Buyer Journey Customization: Three Things Buyers Want from Modern Sales Processes

Modern buyers expect a fast and personalized buying experience. This is seen with both B2C and B2B buyers. They demand more from their sellers because they want easier buying experiences.

With 75% of buyers saying that they would prefer a more self-service approach, sellers have to lock in on meeting these demands. Speed and customization are what buyers want. Now, how can sellers deliver this at scale? 

Our processes have to adapt to fit modern customer behaviors to meet the needs and expectations of our buyers today. This can’t happen until we move away from basing our sales processes on age-old sales methodologies. Sellers instead have to shift their approach to focus more on buyer journey customization. 

Successful B2B sales processes cannot be a one-size-fits-all conveyor belt anymore. 61% of customers say that they feel like companies treat them like just another number. This is mainly because most B2B sales processes start everyone at the same step. Outdated and rigid frameworks are usually to blame for this. 

Even though they are based on decades-old sales data, methods like MEDDIC, BANT, and RAIN are still widely used by B2B sales teams. While they have merits, most of these sales methodologies are hurting sales today instead of helping. Many of them adopt archaic thoughts like there has to be a linear sales process or that there is only a single buyer. Since neither of these things ring true for modern buyer behaviors, sellers struggle to adapt and have little room for buyer journey customization. 

Things have to change if sellers want their sales processes to be as effective as they are efficient. The answer is not to continue with over-automated processes where sellers don’t add any value. We have to adapt to customer behaviors. 

Adapting to deliver on buyers’ wants for speed and customization doesn’t mean you have to completely abandon sales methods. The key is to implement one that is developed from a customer experience standpoint, not just a philosophical one. Today, we’ll walk you through how you can implement buyer journey customization using a more modern framework: NTENT. 

To better understand what this framework for better buyer journey customization looks like in practice, we’ll focus on how it addresses three things buyers want from modern sales processes.

• • Optimize at each step for the ideal customer experience
  • Fast track or move back when needed
  • Continuously align to their priorities and preferences

How NTENT Works for Buyer Journey Customization

NTENT is a modern and actionable framework introduced by Skaled CEO, Jake Dunlap, in his book The Innovative Seller. The framework accounts for today’s buyer behaviors and helps sellers better navigate customizing their sales processes and optimizing for efficiency.

NTENT breaks the sales process down into five key components that are as adaptable as they are actionable.

• • Next Steps: Define the immediate actions that must be taken after every interaction to maintain momentum on both sides.
  • Teams: Identify the roles of those involved at each stage to align your communication with the wants and priorities of the buyer. 
  • Education: Understand the level of information needed to move the buyer forward (or back) in the sales process.
  • Numerical Priority: Quantify buyers’ priorities with numerical indicators of their pains and needs.
  • Time to Impact: Focus on what buyers really care about – how and when they can expect your product to deliver the utility needed.

To meet buyers’ demand for speed and customization, you have to focus more on how you can optimize, fast-track, and align your sales process with your buyer’s needs and priorities. NTENT helps salespeople facilitate this efficient forward progression through the process while implementing buyer journey customization. 

> For more insights on NTENT, watch the exclusive episode with Jake and download the worksheets.

Optimize at each step for the ideal customer experience

Define your teams and understand each of their education levels in order to customize every step of the journey.

One of the biggest differences between NTENT and more traditional frameworks is the team’s principle. In a modern B2B environment, there is no single buyer. Teams make the decisions. To optimize for the ideal customer experience, you have to understand their priorities and their education levels. 

When you know that you are speaking to the end-user team, focus on providing them with information about functionality. They want to know what the product does and how it can solve a challenge in their day-to-day. The impact team will be the ones focused on ROI and the implications the product will have on their business. Take this understanding with you through every step of the process to customize their journey by properly speaking to their needs. At the same time, make sure you have a gauge of the grasp they have on the information you’ve provided. This way you can understand their education level and further optimize for efficiency by moving them through the process at the appropriate speed.

