Three Deadly Cs Draining Sellers’


Access And Influence By Jesse Laffen


of these forces are extremely well-known. They pop up in conversation like this:


T “It doesn’t matter what we do; the best price always


wins.” “I can’t get the right people to take a meeting.” “It used to be a hot lead, but now I’m getting


‘ghosted.’” Today’s prospects have developed a routine method of


buying that leads to statements just like those. They’re being caused by the “three deadly Cs:”


• Commoditization: Sellers all sound the same and prospects can’t tell them apart.


• Compressed Selling Time: More and more of the purchase process is made without a seller in the picture.


• Consensus Decision-Making: Prospects no longer have a single decision-maker, opting instead for decision-by-committee.


Prospects have been operating this way for a long


time now. They have no incentive to change the rules. Option one is to respond, providing more value earlier in the sale. Option two is to resign, waiting to be invited and compete on price alone.


Each of the “three deadly Cs” renders a different pun-


ishment upon today’s unprepared or ill-equipped seller. Understanding each one is the start to reversing the tide and gaining back access and influence in your sale.


October 2021


Commoditization What if the reason prospects buy based on price has nothing to do with savings?


In order to understand why prices play an outsized role in


your sale, you must understand how the human brain is wired to make decisions. Your prospects aren’t actually built to make the best decision, especially when the best decision is a difficult one.


Instead, your prospect’s brain is looking to make the easy de-


cision, but not because your prospects are lazy. The part of the brain responsible for keeping us alive is the


part that makes most decisions. If it gets confused, it removes confusion rather than engaging more resources to figure things out. It’s just biology.


You’ve likely seen this in action. A prospect tells you that


they’re trying to get an “apples-to-apples comparison.” Instead, they’re removing complexity so they can make the easy call, which is the lowest price.


But prospects who see you as the way to solve a priority won’t


need to compare. They’re hungry, and your apple is the solution. Prospects commoditize us when we fail to reach that connec-


tion. We show up and say many of the same things as our com- petitors. Our differentiators never make a prospect think “This is going to make a threat disappear.”


19


here are three forces at work in modern sell- ing that are stifling revenues in B2B companies. Though they’re rarely spoken by name, the effects


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32