Revenue Disruption: Game-Changing Sales and Marketing Strategies to Accelerate Growth

Chapter 1

It’s the Buyer, Stupid

In 1992, political consultant James Carville cleared the path to Bill Clinton’s election as President with one simple phrase: “It’s the economy, stupid.” There were plenty of other issues upon which Clinton could have built a campaign at that time. But his singular focus on the economy gave his campaign such clarity that it not only won him the election; it entered popular culture as an enduring meme.

The fundamental idea behind reinventing revenue is just as clear and simple: “It’s the buyer, stupid.” Revenue-generating organizations can worry all they want about tactics like trade show booths, targeted e-mail blasts, the number of cold calls made each day, expert negotiating skills, and whether SPIN Selling or Target Account Selling is really the best way to the money. But none of that really matters in the end. By the time that your prospective buyers see your trade show booth, read your e-mail, answer the phone, or tell you about their budget, they have already made up their minds.

In fact, your target buyers started making up their minds before you even knew they existed. This occurred when they visited your website and poked around in almost complete anonymity. Did they like what they found? Did they encounter current, relevant, and helpful information that educated them about why they should buy from you and not from your competitor? They probably asked their Facebook or LinkedIn friends and connections about whom to choose and whom to avoid. ...