What does this information mean to you and your sellers? Our buyers are busier than ever before because they’re surrounded by empty desks that are supposed to be filled with people to help them balance the workload. Companies are also hiring people right out of college, university, or even high school to fill those seats and those people need to be trained, so everyone’s time is compressed. These factors are leading to a slightly different buying process where there will be longer waiting times and then a rush to buy what they need.
[bctt tweet=”There are two things we need to be doing as sellers in order to hit our quotas while still meeting the needs of the buyers.” username=”EngageColleen”]
First, I’m advocating for a larger than normal pipeline. It’s becoming very unpredictable when buyers are going to buy since they’re making so many of their decisions at the last minute. Since we don’t know when these buyers will actually buy, it’s best to have a pipeline that is four to five times bigger than what you normally have to minimize the risks associated with the new buying process and maintaining similar closing rates.
We also need to be ready when our clients are ready to buy because their calls can come at any time, whether it’s during normal business hours, after hours, weekends, or even holidays. There’s also the chance that we may get a call from someone else in the buyer’s company or someone else in the pipeline, so be ready. There’s not a lot we can do about the current buying trends, but we have to learn how to embrace the new buying process and leverage it if we’re going to be more successful.