What buyers expect from salespeople and what it means for sales enablement

Over the last two weeks, I’ve shared some of the highlights from our first ever Buyer Preferences Study. First, I discussed if salespeople are relevant to the modern buyer based on the buyers’ perspective. We have seen that buyers don’t necessarily perceive salespeople as business partners. If buyers have to solve a business problem, salespeople are only number nine (!) on the list of preferred resources.
Last week, we looked at the specific buying situations in which buyers would prefer an early engagement with salespeople. Yes, these buying scenarios exist (new, risky, and complex buying situations), check them out here and learn what it means for sales enablement to equip salespeople accordingly.
Today we discuss what buyers wish salespeople would do differently and more consistently. These are the top four behaviors buyers expect from salespeople:
Understand my business and know me before you engage with me.
This is the key behavior that opens or closes