The Death of the Decision Maker: How Buyer Behavior is Reshaping Sales

Summary

The Advanced Selling Podcast: Episode Summary

Title: The Death of the Decision Maker: How Buyer Behavior is Reshaping Sales
Hosts: Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale
Release Date: May 27, 2025

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Introduction

In this episode of The Advanced Selling Podcast, seasoned B2B sales trainers Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale delve into the evolving landscape of buyer behavior and its profound implications on the sales process. Titled "The Death of the Decision Maker: How Buyer Behavior is Reshaping Sales," the discussion highlights key shifts in how buyers make purchasing decisions and offers strategic insights for sales professionals to adapt and thrive in this new environment.

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1. Recap of Previous Discussions

Bill and Bryan begin by referencing their previous episodes, setting the stage for deeper exploration:

• Self-Directed Buying: Buyers today conduct extensive research independently before engaging with salespeople.
• Trust Deficit: There's a growing gap between the trust sellers believe they have and the actual trust buyers place in them.

Bill at [04:24]: "Last week we talked about how buyers are more self-directed in their research before the salesperson even shows up. And then we talked about the trust deficit..."

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2. The Era of Committee Buying

a. The Death of the Single Decision Maker

One of the central themes of the episode is the decline of the traditional single decision maker in the buying process. Instead, purchases, especially significant ones, are now made by committees comprising multiple stakeholders.

Bryan at [05:36]: "The concept of decision maker is dead. There is no such thing as the decision maker."

b. Challenges of Multi-Stakeholder Engagement

Bryan emphasizes the complexities that arise when multiple individuals are involved in decision-making. Building rapport with one person is no longer sufficient, as influence must extend across the entire committee.

Bill at [06:57]: "We're all trying to, and then I, I've said, you've seen some of my posts on LinkedIn... we have trained sales professionals for a world that no longer exists."

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3. Enhancing the Buying Experience

a. Emotional Engagement Over Pure Data

Bill and Bryan discuss the paramount importance of connecting with buyers on an emotional level. While data and facts are crucial, they must be intertwined with emotional resonance to effectively influence decision-making.

Bill at [11:42]: "Feelings matter more than facts. If you're not tapping into that and not manipulating, you're just dealing with facts, you're missing 70% of the possible decision process."

b. Authentic Transformation Stories

The hosts advocate for sales professionals to clearly articulate the transformation customers will experience by choosing their solution. This involves presenting a vivid picture of the future state without relying solely on data points.

Bryan at [16:10]: "Here's the way your business is going to change. If we're real and authentic... here's our intended destination."

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4. The Changing Role of Price in Sales

a. Reduced Emphasis on Pricing

Contrary to traditional sales strategies where price was a primary negotiation point, Bill observes a shift where price is becoming less central in buyers' decision-making processes.

Bill at [14:07]: "Price. I don't think people buy on price like they used to... people are just more reasonable with pricing things."

b. Generational Influences on Pricing Sensitivity

The discussion attributes this change to generational differences, with younger buyers less influenced by scarcity mentalities that previously drove price-focused negotiations.

Bill at [15:12]: "Baby boomers were raised by the greatest generation who lived through the Depression... millennials have never really seen an economic downturn in their adult life."

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5. Strategic Adaptations for Modern Sales Professionals

a. Facilitating Committee Dynamics

Bill shares strategies to effectively engage with multiple stakeholders, such as setting clear meeting protocols and ensuring inclusive communication.

Bill at [09:00]: "Someone was selling advanced selling podcast and he was calling on us and only I could meet with him, he'd say, okay, can't do that. Just let me know when you and Bill can be in a room together and I'll do it."

b. Utilizing Technology for Broader Engagement

The hosts recommend leveraging tools like video conferencing to include all relevant decision-makers, ensuring that absence of certain members doesn't derail the sales process.

Bryan at [10:03]: "Some of you work in bigger companies... they shoot a quick video and kind of go through the proposal or go through whatever, and it's very helpful."

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6. The Data Dilemma in Sales

a. Balancing Data and Emotion

While data-driven approaches are valued, Bill warns against over-reliance on data without considering the emotional aspects of buyer decision-making.

Bill at [12:22]: "Everybody's got a data story... but how are you using it to validate with emotion?"

b. Avoiding Desperation Through Balanced Communication

Bryan points out that overemphasizing data can make sellers appear desperate and detached from the buyer's needs.

Bryan at [13:17]: "If you give them what they want, but you're not helping them... data turns against you."

