"We have a specific use case that we need to get right [describes a sophisticated use case]. Do you have any customers who use you for that?"
I remember this Zoom call well. I was the general manager for the global SMB business unit at Braze, and had revenue responsibility across new business, retention, and upsells.
I was on the call to help move this deal forward for a brand new sales rep. I wanted to get our new rep his first win, but I also wanted to ensure that we brought on customers we could serve well. Our team was counting on me, as was the prospective customer. I didn't want to let them down.
I knew the answer, but only because I had been on a call with a happy customer earlier that day, where she had described to me how they used Braze for this exact use case.
I proceeded to share our customer's story with the prospect. Mentioning a customer and speaking in detail about how they used our product must have made an impact, because I saw his furrowed brow turn into a slight nod.
They signed with us the next day.
Why is this story so rare in B2B sales?
The story above is rare. It requires that the same person (i) know the product and its use cases cold, (ii) be on every call with both customers and prospects, and (iii) connect the dots in the moment. But the benefit is obvious - generate more revenue faster and win your market.
99 times out of 100, the prospect's question is taken "offline". The sales rep asks in an internal Slack channel for any relevant customer stories. But we didn't have this customer story in our bank, because we never asked this customer to record an official story for us. Missed opportunities all around.
And boy, is this common. In this same role, I would listen to a sales call recording every morning (thanks to Gong) during my commute. I heard so many requests for specific customer examples or even "do you have any customers like us?" Almost always, our response was "let me follow up on that."
It's so hard to get a prospect on the phone, and any answer that is not real-time gives them time to walk away.
But it's not the rep's fault.
Why are sales reps drowning in information but starving for insights?
In my previous post, I wrote about the modern buyer's problem: too many choices. Modern B2B buyers need a curator. Someone who will ask them about goals, use cases, budget, and use this information to educate the buyer about options, establishing trust and giving them enough conviction to buy now.
A great sales rep can fulfill the curator role perfectly.
But we force-feed reps too much information and don't arm them with enough insights. This is what leads to "I'll get back to you on that" responses and long, drawn-out sales cycles.
Take the typical sales onboarding program. There is a bootcamp where dozens of presenters share tons of new information. This is followed by the new rep shadowing experienced reps and listening to call recordings while they drum up new pipeline so they can hit their quota. At some point, a new rep learns the corporate pitch, which is usually so generic that most buyers ask to skip over it.
So much information, but where are the insights that can transform a nervous buyer into a customer? Why wait 6-9 months for a rep to learn through osmosis?
Surely there's a better way...
Read on for Part 3: The Marketer's Problem →
FAQ
What is the seller's problem in B2B sales? Sales reps are given too much information and not enough insights. They can't find relevant customer stories in the moment when a prospect asks for them, which leads to "I'll get back to you on that" responses and longer sales cycles.
Why can't sales reps find customer stories when they need them? Most companies don't capture customer stories as they happen. A happy customer might describe their use case on a call with a CSM, but that story never makes it into a format sales can use. The stories exist, but they're trapped in conversations nobody documented.
Why does "I'll get back to you on that" hurt sales deals? It's hard to get a prospect on the phone in the first place. Any answer that is not real-time gives them time to walk away, evaluate competitors, or lose momentum. The longer a deal takes, the less likely it closes.
How long does it take for a new sales rep to ramp? Most B2B sales reps take 6-9 months to ramp through osmosis, shadowing experienced reps and listening to call recordings. Much of that time is spent learning which customer stories are relevant to which prospects, knowledge that could be delivered much faster.
What do B2B buyers actually want from sales reps? Buyers want a curator, not a pitcher. Someone who asks about their goals, use cases, and budget, and then shares relevant customer examples that build trust and give them conviction to buy.
