6 Ways to Refine Your B2B Sales Approach
The success of B2B sales depends on your approach. If done with the wrong strategy, you could lose your potential clients. Here are six ways to refine your B2B sales strategies that I summarized from some trusted business sites.
1. Always Start with Research
Ask your salespeople to do some research before contacting your leads. Research can be done by going through the lead’s website and following them on social media to see if they are eligible to be targeted. Know the challenges they are facing as well as their needs. You might even be able to get a rough idea of their budgets.
In addition to conducting lead research, you also need to do market research. Before you make an offer, you need to figure out the solutions you can offer to help your potential clients resolve the issues they might have. Just as important, you must know what your competitors are doing, so it will be easier for you to explain the value that your products or services provide to your leads.
Market research is a powerful source that helps you determine your target market segment. It allows you to figure out what drives the demand for your products and why your prospects choose your competitors. It also helps you define your goals in terms of business growth.
2. Sell Your Actual Business Outcomes Instead of Your Products/Services
Your potential clients may not be interested in your products or services. They are more interested in the results that you can help them achieve. You should be able to convince your leads that they will gain benefits if they cooperate with you. This is why you need to understand their needs first. Watch this video to learn how to dominate your competition in B2B sales.
3. Dig Up More Information About Your Prospects
The more information you get, the more opportunities you have. The key to a successful B2B sales strategy is to ask as many questions as possible. Don’t ask obvious questions like what their company does. You should be prepared to deal with them, so make sure that you have done some research on your lead’s company.
The best questions to ask your B2B prospects are open-ended ones. Instead of asking them “yes” or “no” questions, ask them questions that allow them to talk continuously about their requirements. From there, you might get some important information that you can utilize.
4. Get in Front of Decision Makers
If you want to get faster deals, then try to sell your business by meeting decision makers in person. Meet them personally. Do whatever you have to do in order to be able to get a face-to-face meeting with them.
When you’re selling top-class products or services that need a serious investment, you must be willing to go the extra mile to meet your potential clients in person. When your competitors are still trying to close their B2B sales over the phone, you should take yours to another level.
5. Optimize Your Lead Management
Lead management plays an important role in generating B2B sales. By optimizing it, you’ll be able to generate qualified leads more easily. One of the easiest ways you can do is invest in a lead management software to automate the distribution of your leads. It can help you identify potential clients more easily, organize pipelines according to sales status, quickly convert leads to clients, manage client details and many more.
6. Align Your Marketing and Sales Teams
Another way to refine your B2B sales approach is integrate your marketing and sales teams. Although both have the same goals, but they may not always be on the same page.
Your sales team may wonder why they have to generate leads and the marketing team may wonder why the sales team ignores the leads they provide. In order to achieve optimization, both teams have to work together.
Some ways you can do to integrate marketing and sales teams are:
1. Create a marketing and sales funnel
With an integrated funnel, each team can know what the other team is doing.
2. Share accountability
The better your accountability is between the teams, the better you can bridge the gap that exists between both teams.
3. Create a joint marketing plan
Discuss progress that has been achieved and create a plan to increase sales together.
Also read: 5 Basic Strategies for Entrepreneurs to Increase Sales
References:
8 Insider Tips for Closing More B2B Sales
6 Tips for a Successful B2B Sales Strategy