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7. Communicating Transformation Without Overpromising

The hosts stress the importance of setting realistic expectations by clearly outlining the transformative journey customers can expect, without making unrealistic promises.

Bill at [17:16]: "Look, this group's been doing this for a year. Here's what they'll see both in their CRM and their funnel... Here's how it's different."

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Conclusion and Takeaways

Bill Caskey and Bryan Neale conclude the episode by reiterating the necessity for sales professionals to adapt to the multifaceted nature of modern buying behaviors. By shifting focus from single decision makers to committee dynamics, emphasizing emotional connections alongside data, and reducing the emphasis on price, sellers can better align with today's informed and collaborative buyers.

Notable Quotes:

• Bill at [05:36]: "The concept of decision maker is dead."
• Bryan at [11:42]: "Feelings matter more than facts."
• Bill at [14:07]: "Price. I don't think people buy on price like they used to."
• Bryan at [16:10]: "Here's the way your business is going to change."
• Bill at [17:16]: "Here's what they've been doing for a year. Here's what they'll see in their CRM and their funnel."

Final Thoughts

For sales professionals seeking to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market, this episode offers invaluable insights into the shifting paradigms of buyer behavior. By embracing these strategies, listeners can enhance their sales effectiveness and build stronger, more resilient client relationships.

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Additional Resources:

• Insider Training: For an in-depth understanding, listeners are encouraged to join the Insider training program. More information is available at advanced sellingpodcast.com/insider.

• Further Episodes: With nearly 2,000 episodes, newcomers can explore topics ranging from prospecting to sales psychology on the Advanced Selling Podcast.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome back to the Advanced Selling Podcast, the longest running sales training podcast in the history of podcasting. I'm Bill Caskey.

[A]

Brian Neal here.

[B]

We've been doing this for 19 years this September. Yeah, 19 years.

[A]

Not great.

[B]

And we can tolerate each other. We might even hit 20 years next year.

[A]

But I would love that. I think we will. I think we'll make it. Yep.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And we still talk. Yeah, a lot. A lot of, you know, your radio show hosts that, like, hate each other or band mates that hate each other. You know what I mean? They keep going because they need the money. We're still. We still talk. It's nice.

[B]

No, it's. It's good. If you're a new listener, you can go to advanced sellingpodcast.com. i think there's a link there that will take you through one of some of the most popular episodes. You do not have to start at episode one from 2006, although if you want to be our guest, that's why we have it up there. We've done probably almost, what, 2000, 2000 episodes.

[A]

I think you can find 1500 of them or so. And there's five.

[B]

Yeah. There's 500. Yeah.

[A]

Bill, I just have to ask you. I'm, you know, we both getting a little older here and, like, you know, kind of happens. Old man. Things start to happen. Pet peevees. Things start to happen. I've got a new thing that it's gotten worse and worse and worse, and it's kind of combined. B. Like, food smells are getting more on my nerves and. And people eating noises are getting more on my nerves, if you know what I mean. So. And I used to tolerate this, and now, like, my wife was eating and she wasn't like, with her mouth open or anything, but I could hear every little crunch. And I'm, like, trying to be. Not saying. I didn't say anything until just now. Now she. She doesn't listen to the podcast.

[B]

Yeah, listen.

[A]

Yeah, she's last. And then I got in her car and I'm like, what is that smell? She go, it's soup. I'm like, what did you. Well, yeah, you had soup in here. I just, you know, I carried it to. To Davis's lacrosse tournament. I'm like, what kind of soup was it? Like, chicken noodle soup. Like, it's smelled like it was like, you know, bad old fermented cheese soup. So I don't know if it's me. I have a pet peeve about people that cook things at work in a microwave. So the whole, like, break area smells like all the food potpourri from the weekend leftovers. You know what I mean? Like, there's a little salmon, some bacon. Someone's having spinach and egg casserole. And it's like, I can't stand that.

[B]

This is weird that you would bring this up, because Friday I walked into my favorite retail store, the pool place, where I bring the sample and sell me thousand dollars worth of chemicals. And I walked in and, oh, the odor was awful. It was just terrible. And I'm like, is that a sewage? I didn't ask, but it's. You know, sometimes you have that phosphorus, that sewage smell that somebody's.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Bottled up the pipes here. And then I thought, well, this. This store is full of chemicals and maybe. Maybe there was a spillage or something.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I asked the lady, there's two really nice ladies that run. I said, oh, man, what is that? What is that smell? She goes, what are you talking about? I said, oh, it's. It's just rancid. She goes, well, I just had some Chinese food. I just cooked some Chinese food in the microwave. But I don't think it would be that. Oh, yes.

