Revenue Journal®

It took a while before the Web really changed the way people bought things, but it has happened. Now people go to the Web first and research the heck out of a subject before they buy.

They scrutinize, analyze, and agonize. They Google and re-Google, fine-tuning their search term until they start getting the desired results. They know exactly what they want and they keep searching until they finally find it, then compare their options, read the reviews, and consider the price and the functions. Once they are satisfied they have found the right product and are comfortable with the company selling it, they place an order.

I'm sorry to say that, over and over, I am finding business owners struggling to make sales because their marketers - in-house or outside - are trying to use yesterday's marketing and selling methods on today's buyers, who have definitely moved on.

Buyers have specific questions. If you're not giving them specific answers, you're not going to capture those sales. All technology aside, this is the biggest difference between "old" marketing thinking and "new" marketing thinking.

The best way to illustrate this is with an example.

Well, it's that time again. Elections. Always causes a bit of a dip in productivity, and a slowdown of the buying process, while everyone waits to see how the election will turn out.

Welcome to Distraction City.

In our news-dominated culture, distractions interrupt buying patterns. The larger the distraction, the larger the interruption. I tend to think of these periods as distraction-driven mini-dips. If there are a number of them in succession - especially those involving armed conflict or a terrorist attack - the dips can turn into a recession.

During these distraction-driven mini-dips, it's more difficult to generate revenue. Everyone still goes to work, meetings are still held, contracts are still signed, but if you're on the selling side, it always feels like the world is sliding sideways. As you attempt to finalize a contract, it's like talking to someone who is talking to someone else on a cell phone. Or who is pretending to be paying attention to you while simultaneously watching a movie. Sure, they will answer your questions, but they're not "all there." People are no where near as adept at multi-tasking as they think they are, especially if they have an emotional stake in the other task.

It's not just the buyers who are distracted. Sellers are distracted, too.

Major opportunity for you

"Demand generation" is the new name for "marketing." It has its roots in every salesman's fantasy. Salespeople are happiest when their product is in demand, when they're writing orders rather than having to make cold calls and trying to convince people to buy. The sweetest phrase a salesman can say to himself is, "I'm in demand!"

But "demand generation" has nothing to do with the customer's buying process. The only time "demand" can be applied to the customer's buying process is when a child is demanding something from a grownup. Picture the full-blown, in-store temper tantrum employed by the three-year-old, or the more subtle--but just as irritating--Major Sulk employed by a teenager using more "sophisticated" methods. But even in these cases, the child doing the demanding is not even the final decision-maker.

Our first Revenue Journal podcast, in which I interview Brian Livingston, President/Editor of WindowsSecrets.com, who was just named Entrepreneur of the Year by MarketingSherpa.

The CMO Council and MarketBridge just conducted a study to determine how marketing is perceived and how marketers think they're doing. The results agree with what I've observed for many years: the very nature of marketing has changed and many marketers haven't changed with it.

I don't normally post "news" here, since you can get that from so many other places. But I thought you might want to know about the joint study being undertaken by the CMO Council and KnowledgeStorm, especially since you can participate.

The CMO Council consists of marketing execs from 1,300 tech companies, controlling $45 billion in global marketing expenditures. KnowledgeStorm defines itself as "the largest online index of IT solutions," and says that 1.5 million IT buyers and solution providers visit KnowledgeStorm each month.

A joint release says the two companies will be conducting a field study entitled "Driving Decisions: Online Content Consumption Patterns," to explore "where and how IT is shaped, influenced, qualified and driven by online content syndication and consumption."

The CMO Council will conduct qualitative interviews of IT buyers and sellers. KnowledgeStorm will "employ its advanced analytic capabilities, and a network of more than 150 access channels and 600,000 registered users--300,000 of them opt-in users--to conduct a quarterly audit and analysis of technology content being sourced, viewed and downloaded across multiple categories and vertical industry sectors."

Let's assume someone really good-looking swept you off your feet with promises of a life of bliss. You dated, got engaged, and then tied the knot.

About five minutes after you left the church together in your limo, your new spouse suddenly turned into the ugliest, meanest, rudest person you had ever met. A broken heart and many months later, you were free, and you vowed to yourself: "Never again."

This is the mindset of today's software buyer. Especially those considering big-ticket, enterprise-wide programs.

These people are Skeptical, with a capital S. They have already been badly burned by "revolutionary" systems like CRM and ERP. Some of them almost killed their own companies trying to put these systems into place (and almost did it again when they had to remove those same systems).

Think you can impress these buyers with flowery promises? Not anymore. Think they'll believe that "It will be different this time - we will actually take care of you?" Ha! Think you're going to convince someone to champion your solution to their CEO? Dreamer!

They don't trust any promises; too many promises have been broken by everyone in the software business, from Microsoft (the biggest promiser and promise-breaker of all time) on down.

No wonder it's so tough to sell software.