44. Matt Dixon's J.O.L.T. Why 50% of B2B sales end in no sale

The Unicorny Marketing Show

Featuring best-selling author, Matt Dixon, this part one of a two-part episode (part two is available now) that answers the question so many B2B marketers and sales professionals are asking: how come that perfect-fit prospect died?

Matt co-authored a book we've mentioned many times on Unicorny; The Jolt Effect.

Nothing is more important right now than what you'll find in this book. So, whatever you're doing today, cancel it until you've listened to this episode and read the book.

Here's why.

If you're in B2B sales and marketing, you've got a pipeline... right now... today... this minute... that's suffering from the curse of the moment; the no-decision sale outcome. No purchase order, no sale, no win. This was already a thing, pre-pandemic, but now it's worse.

This pod has answers that might save the sale... and save your bacon too.

About Matt Dixon

Matt Dixon is one of the world’s foremost experts in business development and customer experience. Known for his ground-breaking research, he is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review and is the author of some of the most important business books of the past decade. He is a founding partner of DCM Insights, a boutique consultancy focused on using data and research-backed frameworks to help firms attract, retain and grow client relationships.

His first book, The Challenger Sale: Taking Control of the Customer Conversation (Portfolio/Penguin 2011), was a #1 Amazon and Wall Street Journal bestseller and has sold nearly a million copies worldwide and has been translated into a dozen languages.

The Challenger Sale has won acclaim as “the most important advance in selling for many years” (SPIN Selling author Neil Rackham) and “the beginning of a wave that will take over a lot of selling organizations in the next decade.” (Business Insider).

He is also the author of The Effortless Experience: Conquering the New Battleground for Customer Loyalty (Portfolio/Penguin 2013), which introduced the concept of customer effort reduction and the Customer Effort Score to companies around the world, as well as The Challenger Customer: Selling to the Hidden Influencer Who Can Multiply Your Results (Portfolio/Penguin 2015), the celebrated sequel to The Challenger Sale. His newest book, The JOLT Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision, was released by Penguin in September 2022. His next book, The Activator Way, will be released by Harvard Business Review Press in Spring 2025.

Matt’s work has been published in the print and online editions of Harvard Business Review on more than twenty occasions. Among his noteworthy HBR articles are “What Today’s Rainmakers Do Differently” (Nov-Dec 2023), “Dismantling the Sales Machine” (November 2013) and “The End of Solution Sales” (July-August 2012), both of which appear in HBR’s 10 Must-Reads on Sales. He is also the author of some of the most widely cited HBR articles on customer experience and customer service, including “Reinventing Customer Service” (November-December 2018), “Kick-Ass Customer Service” (January-February 2017), and “Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers” (July-August 2010). His team’s latest research will be published in the forthcoming article “What Today’s Rainmaker’s Do Differently” in the November-December issue of HBR.

In addition to his research and writing, Matt is a seasoned practitioner having held executive leadership roles in strategy, new product development, product management, research and innovation for companies like Tethr, Korn Ferry Hay Group and CEB (now Gartner).

He is a sought-after speaker and advisor to management teams around world, having presented his findings at a wide range of industry conferences as well as to hundreds of senior executive teams around the world, including those of many Fortune 500 companies.

Matt holds a Ph.D. in Political Economy from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh as well as a B.A. in International Studies from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He currently resides in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and four children.

Links

Full show notes: Unicorny.co.uk 

LinkedIn: Matt Dixon | Dom Hawes 

Website: DCM Insights

Sponsor: Selbey Anderson 

Episode outline

• The Problem with Highly Qualified Leads
• Benefits of COVID for Sales Researchers
• The Issue of No Decision Sales Outcomes
• Overcoming Customer Indifference
• Procrastination vs. Decision Avoidance
• Understanding Customer Indecision
• The Omission Bias
• Multilayered Indecision
• The Myth of Decisiveness
• Overcoming Indecision
• The Impact of FOMU on Sales
• Interconnected Marketing and Sales Approach
• Transforming Marketing's Role
• Building anti-Fomo and anti-Fomu mindsets