredibly informed prior to the sales call. To address these changes, providers must adapt their revenue generation efforts.

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