Demand-Side Sales 101: Stop Selling and Help Your Customers Make Progress
by Bob Moesta & Greg Engle · 2020
In a nutshell
Applies Jobs-to-be-Done to startup sales, mapping customer buying timelines and forces to accelerate acquisition without pushy tactics. Vs Traction Channels, focuses on demand-side psychology for higher close rates; use cases cutting B2B sales cycles by 50% via struggle interviews. Go-to-market sales transformation.
Overview
Bob Moesta (co-creator of JTBD theory with Clay Christensen) shows how to sell by understanding the customer's buying journey, not your sales process.
Demand-Side vs. Supply-Side
Supply-Side (traditional):
- Push your product
- Talk about features
- Overcome objections
- Close the sale
Demand-Side:
- Understand their struggle
- Help them make progress
- Reduce anxieties
- Enable their decision
The Timeline of Buying
First Thought
What triggered them to start looking?
Passive Looking
Casual exploration, no urgency
Active Looking
Seeking specific solutions
Deciding
Narrowing options, building consensus
Onboarding
First use, achieving initial success
Forces of Progress
Two pushing, two pulling:
Push:
- Push of the situation (pain)
- Pull of the new solution (attraction)
Pull (resistance):
- Anxiety of new solution (fear)
- Habit of present (inertia)
For B2B Sales
- Understand their struggle
- Map their timeline
- Reduce anxieties
- Address habits/inertia
- Help build consensus
Published by Lioncrest 2021.
Reference
Demand-Side Sales 101: Stop Selling and Help Your Customers Make Progress — publisher / official page. Summary adapted from the Awesome Startup Books collection.
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