The Compass
The Day Enterprise Sales Changed Forever
November 1st, 2024. The day enterprise sales changed forever.
The future of sales is today. The modern seller is the current seller.
OpenAI announced that search capabilities are now embedded in ChatGPT.
The new Buyer / Seller dynamic.
This means Buyers can embed search dynamically into their Buyer AI co-pilot / agent. So, as they train their GPT on their company’s mission, vision, values & requirements, the agent will dynamically search for relevant solutions to address their rapidly evolving business requirements. The AI Buying Agent will be able access every detail about the availability of relevant products, the sellers, their competitors, and prices—instantly. That means Buyers will no longer need to:
· Participate in your boring product demos.
· Watch your static 20-page PowerPoint presentations.
· Read your bot generated emails with embedded links to your website.
· Listen to you pitch your differentiating angle.
They will already know everything about your products and/or services, your company, your competition, your pricing and everything else that is publicly available to impact their buying decision.
And they will know everything about the Seller’s personal profile. Your background, how long you have been in your current role, your skills and your competencies.
All of this in under a minute. Better update that Linkedin profile.
The Buyer / Seller relationship has officially changed. And any of the same things that you have been doing as a Sales professional over the past generation(s) now needs to change and adapt. Like now. Like today.
Do you think for a moment that Buyers are sitting still regarding AI while Sellers implement AI assistants to help them sell? Best think again.
Information isn’t power anymore. It’s the starting point.
Buyers are coming to the table with all the answers. They know as much as the Seller does. Think about how you buy a car today?
You are not looking to be informed; you are looking to be engaged in a new way.
The same has occurred in B2B Enterprise sales.
AI now empowers buyers to “pre-shop” by conducting extensive research, comparing products, reading reviews, and analyzing data—independently. Information is no longer the seller’s advantage; it’s the buyer’s starting point.
What do Buyers need now?
Buyers expect validation, customization, and reassurance, rather than introductory presentations or value propositions.
How then do Sellers sell?
You need to be good at strategy and position yourself as a strategic partner and not a source of information.
Tell me something I don’t know.
The primary job of a Seller is to provide insight. To illuminate for the Buyer something they may not see. To provide insights beyond the data: Explain industry trends, competitive landscape shifts, and internal use cases that make the data relevant.
The secondary job is to simplify. Untangle all the strings. Connect all the dots.
You need to shift from being focused on all pre-sale to include post sale. Guide the Buyer through the journey after their purchase by collaborating on post-purchase support, strategic growth opportunities, and implementation pathways. Engage the buyer in a partnership model, co-developing a roadmap that aligns with their organization’s objectives and the long-term potential of the solution.
The new sales skills required today.
As buyers come equipped with facts, sellers’ differentiating factors become:
· Empathy, the ability to listen, and skills in understanding personal buyer motivations.
· Consultative selling and strategic advising by guiding the buyer through scenarios, suggesting optimizations, and providing customization options that aren’t immediately apparent from a pre-sale AI search.
· With information parity, trust is the competitive edge. Sellers must establish credibility through transparency and genuine commitment to the buyer’s success.
· Being a collaborator not an informer.
· Helping the buyer confirm, refine and strategize on their decisions.
· And most importantly, how to extract maximum value from their investment in your offering.
How should Sellers engage their pre-informed Buyers in this new relationship?
· Propose deep-dive workshops instead of standard demos, focusing on how your solution will integrate into the buyer’s specific context.
· Offer collaborative sessions that allow buyers to “test drive” your expertise through scenario planning, personalized case studies, or mini pilots.
· Focus on post-information Support as a Service. Equip buyers with post-sale resources: success metrics, performance reviews, and ongoing adaptation strategies.
· Structure your relationship around milestones beyond the initial transaction, establishing a continuous partnership that adapts to their evolving needs.
As AI and tools like ChatGPT evolve, the enterprise sales landscape is transforming from a model of information exchange to one of partnership and co-creation.
For sellers, success lies in embracing the buyer’s knowledge as a starting point, not a challenge, and transforming traditional roles into value-added partnerships that build trust and deliver ongoing support.
Remember you are selling in an Age of Abundance not Scarcity.
Navigation: This was written while listening to “On the Nature of Daylight” by Hans Zimmer.
Thanks to my fellow students in Cohort 13 of the Write of Passage for their edits & guidance. Writing well is a grail quest.
Artwork: Connecticut Oysters by Amy Vischio. Peace.
