This is why buying software today SUCKS!

Let’s start with a story.

Not long ago I was selling an expensive fund accounting solution to finance and accounting teams at non profit organizations.

Like any account executive, I managed opportunities over the phone, video conferencing, and email. Once I’ve completed a step in the sales process, I’d go into Salesforce, tick a box off, and upload whatever notes or attachments I needed to.

As long as my sales manager was happy, I avoided scrutiny.

But, how was my buyer doing?

This is the most overlooked question today on the part of any seller.

And if we do consider it… we shoot them an email saying: *“Hello xxx, do you need more information? Okay no problem. Copies and pastes information. Attaches PDFs he’s never read Let me know if you need anything else.”*

One of the things I loved most about my job was that I got to actually visit my clients at their offices when deals were progressing.

I went along with my manager to visit a prospect and deliver a proposal. We decided to go together to flex some muscle and demonstrate our commitment to our customers by having senior leadership come along.

When the meeting started, the prospect (an accountant) pulled out this enormous folder that was overflowing with papers. She printed EVERYTHING I sent her: emails, brochures, information packages, sponsor letters… everything.

This was her evaluation binder. This was the arsenal she was building and preparing to present before the buying committee and the board. This was madness.

The sales process, and the expectations on my employer’s side gave no consideration for the buyers’ journey and experience.

We didn’t make buying easy. We made buying HARD. We inundated them with information.

I imagine she had similar folders for all the vendors she was engaging.

When I got back to the office I kept thinking about how I could make the buying process easier. How could I standout from the competition by simplifying the evaluation. There had to be a better way (can you guess what happened next?).

Well, first, I fell victim to COVID-19 cuts. But, I started to think more deeply about this problem: the selling process and the buying process are misaligned, fragmented, and scattered across phone, video conferencing, and emails which makes information gathering for the seller really frustrating.

I assembled a team and took a stab at tackling the problem.

We’re releasing an MVP within the next three months. This is the start of our journey to change the way sellers sell and the way buyers buy.

Let’s stop talking about tactics that help us close better, faster. Let’s start talking about how to enable buyers and to improve the buying experience and simplify their journey.