Between endless options, hawkish sellers, and long, drawn-out sales processes, today’s buyers have it rough. According to Gartner, 77% of B2B buyers agree that purchases have become very complex and difficult.
To simplify the buying process, your team must provide buyers with the resources to feel confident in their decision. Arming buyers with information relevant to their needs can empower them to decide if your product is right for them — quickly, and beyond a shadow of a doubt, reducing the time and work necessary for your team to close a deal and measurably shortening your average sales cycle length.
What Is Buyer Enablement?
Buyer enablement is a sales strategy centered around providing buyers with the information and resources necessary for them to make an informed purchasing decision. This could include resources like:
- Interactive demos
- Calculators
- Product recommendation quizzes
- FAQs
A buyer enablement strategy places your buyers in the driver’s seat of their own decision-making process (and allows your team to gather the critical information necessary to close the sale).
Why Buyer Enablement Can Accelerate Sales Cycles
Prioritizing buyer enablement with a mix of informational resources and input from your sales team can benefit both your team and your customers. Here’s how:
Enhanced Buyer Decision-Making
As the B2B buying process becomes more complex, buyers must take extra time to consider their purchases. Gartner found that around 90% of all buyers revisit decisions or loop back during the buying process — an additional step that stretches out your team’s sales cycles. But access to quality, customized self-guided resources can speed up buyers’ decision-making.
Reduced Number of Demos Per Deal
According to the Consensus 2024 Sales Engineering Compensation & Workload Report, the typical demo requires three hours of preparation time. Educated buyers require fewer hands-on demos to make their decision, as they have access to more information before meeting a sales representative, saving your team time and effort.
Plus, 75% of buyers prefer a rep-free buying experience, so fewer demos equals a win-win scenario.
Improved Lead Qualification
In the 2024 SE Report, unqualified demos were found to directly cause longer sales cycles. Granting buyers access to decision-making resources early improves the quality of leads that reach your team — increasing their odds of conversion.
Unqualified leads can decide not to pursue your product without sacrificing your team’s time, while those who are interested will be better informed on how your product can work for them. Your team, in turn, can pursue high-value deals.
Enabling your buyers starts with implementing the right tools and tactics into your sales process. One particularly effective method of buyer enablement is using interactive video demos, which help buyers self-navigate their buying journey.
How Interactive Video Demos Can Empower Your Buyers
Rather than relying on the traditional (and time-consuming) demo process, your team can use interactive video demos to help buyers find exactly what they need before meeting with your team.
Interactive video demos offer a variety of benefits to empower your customers and streamline your sales process, including:
- Personalized buyer experiences: Interactive video demos let your buyers choose to learn about the information most relevant to their needs and sort out the rest — allowing them to streamline their product education.
- Deep connection to internal SMEs: By placing your experts at the center of your content creation process, buyers will have access to the best information available.
- Buyer-led sales: Buyers can easily share interactive video demos with others in their buyer group. Not only does this enhance the value of this resource for them, but your team members can also view and share data to better inform their strategy.
- Data-based sales strategies: Using the data collected from a buyer’s demo experience, your team can curate a personalized sales pitch that addresses buyers’ unique concerns and helps them reach their decisions quickly.
- Increased buyer autonomy: With demo automation, your buyers can access interactive demos on their own schedule, educating themselves on your product with minimal input from your sales team — until they’re ready to learn more.
Improve Your Buyer Enablement With Consensus
Consensus’s interactive video demo platform is designed to educate your buyers and provide valuable information without burdening your team. By using these digital solutions, you can maximize your team’s return on investment and reduce your sales cycles by 30%.
To learn more about how Consensus can elevate your buyer experience, talk to our team today or watch a demo to see the full benefits of this industry-leading, interactive sales solution.
