What buyers and sellers want: Gen Z and millennial expectations
Buyers and sellers today are much different than generations past. Find out what it takes to meet the needs of these digital natives.
Until they saw the iPhone, no one knew they wanted a touchscreen phone. Scrolling interface, internet access on the go, pictures, music, and much more. With an extremely high price tag, much of the market didn’t buy the hype. Former Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer reportedly dismissed the idea of the iPhone gaining any significant market share.
But of course, it turns out the iPhone was exactly what everyone wanted.
Visionary technology has a way of changing the expected. Smart phones are a clear example, and it show what happens when you help people discover exactly what they didn’t know they needed.
This is what intelligent selling with generative AI promises – but sales organizations need to be willing to understand how to leverage it and act fast to win competitive edge.
Cutting through the noise: Welcome to intelligent selling
The goal with intelligent selling and AI in sales is to help both buyers and sellers connect effortlessly so they both get what they want. It’s the secret sauce that helps sales organizations harness the knowledge seasoned, time-served sellers would have amassed over decades and the relationships forged with clients.
Guided selling has become critical due to the massive changes in B2B sales. The days of sales jobs-for-life are gone; today’s B2B sellers expect digital tools and are more likely to jump ship without them.
Offers, products and pricing are increasingly complex, and the accompanying buyer journey is equally complex. To succeed, and to do it in reasonable time is challenging for a seller. Intelligent guidance and generative engagement are key.
Much of this is achieved using AI-powered tools, which literally walk the seller through each opportunity, providing a structure to work from. By looking at what’s already been achieved and what’s worked on similar deals, intelligent insights suggest a course of action to keep the deal moving.
It’s the perfect example of how to use data: rather than just presenting the data, the system tells you what it means and what you need to do as a result.
Better sales content builds trust
Embedded sales intelligence, generative AI, and guided selling helps sellers create communications worth paying attention to.
Content – especially sales content – has to be relevant. Otherwise it’s ignored, along with all the other low-grade digital junk that bombards us. People don’t like being sold to, but they do like being helped.
With intelligent selling tools, salespeople are guided to content that provides buyers with useful, timely information so that they’re more likely to pay attention the next time. They work as a filter for sellers and buyers on the huge volume of available content – to help sellers know what to send, and to help buyers trust they’re getting something useful.
This building of trust speeds up the sales cycle. If potential customers know a seller is honest, accurate and helpful, they’re more likely to accept their recommendations and buy.
Help sellers build relationships
Using intelligent technology to improve the selling process does more than make sales. Good outcomes strengthen the relationship between buyer and seller, giving both a reason to keep doing business with each other.
This is vital to remaining agile amid constant change. For example, long-standing relationships can be at risk from competitors, especially if a key contact retires after 30 years and replaced by a younger buyer.
These digital natives are used to a faster, easier way of working, and they’ll want a similar purchasing experience from a vendor. Fail to give it to them and they’ll go elsewhere.
With the speed of B2B sales, sales reps expect employers to equip them for success. Embedded intelligence and guided selling tools make their jobs easier. Employees moving from a firm that uses them to one that doesn’t aren’t likely to stick around for long.
Collaboration that counts
Intelligent selling isn’t just about the wonders of generative AI; it’s about helping sellers better connect with buyers to make a sale.It’s also about making sure everyone involved is going in the same direction. It’s about a collaboration between buyer and seller and providing value to the buyer every time they engage with the seller. Get this right and the sale will follow.
