Find and Feed the Mobilizers

This article is based on and uses excerpts, taken verbatim, from a beautiful piece by Brent Adamson, principal executive advisor at **CEB** and best-selling author.

The decision making group in B2B buying comprises 5.4 buyers (Source: CEB Research)

Mobilizers mobilize action and build consensus.

They are the ones who rally the troops

Brent Adamson, principal executive adviser at **CEB** and best-selling author, led one of the most popular sessions at XANT’s Sales Acceleration Summit 2016.

Brent discussed the different stakeholder personas in B2B sales and which ones star performers focus on.

It’s been ingrained in our minds that success in B2B sales is all about making the right connections. And while that’s true, we have a warped perception of whom we should connect with.

The best person to speak with isn’t always the highest on the chain of command. Instead of targeting those with budget ownership, seniority, and decision-making authority, quota crushers have trained themselves to identify customer stakeholders with the right personalities.

Seven stakeholder personas

Through rigorous study and research, CEB has discovered that the decision-making group in B2B buying comprises 5.4 buyers (9/2021update: it’s now over 6). Moreover, every stakeholder involved in a B2B purchase has one of the following personas:

1. The Go-Getter is constantly seeking new ideas and consistently delivering more than they’re asked to do. They learn from their mistakes and look to champion other’s ideas.
2. The Skeptic is open to new ideas, but they like to analyse and dissect every detail. They perceive unclear projects as risky and believe that changes require small wins to be achieved first.
3. The Friend is readily accessible and is always looking to network with sales reps and colleagues.
4. The Teacher is great at explaining new insights, and both colleagues and executives seek the teacher’s input. Teachers are often regarded as visionaries and are particularly skilled at motivating others.
5. The Guide is good at providing information typically unavailable to vendors. They are open and speak the truth when interacting with sales reps.
6. The Climber values personal gain over the company’s. They always want to know what’s in it for them and are always eager to brag about their personal successes.
7. The Blocker believes stability is a goal in and of itself. They rarely help vendors, not because they don’t like them, but because they are opposed to change. Blockers believe improvement projects are distractions.

Obviously, these personas aren’t mutually exclusive, and there will always be some overlap; however, according to Brent, stakeholders tend to gravitate toward one of these profiles.

Who should you connect with?

As CEB spoke with top sellers and star performers, they realized there are only two things these sellers cared about when deciding where to hitch their wagon within a customer organization.

Instead of focusing on role or title, as they are trained to do, these sales reps are looking for someone who can build consensus and is willing to drive change.

In our list of seven personas, there are only three that fulfill those requirements:

• The Go-Getter
• The Teacher
• The Skeptic

Brent has dubbed this group **the mobilizers.**

Mobilizers are the ones who rally the troops. They’ve earned their nickname because they mobilize action and build consensus.

Others on the list may be friendly and talk with you (except the blocker), but they won’t accomplish anything.

What now?

Apply this to any prospects or customers you’re working with. Think of real accounts and the people you’re speaking with.

Which persona group do they belong to? Are you speaking with mobilizers, or are you stuck with talkers and blockers?

Once you identify the people you should be speaking with, focus on these two tasks:

1. Engage mobilizers with commercial insight, not thought leadership
2. Equip mobilizers to coach customers toward collective change

This way, you will have an insider who is highly motivated to pursue change, the kind of change that you, as a consultative salesperson, want to happen, by helping her with ammunition and insight that — obviously- relate to your offerings (product and possibly services).

Needless to say, you are aiming for a win-win outcome, and have determined their organization will be successful with adopting your product, and will become so delighted they will act as net promoters.

The mobilizers have been fed with inspiring and value-dense content, have had worthy technical conversations with your solution consultant, know that you are uniquely qualified to solve their business problems, see you as a partner, and therefore trust you, as you have developed a solid rapport with them.

Another way to put it is that you are enabling the early adopters, as Simon Sinek brilliantly explains in this short video.

If you really want to inspire your Mobilizers to action, you should consider putting together the “mobilizer’s toolkit”, a resource in the form of a collection of assets such as videos, slide decks, documents, webinars, and above all, independent research findings, whitepapers, and the like.

This kit may even include a ready-to-go presentation that the mobilizer can customize and use to make their case with the C-Suite — using the soundbytes you want them to see. I see the mobilizer’s toolkit as the king of content (being the king of content, that’s king²).

I created one a few years ago with the Docebo (DCBO) Marketing team. It really converted! More then one buyer reached out saying something along the lines of: “how could you know exactly the [business] problem I was facing? Uncanny!”

Here is the opening (although it has been updated since then):

You are a mobilizer that refuses to settle for lower common denominator-driven decisions. You need to convince your executive team that a modern learning platform will help you reach your business objectives, and believe that L&D is a strategic asset and competitive advantage. We wrote this for you.

neverstoplearning!