In a recent episode of The Growth Nexus Podcast, Ryan Shelley welcomed Garin Hess, the author of Selling is Hard, Buying is Harder, and founder of Consensus. Garin discussed the concept of buyer enablement and shared invaluable insights on rethinking your sales process by focusing on the buyer’s journey.
What Is Buyer Enablement?
In the episode, Garin Hess defines buyer enablement as helping buyers navigate their internal buying journey. While sales teams often focus on their own process—moving leads through stages, hitting KPIs, closing deals—buyers are often left trying to get internal consent, secure budget approvals, and align stakeholders with little support.
Real-World Lessons That Shaped Buyer Enablement
Garin’s perspective on buyer enablement didn’t come from theory—it came from experience. He encountered a common obstacle at a previous startup: IT security audits. These reviews were often the final hurdle before a deal could close, and they regularly dragged things out. Instead of waiting for requests to come in one-by-one, Garin began proactively offering the full documentation package early in the sales process. That simple shift shaved weeks off the sales cycle and revealed a bigger truth—things move faster when you reduce friction for the buyer.
The second lightbulb moment came with the launch of Consensus. After sharing a personalized demo with a champion, Garin was surprised when twelve people showed up to the follow-up call. That one internal share had rallied the entire buying team. It wasn’t just a win—it was validation. The decision process accelerates when you give your champion a way to bring others into the conversation easily.
Creating a Buyer-Centric Approach in B2B Sales
Buyer enablement shifts a seller-centric approach to a buyer-centric one. Instead of asking, “How do I sell this better?” teams should ask, “How do I help my buyer buy?” This concept is especially critical in complex B2B sales where purchases often require multiple approvals and cross-functional collaboration.
Garin explains that many deals fall apart not because buyers don’t want the product, but because they can’t get their team to a yes. Sellers who focus on educating, guiding, and equipping buyers with the right tools—like ROI calculators, internal pitch decks, or decision guides—can make it easier for champions inside the organization to get buy-in. In short, buyer enablement helps buyers overcome friction and confidently move forward.
“Buyer enablement is really about enabling your champion to make the case internally. Most deals don’t stall because the buyer isn’t interested—they stall because your champion doesn’t know how to sell it to the rest of their team.”
Company Buy-In and the Role of the Champion
Selling used to be one-on-one—now it’s a team sport, and a single decision-maker rarely calls the shots in complex B2B sales. Cycles are longer, more complex, and filled with internal hurdles. Buyers aren’t just choosing; they’re navigating competing opinions, justifying decisions, and managing information overload. Today, the sales team’s role is less about persuasion and more about simplifying the path forward.
Since modern buying committees include a mix of stakeholders with different priorities—finance, IT, operations, legal—your internal champion often has to navigate all of them. Sellers must give that person the confidence and content to manage cross-functional objections.
If your champion doesn’t feel equipped to speak to the CFO about cost or IT about integration, they either go silent or the deal stalls–not because of disinterest but internal confusion. Helping them become the “orchestrator” of internal buy-in is key to reducing friction and maintaining momentum.
Selling Is Hard, Buying Is Harder doesn’t just talk about the buyer’s journey in theory—it equips sellers to support it. Ryan explains that the book is actionable and practical. Instead of focusing only on selling strategies, it reframes the entire process from the buyer’s point of view. This shift in perspective makes the book so powerful—it’s not about pushing a product, but about helping buyers make confident decisions. You can find the book on Amazon or wherever you prefer to buy your business reads.
Host and Show Info
Host Name: Ryan Shelley
About the Host: Ryan Shelley is a business growth strategist and the host of The Growth Nexus Podcast. He specializes in helping businesses navigate the complexities of growth through strategic insights and actionable advice, working with both startups and large corporations.
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