Key Decisions That Determine Whether B2B Buyers Will Buy From You

Last week’s post discussed the 3 reasons that motivate B2B buyers to find and consider buying a product / service / solution:

• Solve a problem
• Pursue an opportunity
• Improve performance.

In this article we’ll look at what the key decision factors are that determine whether they buy, what they buy and who they buy it from.  Based on work I’ve done over the years reviewing countless win/loss analysis reports from thousands of deals, there are always 3 key decision factors at play that determine what a buyer decides to do:

1. Meets their needs – B2B buyers set out to find something that will enable them to pursue the goals they have established based on one or more of the 3 primary motivators and supporting objectives.  While this may be intuitively obvious to anyone who has been around B2B marketing and sales for any time, meeting the specific buyer needs based on their buying motivators and business goals is the #1 reason that determines which product / service / solution they buy.  These needs are frequently expressed as lengthy lists of requirements, Requests for Proposals (RFPs), demonstrations and other nitty-gritty details for vendors to show that their proposed solution will meet the customer needs.  While it is possible for vendors to influence some of the specifics to suit their solution, the ultimate decision is still whether the buyer believes a specific choice will meet their needs.
2. Affordability – the most frequently mentioned reason for a deal loss from salespeople is price, but affordability for buyers is much more than just the price of the product / service / solution.  Firstly, many B2B buyers usually have underestimated expectations of what they are willing to spend to pursue the goal of the buying motivators.  Secondly, it’s more than just the purchase price – it’s the total cost of ownership over the projected lifetime of the solution.  Thirdly, it always boils down to ROI – buyers determine the value to the business for achieving the goal they identified based on the buying motivator(s).  From a vendor perspective, the discussion with the buyer should be more about value creation for the business and less about the actual price.  If you create the right value for a business, the price becomes incidental.
3. Trust – while this is not an overt discussion topic like needs and affordability during the buying process, it is a significant influential factor that determines who a buyer buys from.  All things being equal in meeting the needs and affordability factors, buyers will choose the vendor and people they most trust.  I’ve seen cases where buyers don’t choose the best fit and most affordable option because they don’t trust the vendor and/or the people representing the vendor.  Salespeople usually put a lot of effort into building a good rapport and trust with buyers.  Trust extends to every aspect of a vendor company and all the vendor people all the buyers deal with.  Building trust with buyers should be a major objective for all marketing, sales, consulting, management, support and other interactions.

Sometimes B2B buyers decide not to decide and defer buying to some undetermined future time.  When you delve into these cases, the reason for the non-decision is probably because one or more of the above 3 decision factors wasn’t met.  The buyer doesn’t believe they can achieve the goal of the original motivators and decides against proceeding.

Vendors can significantly improve their marketing and sales performance by understanding and focusing on the 3 motivators that initiate the buying process and these 3 key decision factors that primarily influence the buyer’s decision of what they buy and who they buy it from.

Your comments are always welcome.
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