Buyer journey customization isn’t about creating infinite processes to fit each team going through your journey. It’s about understanding your buyer and adjusting their journey through your process based on their needs and priorities.  With the emergence of new sales tech to aid sellers in the efficiency of their processes, it’s important to note that customization does not have to be sacrificed for speed. While you can move the needle in sales with ChatGPT, AI and automation tools, overuse can jeopardize their effectiveness. 

Buyers want a shorter sales cycle. To achieve this, you must be able to optimize at every step according to your buyer’s needs and characteristics. 

Fast track or move back when needed

Understand your buyer’s education level to get them started in the right place and make sure to always provide next steps to ensure forward momentum.

Getting your buyer started at the correct point in your sales journey is the literal first step in buyer journey customization. As you continue moving them through the process, you want to make sure you’re moving them at the pace that fits them best. As part of the NTENT framework, sellers can use the education pillar to guide them in determining both the starting point and the pace.

There’s a spectrum for where buyers are on their research and education journey by the time they reach you. In preparation for your first call, don’t be afraid to reach out and ask where they are on that spectrum. The VECS framework is a great way to put a name to those different levels. If a buyer is vetted or educated, you can fast-track them through that first step. If they are coming to you cold, having done little research of their own, you’ll start them at the beginning.  Building sales processes for cold, vetted, and educated prospects will help you achieve buyer journey customization starting at step one.

Making sure you are moving them through at the correct speed will be key to ensuring a good customer experience. Too fast and they could feel like you’re just trying to rush them to make a decision. Too slow and you could easily lose them due to lack of momentum. Lack of momentum is one of the biggest deal killers in the B2B buying environment. That’s where NTENT’s “next steps” pillar comes in. Always defining what the next steps are to move forward in the process helps to set the pace and keep it.

> For more insights on VECS, watch the exclusive episode with Jake and download the worksheets.

Never stop aligning with their priorities and preferences

Understand the different priorities of your teams, have them rank their pains/needs in numerical priority, and deliver them a time to impact for when they can expect to see your product deliver on the utility needed.

Working your buyer teams through the sales process can be challenging if their pains and needs do not align. Conversations about pain and needs can already introduce ambiguity to the process since they are usually subjective. Instead, ask your teams where they would rank the need that you would be fulfilling on a numerical priority list. Numerical Priority is NTENT’s version of pains and needs. With a quantifiable measurement system, you’ll have more clarity on where the deal sits with each team in terms of importance.

Your goal should be to rank in the top five. Since the impact and end-user teams have different priorities, they often vary when they provide their rankings. You’ll want to address any significant variations between teams to move them along in their journey efficiently. Aligning with their priorities and preferences will help them to better see the value of your product based on their specific interest.  

Finally, something that will remain consistent throughout the customization of the buyer’s journey is the end goal. Your buyer does not care about a signed contract. They want to know when they can expect to see the impact on their business. That’s why they want faster sales processes. They don’t have time to stumble through the buyer journey when what they really care about is receiving the utility.

Bring Speed and Customization Into Your Buyer Journey With the NTENT Framework

The NTENT framework will help you achieve a fast and customized sales process for every single one of your buyers. Since it was developed from a customer-centric standpoint, it helps sellers to focus on achieving and exceeding buyers’ expectations. Every modern buyer expects buyer journey customization because they don’t want to feel like just another number. By focusing on next steps, team alignment, education level, numerical priorities, and time to impact, NTENT ensures that you can deliver on the three things B2B buyers want.

1. 1. Buyers want a journey optimized for their ideal sales experience at each step.
   2. Buyers want to be fast-tracked or move back in the process when needed.
   3. Buyers expect you to never stop aligning to their priorities and preferences.

It’s time to move away from outdated methodologies and adapt to the modern buyer. Implement NTENT, optimize your sales process, and watch as you better meet the needs of today’s buyers.