For most sales operations an enquiry is the point where a sale begins. This is the phase at which the buyer goes out to the market and is typified by an unsolicited enquiry, or the issuing of an Request for proposal, to the supplier market.
In summaryWhen a customer has established their decision criteria, based on the needs they have identified. They will often seek to compare alternative solutions against those criteria. This is a phase of high sales activity usually typified by the submission of proposals and sales presentations.The key question the customer is asking now is “Who should I change to?”.To get the full picture on the differences between what world-class and typical sellers do at each stage of the customers journey, download the whitepaper below.
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World-class sales organisations will be:
Typical sales organisations will be:
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Video transcription: The Buying Cycle™ is the distinctive psychological phases that a buyer goes through when making a decision in a complex sale. Our research showed us the differences between what typical and world-class organisations do for their customers at each stage.
In the stage we call Evaluation of Options the customer is actively seeking a solution often by submitting request for proposals to several providers.
Average sellers bid for everything they tend to accept the bid process at face value and fail to get wider and deeper contact and understanding of the customers’ requirements.
Whilst we found that world class sellers were analysing the opportunity and making an informed bid / no-bid decision based on their strategic chances. They’re also contacting their customer again to gain understanding of the needs underpinning the opportunity and identifying all of the stakeholders and figuring out the decision-making process.
The next phase of the Buying Cycle™ is the one we call Resolution of Concerns. We’ll look at that in more detail in the next video.
