This is a classic example of a non-customer centric process.  It is not built for the customer but rather for the vendor, in this case the bank.  Had that process been customer centric when I finally got to a representative the first thing out of their mouth should have been hello Mr. Walker how can I help you today.  I have already told them who I am and verified that for them…THEY SHOULD KNOW.

Problem is that same scenario is repeated time and again in all sorts of companies.  Marketing develops a lead and shoots it to sales without the proper details and the sales person calls the customer and starts at the beginning.  Sales closes a deal and the implementation process starts by hashing over a lot of the same information that was discovered in the buying process.  A call is escalated and the new technician starts right over at the beginning.  You get the idea and it is happening in most companies right now.

A customer centric process is built around the way the customer buys or interacts.  Information is shared seamlessly across all areas of an organization and common language and metrics are used.  In this sort of process a company aligns the processes with the buyer.  As the buyer interacts with various parts of an organization they encounter consistency which in turn builds and reinforces credibility.

The end result is the buyers like the relationship with your brand, trust your brand and buy more.  Isn’t that what we all want?

In the past it was that great sales rep that always managed to get involved in sales cycle  before the competition.  That was important because that rep got to set the expectations and began to educate the prospect as to what could be expected from the solution.  The hunter was on the scene first and put themselves in position to drive the process and as a result won the most new business.

Another trait of this traditional hunter was the drive for immediacy.  When they engaged a client the objective was singular…sell something now.  If that objective can’t be met for some reason that lead is discarded and the traditional hunter is on to the next hunt.

Problem is that over the last few years the hunting dynamic has changed.  The old style hunter that’s out in the market trying to insert themselves into the process as early as possible will likely find a cool if not downright cold reception.   Customers today have access to information and like to do their research independently of the sales rep.  I have seen studies that indicate that sales cycles can be 60% to 80% complete BEFORE the prospect is ready to engage a sales rep and that changes the whole dynamic of hunting.

That means that a vital part of hunting today is content focused.  It’s the same concept as before.  Get your information in front of the prospect and drive the process.  In the past that was done exclusively via face to face sales calls.  Today you have to create compelling content then use and manage a variety of information channels to accomplish the task.  Now I know that when I say compelling content most of you are thinking that’s expensive, but it does not have to be.  Content can be anything from a text message to an email message to a YouTube video.  Compelling content is valuable not necessarily expensive.

In most larger organizations the Marketing Department creates some content and can even manage a lot of the pre-engagement information flow and lead nurturing.   In an organization where there is not a Marketing Department does that performs this function it is now up to the rep to manage that process.  In both cases that means changes to the traditional sales paradigm that I will talk more about in subsequent posts.

For now we will end with this thought…the trick for successful hunting in todays market is for the hunter to use content and a lead nurturing process to pave the way and then insert themselves into the process at the RIGHT time not just the earliest possible time.

Years ago I read a study on purchasing agents and their buying tendencies.  One of the questions was… How many calls does it take before you buy from a new rep?  The answer was seven calls.

A few weeks later I read another study, this one on sales reps.  One of the questions on this study was… How many calls do you make on a new account before you give up?  The average was four.

What does that tell you about how much new business an “average rep” drives?