Enterprise Sales is Super Hard
Sometimes it feels like you are climbing a dangerous mountain without a strategy or the right equipment and tools.
​
Vista Equity's research indicates 6-8 people are involved with an enterprise sale. I think that is probably low.
​
I have highlighted a few of the challenges I have seen in enterprise sales below.
A Few of the Many Reasons That the Complex Sale is Difficult
Complicated Politics
Many Stakeholders and Influencers, All with Different Buyer Roles
Very Difficult to Identify the True Pain Points
Very Hard to Evaluate and Forecast a Deal That Could Take 12-18 Months to Close
Emotional and Sometimes Irrational Behavior and Decision Making From the Buyer
Overcoming the Status Quo Takes a Village
There are many different buyer roles to consider.
One of the sad but true facts of sales is that the more a prospect talks to you, the less important or credible they probably are.
Another saying is that your sales cycle is only as good as your political sponsor. Said another way, you can conduct a great, tacrtical sales cycle, but if it is with the wrong people, then you are out of luck.
​
How do you even determine what role each person plays in your cycle? How do you get around the gate keeper? How do you get to the executive sponsor? How do you develop your coach, who is the most important important person in your deal. These deals are simply too complicated to navigate an account without inside help.
Understanding the lay of the land is one of the most important components in the account strategy, and one we spend a lot of time on during our workshop.
​​
Companies Do Not Buy, People Do.
People Do Not Buy Based on ROI or Even Value, They Buy Based on Emotions and Solving a Personal Pain.
Understanding the true pain across many different stakeholders is extremely difficult.
There are multiple dimensions of Pain to consider.
-
Strategic
-
Financial
-
Personal/Political
-
Operational
Understanding the difference between operational pain points and true business problems can feel like a huge puzzle.
Figuring out what is a feature, benefit, or problem, while on the surface seems easy, is actually quite difficult. A feature to one person may be a benefit to another, and a benefit to one, may be a problem to another. Reps need to uncover the important business problems and how they address personal and political pains of the executive sponsor.
​
People do not like to be sold, and their concerns and behavior changes depending on where they are in the buying process.
Concerns
​
-
Needs
​
-
Price
​
-
Solution
​
-
Risk
Matching your sales efforts to the buyers concerns is crucial to connect with your buyers . Imagine how frustrating it is when the rep talks about their great features when you don't even know you need anything.
​
Additionally, many reps do not know how to navigate the first stage of the buying process, the "deal creation" stage, and the most critical. Unlike transactional selling, complex, enterprise sales requires a lot of time and energy to truly understand the "why" and the real business and personal pains.
Navigating the
"Path to Power" is the Most Difficult and Important Role of the Sales Rep
In Every Deal, you need 3 things:
​
Active PAIN that is greater than the pain of change
​
A person in POWER that is personally and politically impacted by the problem
​
A VISION (life with your solution) that is understood and compelling
