CODE I 21 SELLING 4.0
THE NEW ERA OF B2B BUYING
Talk Different – Win Different
CODE I 21 Selling 4.0 0 is the response to a new reality – a digitized world where buyers call the shots and set the pace. The modern Buyer 4.0 operates by new rules, with a distinct mindset and decision-making driven by different priorities. Economic impacts and performance outcomes are the triggers for their decisions. The Buyer Journey is their compass and the dominant force in the sales process.
In this world, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE is the key to success. Buyers base their decisions on the experiences they encounter at every touchpoint, determining who earns their trust and takes the lead in the competitive race. CUSTOMER CONVERSATION is the critical tool for shaping these experiences, placing it at the heart of modern sales systems.
CONVERSATIONAL COMPETENCE thus becomes the central factor for sales success. Dialogues enable tailored customer experiences, create resonance with decision-makers, and establish leadership in the buying process. Those who stand out here gain a commanding position in the decision-making journey.
Key Elements of CODE I 21 Selling 4.0
1. Shift to Buyer-centric Sales Approach
Unlike traditional sales approaches, where the company and its offerings (product-centricity) were the focus, today’s spotlight is on the buyer – the new protagonist. All interactions and strategies are tailored to their world, mindset, and expectations. A fundamental 180-degree PERSPECTIVE SHIFT has occurred, moving from an Inside-Out to an OUTSIDE-IN approach. This is the guiding principle and foundation for a modern sales strategy.
2. Change in Sales System DesignAs a result, according to Scott Santucci (Forrester), the product is no longer the central design point for 21st-century sales systems – conversation takes its place. Products and their features have lost their leading role in the sales process. Products are less relevant, and traditional sales methods are no longer effective. In the new economy, the choice of conversation strategy and the way how the dialogue execution is the core expertise. Differentiated conversation models are the tools to personalize buying experiences and win over decision-makers. CONVERSATIONAL COMPETENCE is the new key qualification.
3. Focus on Buyer Journey & TouchpointsThe Buyer Journey is the new sales compass and pacemaker in the sales process, replacing the traditional linear stage-based approach. A dynamic decision-making network with flexible touchpoints across all online and offline channels is today’s reality – unpredictable and hard to calculate for sales. During the often-extensive research phase (the “Messy Middle”), sales teams are typically left out. Yet, this is when the BUYING VISION takes shape, which must later be addressed.
According to Gartner, 70–80% of the buying process is complete before sales is involved. This makes it critical for salespeople to have different conversation strategies tailored to specific touchpoints to influence every stage effectively.
4. Digital World
Digitalization is now the norm. According to Forrester, Millennials and Zoomers (Gen Z) together make up 71% of B2B buyers. As DIGITAL NATIVES, tech-savvy and highly connected, they have developed a strong pull effect: they continuously research online to gather knowledge and information, amplified by AI. For salespeople, this means mastering all relevant communication channels and flexibly adapting conversation models and media use to achieve maximum impact and resonance.
5. Personalized Customer Experience
The holistic focus on the buyer and their buying experience across all interaction phases is crucial for sales success. PERSONALIZATION is the critical momentum. The quality of the perceived buying experience increases with the individualization of the dialogue. By selecting the right conversation model and tools from the dialogue framework, salespeople can tailor each conversation to the buyer’s status and needs, delivering precisely customized dialogues.
6. Economical ImpactsThe buyer’s agenda is their primary motivation – how we help them overcome challenges and achieve goals (personalization). Economic effects and business impacts are the key factors to move them out of their status quo initially and, at the closing stage, mitigate fears of making wrong decisions (loss and risk aversion). According to IDC, 90% of decision-makers will not take a decision without recognizing financial benefits.
McKinsey states: “If a salesperson can’t tell the customer what they’re doing to improve their profitability, they have no reason to exist as a salesperson.”
Salespeople must know how to unveil emotions alongside rational facts about economic impacts and commercial benefits to create a strong pull toward closing the deal.
7. Selling in Late Buying CyclesThe modern decision-maker’s approach within the dynamic decision-making network means, as report on Gartner and Forrester, that sales is often only involved in the evaluation phase after 70–80% of the buying process is complete. In most cases, this leads to selling activities taking place in the LATE BUYING CYCLE, when a shortlist is already set, the buying vision exists, and the decision-making committee is formed.
Salespeople need specialized dialogue concepts to realign the independently developed buying vision toward their portfolio (redesign). CODE I 21 provides concepts to expand or reframe buying parameters at this stage, creating preferences for us at the expense of competitors.
8. New Buyer Decision-making LogicThe new type of modern decision-makers think, act, and make buying decisions differently. Their cognitive decision-making framework follows new codes. Salespeople must address four key questions: Why Change? WIIFM? Why You? Why Now? – Why should they change, what’s in it for them, why are we the ideal partner, and why act now? This framework forms the basis for the 4-sector conversation model, enabling salespeople to align with the buyer’s mental decision process and achieve maximum resonance.
9. Buyer 4.0 Conversation Models & Dialogue Framework
CODE I 21 offers four core BUYER 4.0 CONVERSATION MODELS to address decision-makers in typical sales scenarios and touchpoints with tailored strategies. Depending on the buyer’s status, the storyboards, the arrangement of the dialogue sectors, and the tools from the dialogue framework vary. Salespeople decide whether to use diagnostic, innovation, competition, or strategy conversation concepts and finally select the tools for shaping precise personalization. Using this approach, sellers create optimal buying experiences, earn decision-makers’ trust, and position them as the top choice.
10. KATA Coaching und Leadership
For successful implementation of these concepts in daily sales operations, CODE I 21 fit up management with a coaching model inspired by TOYOTA’S KATA IMPROVEMENT concept. Team leaders actively support salespeople during the transition phase, with shared access to a 24/7 online learning platform. Integrated sales enablement accelerates transformation. The result: rapid, sustainable implementation of the new skills and harmonized sales practices – with measurable impact on market response and sales efficiency. The ROI of the investment is guaranteed.
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