Why Hunches Are Dangerous in B2B Sales

A successful business leader might share with an audience how gut instinct helped him take his business to the next level. This message may inspire others to trust themselves when making critical decisions.

But gut instinct can often be translated into a mere hunch, which when further broken down looks an awful lot like gambling. Everything in business is a risk, but some moves are far riskier than others.

Redefining culture

Anecdotal evidence is often used by salespeople to convince others of a specific point. No matter how isolated an experience is, people are programmed to base future events off past encounters.

So, say your salesperson comes across a prospective client who seemingly has no time in their day to discuss potential opportunities, but then the salesperson manages to secure a meeting (and a sale) by claiming he has a limited-time offer. This salesperson will likely learn that telling white lies is a way to get ahead, which may also encourage others to do the same.

Or perhaps you talk with a customer who is incredibly unhappy, and then you end up assuming every customer is unhappy, or that the company has a serious problem on its hands instead of this one hard-to-please customer.

A first step should be to change the culture of the business, and warn against these types of blanket statements.

Power of feedback

Feedback en masse generally only serves to make people more likely to base their decisions on hunches. Feedback should be an active process rather than a once-a-year review. If you understand how the key leaders at an account function on a regular basis, and then collect that information in a meticulous and methodical way, the problems and strengths of that company will become clearer to you. Everyone has their own story to tell, but if that story isn't told within the appropriate context, then it can actively hurt a company's progress.

Processing valuable input

One problem that all companies face is obtaining information that is both truthful and useful. If a decision maker at an account is prone to exaggeration or is afraid of hurting people's feelings, it makes it harder to get accurate data. It also becomes difficult to gather feedback, and certain logistical problems can limit the amount of data you will end up getting.

In order to get a good sampling, you need to speak to at least 60 percent of the total key decision makers at a company (so this includes more than just the people who interact with sales). Surveys are a good place to start, but after that, you will need to make follow-up calls.

Using data to identify patterns

Make sure you understand the dynamics of each of your accounts and have that information well documented. You need to know who reports to whom and how decisions get made at each one of your clients’ companies.

Once you have this information, you can start making strategic calls to find out more where you can make improvements. Calls are also a great way to clarify feedback. Ideally, this could lead to more sales as opportunities may arise during these conversations.

However, it's important to remember that these calls are not about making sales, they're about letting the natural patterns of a business emerge. This can be difficult to do if you work with a lot of companies, but it's necessary for continued loyalty and revenue.

Leading by example

If you're a sales manager, encourage staff to seek data-driven solutions rather than place value on hunches. Also you should lead by example by avoiding statements that validate the effectiveness of relying on gut instinct.

It should be emphasized that successful sales reps rely on their ability to source and process accurate information from prospects in order to offer clients agreeable and valuable solutions.