COVER STORY


says Rick Bradberry, principal analyst at Forrester). “Selling isn’t telling, it is engaging,” Thomas says. Not all of the changes are coming from external


pressures. Some are coming from inside the buyer’s organization as well. Younger buyers are accustomed to e-commerce and, as a result, are used to quick turnaround times. Those dynamics are shifting the expectations of B2B transactions, says Forrester’s Bradberry. “These buyers are pushing their peers and the sellers with whom they work to create more transparent and personalized buying experiences. This results in trust-building as a focus, instead of traditional relationship-building,” he says. Today’s sellers must be able to communicate online and in person, build trust, deliver quickly, and communicate clearly when there are supply chain issues or other delays.


IT’S THE ECONOMY When there is economic turmoil, as is the case in 2022, companies tend to become more risk averse, Thomas says. When that happens, more people get involved in decision making. “It is a barrier to sales success,” she says. “Sales


reps have to ask, ‘Am I talking to the right people?’ and today it is more people than ever.” On average, between seven and nine people are on a buying committee. That means the sales rep has to make more connections, and more people need to come to an agreement on a purchase. Buying is a consensus decision right now, and the salesperson is essentially the ambassador who speaks the language of the host country and interprets the languages between all those stakeholders to make sure everyone understands the language of the buyer. People describe things differently based on where they sit in the organization – even if they are talking about the same thing, Thomas says – so that kind of translation is essential. It stands to reason: The more people involved in a


process, the more complex it becomes. The Forrester 2021 B2B Buying Study Reveals Seismic Shifts That Amplify Long-Term Trends in Buying Behavior report shows that the average number of buying interactions (both digital and in person) from 2019 to 2021 grew from 17 to 27. While each of those


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touchpoints may be shorter (a quick phone call or email versus an in-person demo or presentation), there are more of them. More opportunities to receive information can mean more information to sort through – and possibly more confusion. The report also found that about 80% of B2B purchases involve these more-fragmented buying scenarios. Because of those factors, it is essential that a


sales rep has the conversation skills to communicate with an operations person, a tech lead, and all the different roles on the buying committee. Yes, the content of those calls will change based on roles, Thomas says, but the way in which the call is approached and managed relies on the same value- based framework.


CREATING A FRAMEWORK To explain the ValueSelling Framework®


, Thomas


uses an analogy from the late Jim Ninivaggi, an analyst for SiriusDecisions and an expert in B2B selling. Your sales process is like the yard markers on an American football field. They’re clearly defined milestones, mapped to your sales process, that define progress toward your goal. While the playbook that tells you how to


advance your opportunity to the end zone is your methodology; it’s the engagement framework that


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