One concept adopted by some IT resellers in the Middle East is that of the “buyer’s journey.”
The buyer’s journey describes the series of stages an organizational buying team goes through. It begins by acknowledging a “pain” in the organization and goes through multiple phases until finally “committing” to a solution. In sales terms, this means that a solution is purchased from a vendor or reseller and successfully implemented.
Companies that don’t recognize the Buyers Journey (or don’t take it seriously and implement it accordingly) are often frustrated with buyers. Their attitude is “buy or die”. If the Buyer does not purchase within the Resellers’ time frame, then it is not a real opportunity. These are the resellers who focus on tactics to shorten the sales cycle, jump from one marketing agency to another every six months, and wonder why some of their competitors are performing so much better.
The most successful companies and their lead generation agency or whoever is building their sales pipeline for them adopt the Buyers Journey as part of their own process and gear everything towards it. They develop specific marketing material (case studies, thought leadership pieces, demos) that aim to specifically answer the questions that arise at each stage of the journey. Buyers drip-feed the information they need (and only that information) at every stage. In the early stages they receive high-level information documents. In the later stages, they receive more technical information and case studies specific to their industry. However, at all times, the content that is delivered matches the particular stage of the journey that the buyer has reached.
While this sounds like a lot of work for smaller businesses and resellers, it can actually be done without extensive resources and at a reasonable cost. Many technology companies already have this information and guarantees. It’s just in the wrong format and sent at the wrong time. Buyers are overwhelmed with technical documents too soon. Sellers are trying to close deals before they’ve proven credibility and built trust.
There is a huge opportunity in many Middle Eastern markets for technology companies and resellers that are prepared to adapt their business practices to reflect the needs of the Buyer, not the Seller. Understanding your “Buyer’s Journey” is a great way to redesign your sales process to optimize long-term success.