Commercial Integrator October 2021 - 12

AV BRAINS & BRAWN
The New Roles of Buyers, Marketing and Sales
It is time to shift several paradigms. Let's begin with looking at how people buy today versus the
recent past. by Alan C. Brawn
IN OUR INDUSTRY, the only people that
don't realize that we are experiencing a
seismic shift in both marketing and sales are
those that are not involved in marketing and
sales... or with those buying AV systems.
Back in the day buyers called a vendor,
and then waited for a salesperson to darken
their door and provide all the information
they needed to make an informed decision.
Even in the early days of the internet,
information online had not yet evolved
to the level of sophistication and detail
necessary to make decisions that could be
called informed. The salesperson filled in
the blanks.
Knowing what we know today it is
somewhat shocking that some salespeople
still think their role is to simply fill in those
blanks. The world that buyers reside in
has become more complex as have the
systems they purchase and manage. As
AV designers and integrators we need to
understand their situation, what they face
internally, problems, pain points and how
to effectively address the world they live in
from their perspectives. It begins with how
they get information.
Research done by Gartner speaks to
" evolving buying dynamics " and that it has
two independent but parallel themes they
call " digital and difficulty. "
When they speak of digital enablement,
they are referring to the amount and
availability of information at the buyer's
disposal. Part of the problem is the sheer
amount, but the biggest challenge is in
finding differentiation.
In a recent survey it shows that 89% of
buyers said the information they acquired
online was of high quality but in comparison
to other digital resources they tended
to all look the same resulting in a " stalemate. "
In many cases buyers encountered
vendors who take the " we are better " path
but they also found inconsistencies in those
claims and comparisons with others.
Once again this shows that many companies
and their products simply look the same
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Many companies and their products simply look the same and the conundrum for
the buyer is who to believe among those that look credible.
and the conundrum for the buyer is who to
believe among those that look credible. In
simple terms, all the contradictory information
results in a reduction of confidence on
the part of the buyers. While the veritable
mountain of digitally sourced information
available to the buyer coupled with their
inability to discern one from another is one
that is internal to a company and the
difficulty in navigating through this maze.
Looking at this from a buyer's perspective,
research shows that 80% of those interviewed
questioned their ability to navigate
this with a high degree of certainty. This
is not only an issue for them, but also for
those wanting to sell to them.
The sales focus should no longer be about a product,
but rather solving problems and thus creating an AV
experience that adds value beyond the products we sell.
Think about what all this means and how you plan to address
the new buyer, marketing and sales realities.
part of the buyer's challenge, there is another
daunting obstacle in their way.
It is easy (and erroneous) to think in
terms of there being one buyer or a couple
of people making the buying decisions.
Research shows that ten years ago the
number of individual stakeholders involved
in a complex buying decision was five but
today that number has grown to " over 11
and occasionally flexing up to nearly 20. "
Put yourself on pause for a moment.
Stop and consider the complexity
Commercial Integrator OCTOBER 2021
Let's do a little mid-course review. We
know that the markets we are addressing
are changing and we must adapt to those
changes if we want to thrive and continue
to serve our clients in a meaningful way. The
buyers should be our focus. On their end
they have a plethora of digital information
at their disposal and do much of the work
of a salesperson before that person comes
knocking on their door.
We should know that much of what is
seen online lacks differentiation and in a
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Commercial Integrator October 2021

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