[A]

Yeah, it is.

[B]

Or Asian. I don't know what she said. I was probably literal. So the point is that when you're cooking it, you ain't smelling it.

[A]

No, you're not. When it smells good to you because you're eating it. Like, let's can't be that. It's all it is, man. How can it not be that the whole place smells like it now. It's terrible.

[B]

Anyway, my pet peeve is, as I've become older, not only are my eyes not as good, my. My hearing is not. It's not good at separating the sounds.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So if you and I are sitting in a room, a quiet room, you're whispering, I'm hearing you fine. But when we're in a room with 30 other people and, you know, it's just. It's it. You. You're not there yet, you will be. But it bugs me when people mumble it. It is a pet peeve of mine. When people try to talk too fast, they mumble. And then. Then if it's in a room where there's a lot of ambient noise, I'm constantly saying, what? Huh?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Can you repeat yourself? Oh, that's a pet peeve. And, you know, it's not their fault. I mean, they mumble all the time. So they think it's just like cooking Chinese food.

[A]

Yeah. At the pool store.

[B]

Yeah, that's what we do here.

[A]

Little, little phosphorus, some chemicals, some chlorine and some general. So chicken and beef broccoli, please. That would be great. Okay, let's get back. Pick up topic.

[B]

All right.

[A]

Last time we had a great topic, we thought so much so we extended it into the second episode of Buyer behavior. How has buyer behavior changed? And we're going to carry on. Bill has 27 more. I've got two. We'll see how this goes.

[B]

Yeah. Last week we talked about how buyers are more self directed in their pre. In their research before the salesperson even shows up. And then we talked about the trust deficit, which is where there is a gap between what, how, how much trust you think you have with the buyer and how much they actually have. And we talked about some ways to narrow that gap. So those are the two things. Do you have one? I don't want to dominate this. Do you have one that. Not on that one, but a third that you can share?

[A]

Yeah, for sure. I think I've got a couple more here. Let's see. Which one do I want to go one to start? Yeah, just give me one start. Thank you. I gotta. Yeah, exactly. Let's take a game show now. I think, I don't think I know. Buyers buy by committee more than ever. They buy by committee more than ever. There are always multiple people. Is it on there?

[B]

Number two.

[A]

Are you serious about this?

[B]

Keep going.

[A]

I picked the right one. And the concept of decision maker is dead. It's one of the things that I will stand. I don't like die on many hills in our, in our world of work because I think there are a lot of ways to do something. I will die on that hill. There is no such thing as the decision maker. And everyone likes to hang on to that one. The old like old guard, baby boomer, Gen Xers because that's how we were taught you got to talk to that person.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And then the other thing is I think other people want to hang on to it because if they have rapport with one person, it's easy. And so why make it harder by bringing in the cfo? Because I might not have rapport with the cfo. I'll just stick. And I can't tell you like over and over this gets proven gong the, the group that, the big AI group that has all this data, they have data behind this to back it all up. And if you are looking for the decision maker, you're dead on arrival.

[B]

Yeah. You know, I've been thinking about something that what you just said about how most of our training that we have done over the decades is all about the one decision maker. It's all about the one to one that's. It's. We're all trying. And, and then I, I've, I've said. You've seen some of my posts on LinkedIn maybe is. I think we, we have trained sales professionals for a world that no longer exists.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

And the world that exists today is very different than the world where all of this sales training and some of its junk and some of its crap and some of it's okay. And some of it, we, we believe it's good because we use it and we came up with it or we found it or we paid for it. And really the fact is that a lot of it is training us for a world that just has seen its better day. And, and I think this whole idea of how people, how companies make decisions is part of that. If you're calling on A, B2C, if you're calling on a consumer, of course you got maybe a spouse or a wife or a husband or a pastor. But when you're calling on a business that's getting ready to make a half million dollar investment, there's a lot of eyes on that proposal. And the question is, are you managing that? Are you orchestrating that? Are you allowing your buyer to orchestrate that? Which is a terrible mistake.

