--- title: Are Buyers Really Better Educated? | The Sales Blog description: How did you learn what you know? Not facts and figures, not data, but the things your really know and believe. How did you learn what you prefer and image: https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Eucated.jpg --- ### [Now booking SKO meetings for 2026/27! 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Not facts and figures, not data, but the things your really know and believe. How did you learn what you prefer and why you prefer it? Did you do deep research? Was it from reading information on the internet? Did you get most of your education through social media? Right now, you are supposed to believe that your dream clients are completely educated. You are supposed to believe that they are on the internet educating themselves about your industry, perhaps your company, and that they are in possession of the expertise necessary to make you irrelevant. Expertise gained through research made possible by the internet. Hogwash. Sure, there are some people in some companies researching their challenges and who might be able to help them, in some industries more than others, as is always the case. But for the most part, there isn’t a lot of evidence of salespeople losing their relevance, mostly because information is not insight, data is not wisdom, and marketing is not caring. But, let’s explore your experience. When you call on a client, are they intimately aware of all the reasons that they should change what they are doing now? Do you run across more people who need to change and aren’t aware or resistant to that change? Do you have a point of view about that change that is far different than your dream clients? Do your prospective clients understand how they need to think about the changes they need to make, the trade-offs they need to consider, and the risks associated with their decisions? When you are face to face with your dream clients, is most of what they believe and share based on something they read on the internet, or is it mostly based on the experience they have had buying what you sell from someone else—and trying and failing to get the results they really need? If you sell flat screen televisions and cameras, your customers have done their homework. They have information parity, and in some cases, their knowledge may exceed yours. In complex, strategic, business-to-business sales, your prospective client isn’t likely to know what you know, and they choose partners who are experts in their field so they don’t need to be subject matter experts in every category of product or service they buy.  Assuming that your dream client has hours and hours to research the things they purchase is to underestimate how much work they have to do and just how lean many organizations are now. Research doesn’t likely account for very much of the education your dream clients have acquired. They’ve acquired much of their education by buying what you sell from the sales organizations that served them before you. You are here reading a blog post. Think about what you know and believe about sales and selling. Is most of what you believe based on your research, or is most of what you know and believe based on your actual experience? If you have information parity with your dream client, that is a decision that you have made, and not because your dream clients spend their days researching your category. ###### Tags: [Sales](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/sales) [2017](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/tag/2017) Post by [Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/blog/author/anthony-iannarino) on May 21, 2017 Written and edited by human brains and human hands. ![Anthony Iannarino](https://www.thesalesblog.com/hubfs/ai-blog-profile-crop.jpg) Anthony Iannarino is an American writer. He has published daily at [thesalesblog.com](https://www.thesalesblog.com) for more than 14 years, amassing over 5,300 articles and making this platform a destination for salespeople and sales leaders. Anthony is also the author of four best-selling books documenting modern sales methodologies and a fifth book for sales leaders seeking revenue growth. His latest book for an even wider audience is titled, The Negativity Fast: Proven Techniques to Increase Positivity, Reduce Fear, and Boost Success. Anthony speaks to sales organizations worldwide, delivering cutting-edge sales strategies and tactics that work in this ever-evolving B2B landscape. He also provides workshops and seminars. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn, X or Youtube. 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What we’re doing right now **is working**, even in this challenging economy. **Would you like some help?** [![Solve for Sales](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2922376/d3a4938b-2008-4a27-8b44-7b2223f6d035) ### Join my Weekly Newsletter for Sales Tips Join 100,000+ sales professionals in my weekly newsletter and get my *Guide to Becoming a Sales Hustler* eBook for FREE! --- ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org/", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Anthony Iannarino" }, "dateModified" : "2021-09-17T1:53:04 PM", "datePublished" : "2017-05-21 21:00:01", "description" : "How did you learn what you know? Not facts and figures, not data, but the things your really know and believe. 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