The Self-Educating Prospect
Most leads are 80% educated by the time they get to your sales team.
“We are witnessing a decided end to the era where sales reps were the channel; now they are merely a channel to customers. Sales leaders reluctant to acknowledge customers’ digital-first proclivities will be outpaced by competitors delivering significant value through digital- and omnichannel sales models, engaging customers in digitally rich learning and discovery.”
- Only 17% of the purchase journey is spent with sales reps
- Customers percieve little value in interacting with sales reps
What does this mean for your sales & marketing effort?
Customers prefer to educate themselves.
We all know this – In B2B, buyers are doing most (80%+) of their buying research independently, prior to talking to sales. This research is done on your website (if you are lucky), industry publications, social media, tradeshows, peers, etc.
Here is the good news: If your website is set up to allow potential customers to conduct their journey without leaving your site (or minimally), you win.
- Fewer salespeople
- Fewer, more productive demos (higher close rates)
- Shorter buying cycles
- Better Margins/Less customer churn
What do your prospects need to self-educate and move fast?
Positioning & Messaging
- State your sector
- State your superpower
- Identify your target audience/prospect
- Identify competitors
- Use shared language in messaging
Content
- Demo videos
- Educational content
- Comparison content
- Onboarding content
- Case studies
Features/Tools
- Learning Academy
- Pricing schema
- ROI Calculators
- Competitive comparison table
- Feature comparison table