[A]

100. And that's what's happening now. We do want to go back to something you said, B to C that you'd ask your partner, spouse or, or your pastor. So I'm gonna start tapping into Father Jeff next time I need to buy a car. I thought that was brilliant. Pray on it more. But what you said at the end there, and this is what people do, they get latched onto one person who's typically easy and positive. That's why we latch on to them. And it, we're fearful to go outside of that because we don't muck that up. And that person, we think that person can sell internally and they can't. Over and over we, in our own firm. And I get so frustrated and sometimes it's me, sometimes it's not. And I could just see it. You see it. It's like a train wreck rate happened. You see that, you know this VP of sales is going to go advocate for us to the CEO and cfo. I'm like, no, they're not. No, they're not. They can't. They can't and they shouldn't and it's not their fault. It's. It's our problem. We have to facilitate that. I know I called on it last time. It's just really good. And I'm a big believer in this EOS thing. One of the rules, our guy that we hired to do ours, he has a rule that if there are partners in a business, he'll have a really brief. And by brief, it's 15 minutes or less meeting with one partner. And if all of the partners in the business that are on the llc, the ownership can't be in the next meeting. He won't have the meeting. Yeah. No questions asked. And I'm like, that is brilliant. And he's not mean about it. He just like, no, we can't do it, and that's it. And like, the moment you. You two. So if we. Someone was selling advanced selling podcast and he was calling on us and only I could meet with him, he'd say, okay, can't do that. Just let me know when you and Bill can be in a room together and I'll do it. Yeah, I think that's a genius.

[B]

I do, too. And so he has a. He has a set of rules and guidelines that he doesn't.

[A]

He doesn't.

[B]

He doesn't cross.

[A]

No. And he doesn't.

[B]

We all need that. I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm good at talking that game. And sometimes I, you know, I deviate from it because. Conditions. Well, you know, there's three of the four of us. You're not going to really come back when the four. Well, you know. Okay, you know, so. But if you're going to. If you're going to go down the path of breaking your rule there, you've got to have a. A side path that acquaints the people who are not there.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

With. Here's what we did.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

And that could be even a video. I've got a couple clients who do videos. If somebody's absent a meeting, they'll shoot a quick video and kind of go through the proposal or go through whatever, and it's very helpful. And that's kind of. You're like bringing them into the meeting even though they weren't there.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So I think that decision by committees. Any. Any other idea that you have for.

[A]

People there other than not on that one.

[B]

Okay. All right, here's one I have. It's the raise the buying experience. So we've talked about prospect experience before, and you know, Steve Walker does a podcast called cx, the Customer Experience, which is after one begins, becomes a customer. But I think we've also got to pay attention to what is that buyer or prospect experience. Does it feel right when you're around them and when they're in process with you? Does it, does it feel like to them, like, this is a good fit and I don't know if I can do this without them or, or does it feel like, you know what, he sounds like everybody else or, you know, I wasn't really, he didn't really ask me any questions. I mean, he, he kind of started saying he was going to ask me a question, but he never did and I didn't feel right. I mean, you have to. The fact is that feelings matter more than facts. And if you're not tapping into that and not manipulating, you're just understanding how important the prospect's feelings are in the process or emotions are, and you're just dealing with facts, you're missing 70% of the possible decision process, no doubt.

[A]

Yes. And I think I have this, the cheesy saying, but I think it's, it usually foots. Is that all, all data, all facts are interpreted with emotion. Because you're not going to find any CEO or CFO that looks at the data and then that's it, they're going to go, here's the data. Cash flow looks awesome. Feeling great about Q2. Or they're going to go, we're struggle busing, we're in trouble. That's emotion behind the facts. And the people like, sell with data, sell with data. Like you've got to connect a bridge to how the data helps someone feel better, more positive, more safe, or how the data makes them feel less so.

[B]

So in this world where a lot of times it is an intellectual, logical, data driven game which buyers say they want more of, you know, buy. That's one of mine is buyers say, because I did some research on what are buyers wanting from sales organizations. They want data. Well, do they? I mean, if we listen to that and all we give them is data and no emotion, there's not a feeling component to it. We're giving them what they want, but we're not helping them.

[A]

No. And yeah, and it's like we all have a story to tell. We all have a data story. Like I can show you a data story that made, you know, people 100 millionaires. Like, does that mean I get the deal? Like, you know what I mean? It's like everyone's got that. So what's the point? I always say is what the point Is it's. It a proof point for yourself to validate? I mean, by an emotion. Validate. So it's fine, but I just want to know what we're using it for. That's. That's all.

[B]

Well, that's. I. When you said that everybody's got a point to a logic, a logical proof that my solution is better for you, but by proving that too vehemently, you lose the feeling.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

You literally sound like you're desperate and anxious and you really don't care about my needs. All you care about is the fact that you got data to prove it. So that's when data turns against you.

