0:00 Welcome to Module 3, buyer behavior, choices versus decisions. We’re going to make a distinction between these two. Here’s the Module 3 overview.
0:15 Number 1, you want to understand why choices are actually transactional. They’re very simple, they’re kind of linear, and they’re limited.
0:24 Decisions are complex. And then the modern enterprise sale, umm, how it consists of multiple decisions within that sale. So we’re going to kind of demystify like how decisions are made, umm, in modern orgs today.
0:45 So number one, what is a choice? A choice is the act of making a selection based on a limited or predetermined set of alternatives.
0:59 Making a choice is typically a singular action. Making a decision, however, is a process. So, two very different things.
1:11 So here’s an example. This looks like a test you’ve taken before, right? It’s pretty simple. So, choose the best option.
1:19 So if I say I want to select vendor one, vendor two, vendor three, that is a choice. I’m making a choice of those three vendors out of those three vendors.
1:27 But before I get to the point of making a choice, I’ve made some decisions. I’m making to evaluate those vendors prior to, okay?
1:37 So stop treating decisions as if they’re transactional, right? They are very complex. So you want to be involved in the decision process, not just the choosing.
1:48 At the end, okay? What is a decision? A decision is actually the cognitive process. So we’re talking a little bit deeper now.
1:57 The cognitive process resulting in the selection of a belief or a course of action among several possible. Alternative options, right?
2:06 So there’s just way more to consider. And so here’s a quick graphic on how decisions are made. Okay? This may be going on behind the scenes.
2:16 Umm, you may not be privy to this process. Umm, when it comes to your sales cycle, but you should understand what that looks like.
2:25 You should take the time to umm, inquire from your stakeholder what’s their decision process. How do they weigh evidence, right?
2:34 How do they identify alternatives? Umm, what information is most important in making a decision, right? Umm, those things are very, very critical in the decision process.
2:47 So, don’t worry so much about the decision maker. Understand the decision. Process, okay? Now I want to get into like the decision maker piece, right?
3:00 This is what we think the decision maker looks like. But what about to the right? What’s the difference in these two graphics, right?
3:15 Again, let me move my hand out of the way. This is who you assume your decision maker is, forgive me my Loom videos, I can not be a little bit, umm, so this is who you assume your decision maker is, you know, that one person sitting in the ivory tower.
3:42 It’s not the case, this is actually what your decision maker looks like, it’s a committee. You may meet this person, you may meet this person, I have some connection, but these other six or seven people, you may never get a chance to get in front of, okay?
4:00 So, get that out of your mind. Modern sales, the modern buyer, doesn’t look like this anymore, right? It looks like this.
4:12 Decisions are made by committee, especially when you’re talking about, you know, you get out of the SMB space. You get into the mid-market, upper mid-market enterprise space.
4:24 You better understand that whatever business case you build, that’s why you need to be very precise. On value mapping, quantitative value mapping, workflow mapping, and gathering the right knowledge and insight and customer data.
4:38 Because when you create your business case or your proposal, that better tell the value story without you being there. Because if you think you’re going to rely on these people to tell your value story and to sell your product or solution for you, you are sadly mistaken.
4:55 They’re going to tell that story based on how they interpret it, based on how they understand it, and they’re probably going to leave out a lot of key elements.
5:03 So it’s up to you as the seller to do your due diligence to craft a narrative, craft a value narrative that all of these people can understand and it will resonate with them.
5:19 That’s the end of Module 3.