By Mark Eardley

In business-to-business (B2B) markets, the buying decisions that create sales – what to buy, from whom, and at what price – are typically influenced by many different people. Understanding who influences these decisions is the cornerstone of a disciplined marketing process that convinces all of them that they can trust the decisions they are taking.

The first step in the process of winning that sales-creating trust is to identify the influencers.

B2B markets can be complex environments, and influences on buying decisions may spring from many sources. A classic list might include industry analysts, specialist consultancies, commentators in the media, distributors, value-added resellers (VARs) and, of course, end-users.

Within end-users, the list gets longer and may cover finance, strategy, business analysis, production, marketing, sales, human resources, project management, research and development, and support.

For major purchases – those that create major sales – people from different functions may come together as a formal decision-making unit and be joined by external advisers engaged for their specific expertise.

Whoever they are and whatever their role, when considering buying decisions, all influencers are motivated by the same two objectives. They need to trust that their individual responsibilities will be fulfilled and that their personal success and the success of their organisation will be reinforced.

Before even thinking about issues like sales messages, communication channels and contact points within the B2B buying cycle, or measuring returns on marketing spend, companies must know exactly which influencers to reach, either directly or as a group with common interests.

Skip this first step – or wing it using entrenched assumptions – and there is simply no point in taking the second step: providing influencers with information that will win their trust.

Across the different influencers, how much do they each trust existing or potential suppliers to tick the boxes that matter most to them? And what is the basis for their trust? To answer these questions, let us say reliability is one feature of a company’s products. Perhaps this might mean low maintenance costs or increased productivity through reduced downtime. Maybe it improves day-to-day operational efficiencies or strengthens the integrity of processes.

Reliability might produce all these different benefits and more. Which is great. But who bene- fits and how do they benefit? How does reliability help a distributor or a VAR? Why would it motivate a consultant’s recommendation or persuade an industry analyst or media commentator to express a positive opinion? From an end-user’s perspective, whose requirements are fulfilled by reliability?

In different ways, reliability might be a major plus point for them all. If so, the combined weight of their positive perceptions needs to support a unanimous buying decision. To harness that undivided support, it is essential to ensure all the influencers are informed by relevant, credible information that specifically addresses their most pressing concerns.

The information must prove that each influencer’s expectations will be matched by experiences, that what is proposed will translate into what is provided. In other words, it must be evidence – not flashy propaganda where ‘the large print giveth and the small print taketh away’ (Tom Waits’ Step Right Up).

When a company operates in an environment where positive perceptions exist among all influencers, there is, logically, a much higher probability of creating profitable sales – everyone who matters agrees that the right buying decision is being made.

Such an environment also accelerates sales cycles. This is because decisions are quickly informed by trusted knowledge. This short- circuits the repetitive, time-consuming rigmarole of establishing new relationships with (previously unknown) influencers and responding to requests for the different sorts of information they need. The influencers must already have the up-to-date information required to make their decisions.

While it might be naïve to expect that all the influencers will be positive all the time, the underlying goal is to ensure that influential supporters outnumber – and outgun – detractors. This requires formal mechanisms to keep tabs on influencers and how they and their buying-decision criteria may change. Because the buying environment does change as influencers move on or up, as market forces change in response to economic pressures, or as a result of, say, technology advances and how they are applied.

The process of maintaining relevance and credibility, of sustaining sales-creating trust among influencers, also requires a methodology that guides a supplier’s response to events in the market: who is considering a new project or a mission to increase productivity, or about to introduce a shift in strategy?

Identifying and engaging influencers are two essential components in a structured approach to marketing that reaches the right people with the right information. It increases revenues and margins because sales are created by the people who influence and make decisions regarding what to buy, from whom, and at what price.

Eardley advises B2B organisations on how to manage their marketing to create profitable sales - mark@eardley.co.za