[A]

Right. The data dilemma. The data dilemma. Don't say, don't say. Don't say it. Yesterday was May 4th, right?

[B]

No, no. And I received. And I received that.

[A]

Received that. Here's one. This might be a little counterintuitive to what most people think. You know, what I think is way less important now. And I know the bunch of people are going to go, he doesn't know my world, or whatever.

[B]

Oh, I think I'm.

[A]

Can I. Yeah, can I guess?

[B]

Handling objections.

[A]

Oh, no, that's right there, though. It's price. I don't think people buy on price like they used to. I really don't. I think the expectation in the past was every sales deal included a price discount, and it had to. And we spent all this time on price. It's all about price, price, price. Do we, do we never hear about price? No, we do hear about price, but, boy, it's way more quiet than it used to be. To me, I think people are just more reasonable with pricing things. Where in the past, I, and I do think this is a little generational. Baby boomers were raised by the greatest generation who lived through the Depression, and they were raised in a little bit of a scarcity mentality. And when they bought, they bought with a scarcity mentality. I'm broad stereotyping here. Gen Xer saw the 80s, you know, like everything was great and, you know, everyone was driving Beamers and everything. And we've seen this big, monumental climb. The millennials have never really seen an economic downturn in their adult life. And the Gen Xers are in la la land. I mean, they have no idea what's going on. So they're the Gen zers, I should say, not generators.

[B]

So I think you're right. I, I like that analogy. And I wonder how much of it has come because we have, we have bought price and gotten burned so many times that it Just be. It just gets into our DNA that, well, you know, I'm going to drop prices, the criteria down a notch or two.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Still on the, still on the criteria list. But it's not number one. Here's another, here's another one that kind of fits along with that one is I think we have to do a better job as sales professionals in describing the transformation that a customer is going to get when they work with us.

[A]

That's great.

[B]

And this is not a promise, is not a series of promises or you're going to, it's, you're going to be amazing. It's not, it's not hype. It's literally saying if you follow our course of action here and you hire us and we come in and work with you for six months or whatever and we get you up to speed. Yes, here's what you're going to be looking at a year from now.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Here's the way your business is going to change.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

I think if we're real and authentic and really believe that we owe it to the customer to bring that up and say, you may not work with me, but if you do, here's, here's what I can promise you. Here's our intention, our intended destination is this.

[A]

Yes. That's so good.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And everyone. I can't say that I was going to say everything. When you're, when you're small and nimble like we are, we can do more with this. I know some of you work in bigger companies. If you're listening to this, like, I can't do this. But I, what I was going to say is like, and if, and if it's not working, you know, we'll, we'll, we'll find a way out of it. We're not going to hold you to a contract if it's not. And it's not a guarantee. It's not a guaranteed. It's not what it is.

[B]

Because that's the first reaction I get when I tell people this. Wow. I can't, you know, a lot of it depends on a lot of things. Okay. You can't even, you can't even describe it in a paragraph. What can I do?

[A]

Right.

[B]

Here's what all your disclaimers.

[A]

Yeah. Here's what has happened. Here's other. And you can use data and like, you know, psychographic, etherical, touchy feely things. You can use both of those things.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

To say, look, this group's been doing this for a year. Here's what they'll see both in their CRM and their funnel. Here's also the air, the vibe of the sales team and how it was before and here's how it's different.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And just some proof points of that. I love that. Yeah. Because it gives, it gives the buyer that people need to understand what they're tapping out of. You know, they need to understand that we just lost a deal. And I would argue now that you just said that, that one of the reasons we lost it is we didn't do a good enough job painting the picture of what they're going to give up. Because on this side of it, it was an ideal situation and I was almost like I wanted, I, I said this. I'm like, I want to get my hands on the sales team because they have all of the right stuff sitting there and we did not do a good enough job doing exactly what you're talking about. That's good. Yeah.

[B]

Okay. If you have not checked out Insider, go to advanced sellingpodcast.com insider. It's a 75 minute training we do once a month, usually on the first Friday if you go to that web page and we'll put it in the show notes there is the entire TR 2025 curriculum. Next meeting coming up in June. It's $97 a month. It's easy in, easy out. If you stay a couple months and don't like it, we are not going to chase you around for $97 a month. But it's a good value, great people. We got about 40, 50 people in it. So anyway, love it. Yeah.

[A]

See you next time.

[B]

Bye.