A Tale of Two Cities

We are living in an alternate version of reality (no not in the Matrix). In our alternate universe, both buyers and sellers believe that they are speaking the same language…however this couldn’t be further from the truth. See sellers live in one city that is run on sales metrics and legacy processes. Buyers on the other hand live in a totally different city that is ruled by budget cycles, resource planning, and corporate governance.

To say these two cities are different would be an understatement. And yet, buyers and sellers work together all the time to exchange information, evaluate solutions, and in some cases even procure a new product. But the interaction is painful and leaves much to be desired on both ends.

Before we discuss a possible solution, let me tell you about a tale of two cities.

The City of Sellers

If you’ve ever worked in sales or marketing it’s pretty common to hear questions like:

• How many new leads did we get this month?
• What does your forecast look like this month? This quarter?
• Is prospect X ready to buy now?

If you are running a business, these might seem like legit questions at first. That is until you come to realize that the “leads” and “prospects” being referred to in these questions are actual human beings. While the questions themselves are as old as time, so too is the thinking behind them. The companies, or vendors, who build and sell products no longer control access to all of the information, pricing, or demos. They might believe that they do, but a buyer who is motivated enough will find the information they are looking for one way or another. Acknowledging that sellers are no longer 100% in control of information is a hard pill for many companies to swallow.

Living in the city of sellers, we’ve been brainwashed to believe that the only way to engage with buyers is to have them:

• Fill out a form (or get their contact info from somewhere else)
• Have an SDR call, email, DM, and text them (the buyer)
• Qualify them with a legacy model like BANT, even when they aren’t in market
• Push to a meeting or demo, even if it isn’t the next logical step

This model no longer works, particularly when buyers now have access to tons of data, peer communities, etc. In most cases, the modern buyer comes to the table looking for direct information (like a demo or pricing). Yet, sellers are still running this old playbook often with junior level resources who are unable to run a demo or provide in-depth answers on the solution.

Instead of treating all buyers as if they are “in market” and ready to buy right now, sellers require a new way to engage with buyers without the pressure of a (sales) follow up.

The City of Buyers

Ah, the city of buyers. From the fast moving startups of the world to the big slow moving enterprise. Regardless of which size your organization is, buyers are still bound by budgets, resource allocation, and prioritization. Because of this, buyers tend to seek out information about solutions weeks to months ahead of when they are ready to engage with sales.

This creates a different problem though. In many cases, pricing or demos are “inside the seller city walls” only accessible by engaging with sales (which most buyers don’t want to do early on). As a buyer you might be able to lean on peers, private communities, or even information on the web…but it isn’t a perfect process and information can quickly become outdated.

Several years ago chatbots, also referred to as conversational marketing, ushered in a new web experience that promised to get buyers more information right on the website. Sadly this promise was never realized as most chatbots operate in a linear fashion and can’t handle natural conversation the way a human can. This led to most queries being directed straight to sales teams which is what buyers were trying to avoid in the first place.

Buyers today are at an impasse, waiting for a better way to engage with sellers without triggering the “sales workflow”.

We are Building a New Kind of City

Buyers and sellers have been living independently in their cities for too long. We have tried to make small changes in each respective city, however we have little progress to show for it. So instead of bolting on yet another solution to benefit one city, it’s time for us to start over and build a new city from the ground up where buyers and sellers can live together.

The new paradigm for our city will be based upon three fundamental principles:

• The flow of information freely between buyers and sellers
• The use of AI to drive efficiency, but not fully replace humans
• A relationship between buyers and sellers built on trust, not BANT

Our new city won’t be built in a day, but we are laying the foundation today. Buyer Copilot is the first step in ensuring that information flows freely. Buyers are able to engage in a more natural conversation with Buyer Copilot, not just be pushed down a linear path (like a Chatbot). Based on the query, Buyer Copilot can surface content, data, and even product demos in an automated and more personalized experience.

If you are ready to build a new city with us, see how you can get started with Buyer Copilot today.