Growing Revenues in a Seller-Free World

The Third Growth Option with Benno Duenkelsbuehler and Guests

The internet has changed the sales process, from the seller being contacted 20-30% into the buying process, to now much closer to the end of the process. The internet changed the dynamic and continues to shift it. Zach Murphy talks about how that changed people’s and companies’ behaviors, as buyers and as sellers.

2:08 – “The internet has democratized information.”

3:07 – “creating content on the internet, (today) it’s less production, more authenticity, compared to 30 years ago… “ – “pre-internet it was a one-way conversation, the brands controlled the full conversation.”

4:29 – “People often over-complicate their sales and marketing process. At the end of the day, you’re trying to help your buyer make the best decision for themselves.”

8:07 – “Single activities don’t drive revenues, process does. Sales is a process.”

10:19 – How has buying behavior changed? “The internet has given people more access to more opinions… 1980 vs. now… more touchpoints… it’s all about building trust.”

13:15 – “Brands have lost their arbitrary authority… they not the only ones at the megaphone… consumers have smaller megaphones, via reviews, etc.”

15:05 – On the selling process and sell-free phenomenon “pre-internet, 20-30% into the buying process, the buyer would contact the sales rep (seller)… now (there is online research) buyers are 70-80% into the decision-making process before they ever contact a sales rep.”

19:58 – “The best way to sell is to take a problem-centric approach, not a product-centric approach… be an educator, not a seller.”

21:27 – “It’s online first, face-to-face second.”