According to Gartner, the average number of stakeholders in a business-to-business sale today is eleven, and that number can occasionally flex to twenty or more in larger organizations. When the Challenger Sale was published in 2016, its authors Brent Adamson and Matthew Dixon pointed out the average number of stakeholders was 6.8, representing a 25% jump from the 5.4 average number from a 2014 study. For those of you counting, 11 represents a 49% increase in the average number of stakeholders in a B2B decision since 2014.

If you sell to smaller companies, the number of stakeholders in your target sale may be lower, but it’s still more than one. This matters because the likelihood of closing a deal decreases as the number of decision-makers increases.

As a sales coach, I know it’s essential to engage all of the critical stakeholders when trying to make a sale, but far too many reps count on one contact to do the selling for them. During coaching sessions, I’ll ask:  Who are the key stakeholders? Almost 100% of the time (at least initially before we start working on it), the rep has one contact, and it’s often a lower-level stakeholder like a designer, traffic manager, or office manager.  Not so coincidently, their pipelines are full of stalled opportunities.

In fact, 38% of purchase attempts end in a “no decision,” according to a 2020 study completed by Challenger. This number is high, largely because B2B sellers don’t do a great job of engaging the right or enough of the stakeholders who will be in involved in the decision. When stakeholders are out of the loop, on different pages, unclear about the business case, and unsure of the reasons to choose a specific provider, decisions stall.

When I think of all the wasted time quoting and hoping that goes on within printing companies today, it boggles my mind. Now we have to add sourcing paper to the mix, which I’m told is taking hours if not days. If you put these two facts together, just think of the time wasted on the 38% of projects that will likely end in a “no decision”. It’s time to stop the madness.

Fixing this problem requires both short- and long-term changes.

Let’s start with the short-term changes.

1. Improve the qualification criteria before you quote or propose. Here are some questions to ask your rep(s) or yourself before quoting: Who owns the objective? If the objective is to generate leads, is the rep talking to the person who owns that objective?
2. Does the rep know what drove the customer to have their objective, i.e., the problems they are experiencing?  Does the rep know what success looks like for the customer? What results must be possible for them to move forward with the project? What criteria must the supplier demonstrate to be selected?
3. Does the rep know how the customer will track whether they successfully accomplished their objective? If not, the project may be a “one-hit wonder” with no opportunity for long-term growth.
4. If it’s a new customer, does the rep know what supplier was doing the project before? Has the rep asked the customer if the opportunity exists for your company to become a primary supplier, or will this “new account” go back to their previous supplier when they have a better offer? What is the long-term potential of this account? If your rep doesn’t know the answer to this question, he or she could spend a lot of time on an opportunity that can’t grow instead of one that could.
5. Does your rep know all the stakeholders, and are they talking to them? If the rep knows them but isn’t talking to them, there is a high probability of a “no” or “lost” decision. In North America, only 9% of sales reps’ relationships are matrixed, meaning the rep has formed multiple relationships at different levels of the client’s company.

65% of customer relationships rely solely on one contact, according to the Demand Gen Report 2016 ABM Benchmark Survey. 

1. Has your rep asked the customer what they need to see from you to consider you a long-term partner? If not, this customer could be shopping to keep their current vendor in line and plans to go back to the existing provider. Getting all stakeholders on board for a permanent switch will require a plan. If your rep asks the question, both the rep and you will be smarter about where to spend your time and resources.

When I ask a rep who isn’t focused on developing relationships with key stakeholders, they will almost 100% of the time try to sell me on the fact that their contact “loves them” and wants to give them the business. That may be true, but it probably isn’t enough to win the business.

Corporate Executive Board data found that 51% of customers who might be willing to buy from a supplier aren’t willing to advocate for the supplier internally to help get the deal done.

They may love the rep but not enough to fight for them inside their company. Opportunities that rely on one contact’s ability to sell you internally have a high probability of failure. That means all the time spent by sales and your estimating team will likely be wasted.

Now, let’s talk about the long-term strategies to improve your win rates. 

1) Define your sales process and force your reps to use it consistently. Moving through a defined process, knowing the answers that you need to qualify opportunities, and using that process consistently will deliver 18% higher revenue growth, according to the Sales Management Association.

2) Define your account development process. Know your customer’s challenges and how print can help them address those challenges and use a closed-loop sales process to lead from one opportunity to the next.

According to the 2022 MarketHire Survey of Marketing Professionals, 75% of marketing professionals believe there is still a wave of resignations to come in marketing departments due to the “great resignation.”

Most marketing departments are experiencing 27% – 30% turnover. Your key stakeholders, mainly coming from the marketing ranks, are covering open positions and worn out. Things are going to bog down. If you aren’t using a strong sales process that leads from one opportunity to the next and engaging all stakeholders, you are going to leave opportunity on the table. Without a good process, your reps will be waiting by the phone for customers to call and not be in control of their incomes or your success.

3) Set goals for your reps and have regular structured conversations about their plans to meet those goals. Help them strategize, ensure they follow the sales process and help them understand when opportunities aren’t qualified and what they have to do to get them qualified. They should be spending their time on opportunities where the possibility exists for a long-term mutually beneficial relationship with a customer.

It’s more challenging to sell today than it once was, and many reps claim it isn’t fun anymore. But those reps haven’t evolved; they haven’t continued to improve their skills or sales process. For the reps who have evolved, they are still selling and having fun doing it.

What type of reps do you have?

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