3 B2B SALES STRATEGIES PROVEN TO WIN MORE CUSTOMERS (CASE STUDY)
Post summary:
It’s no secret:
Selling to B2B customers is hard.
At times, it can feel almost impossible.
Of course, selling was never easy.
But, the days when a salesperson was in charge of the buying process are?long gone.
Today’s buyers prefer to conduct research and select what to buy on their own, without any influence?from a vendor :
Surprisingly,?only?17% ?of the entire?B2B?buying process is spent meeting with potential suppliers.
But, does this mean that the days of?reaching your?sales quotas ?are gone?
No, of course not!
However,?to keep closing new deals , you first need to understand the dynamics of modern B2B sales. Then, you need learn the sales strategies that will help you achieve it.
And that’s exactly what we’re going to share with you?today.
In this article, we’ll discuss the meaning of B2B sales, how to sell to modern B2B buyers and, share practical?sales strategies ?that you can?implement to overcome?modern day sales challenges.
But, first...
What is B2B sales?
B2B sales, also known as business to business sales, refers to companies who primarily sell products and services to businesses, rather than direct to consumers (B2C). B2B sales typically have higher order values, longer sales cycles and are often more complex than B2C sales.
B2B sales has changed dramatically in recent years and the B2B sales strategies that used to work are no longer effective.
But,?why? How has B2B sales changed?
B2B sales used to be a lot easier
If a person needed a product or solution, they’d reach out to a potential vendor and deal with a sales person,?who’d pitch them with the best options to choose . And if they were happy with what they heard, they would make a purchase.
Simple, right?
It was a relatively straight forward process, in which marketing was responsible for filling up the?sales funnel ?with leads, and then for sales teams, they were responsible for getting those leads?into a sales pipeline ?and moving them down the funnel and into a sale.
It was predictable.
Now, compare that with?the buying process B2B buyers go through today :
That’s a big change!
So, instead of the predictable nature that sales used to be, it's now more like this:
As Millward Brown Digital point out in their “Navigating the New Path to Purchase ” report:
“The traditional purchase funnel diagram, one which any marketer could sketch from memory, is officially dead.?The singular, orderly sequence of purchase stages has been scrambled, and marketers need to conform. In today’s world, where consumers have access to constant information through computers, smart phones and tablets, each person’s path to purchase is complex and unique.“
And so, businesses have changed how they purchase new products or services. They now base a buying decision on internal research, which includes anything from Google search, friend recommendations, and scouting many other web sources.
Today, buyers can research a product digitally through websites, forums, social media, and?free trials .
In fact, 60% of?prospects want to engage with a sales rep ?AFTER they’ve researched their options. Moreover, following the COVID-19 pandemic,?33%?of buyers spend even more time researching products before making a purchase.?
As a result, the roles of sales and marketing has significantly changed, with marketing teams taking over many aspects of the sales process. This means the role of sales has?been reduced to assisting in the final stages of the process - evaluating potential alternatives, and making the actual purchase.
This is a big shift and it?brings a number of challenges for modern B2B sales teams to?overcome.
领英推荐
A new B2B buyer has emerged
Let’s take a closer look at the profile of a modern B2B buyer.
From increased demand for self-service options and online interactions with sellers, to lowering response to traditional marketing tactics and heightened concern about data privacy and security - the needs of the modern buyer have changed.?
Modern B2B buyers are younger and tech-savvy.
Research ?shows that?60%?of all B2B tech buyers are millennials (age 25 – 39), followed by 32% that belong to Gen X group (42-57).
These younger professionals are prone to using digital technologies and online reviews in the buying process, in turn revolutionizing how they purchase products or services.
For one, they prefer to conduct research themselves, and use the wealth of content available to help them on their journey. When making purchasing decisions, the new B2B buyers mostly rely on top five resources:
Modern buyers are highly skeptical about sales and marketing messages they encounter.
According to a?Forrester report ,?59% of buyers prefer to do research online instead of interacting with a sales rep because the rep pushes a sales agenda rather than helps solve a problem.
At the same time, salespeople continue to focus on selling, rather than?helping prospects along their path to purchase .
It’s no wonder that 68% of buyers prefer to interact with salespeople who listen to their needs and provide them with relevant information. And that 57% admitted they’d prefer to purchase from a salesperson who “doesn’t try to apply pressure or hassle them when following up.”
It’s also no surprise that sales teams who incorporate?social selling ?into their strategies tend to?perform better?than those that don’t.
Here’s another thing that’s changed in recent years:
Today’s buyers now?take longer to make a purchase decision.
Did you know that it takes at least 4 months for an average B2B company to win a new customer? And that?the average SaaS B2B sales cycle ?length is now 83 days?
One reason for that is more people involved in the process. According to Gartner, in a typical firm (100-500 employees), an average of 7 people are involved in most?buying decisions .?
Another reason is, the wealth of information available that buyers can use to base their decisions on.
This, combined with the shift in the selling process, forces organizations to try and connect with customers and?start nurturing them ?as early in the process as possible.
Modern buyers pay a lot of attention to peer recommendations.
Native to the online world of information, modern (millennial) buyers are 2x more likely to discover products by searching the web or?via social media.
The overwhelming majority?(9 out of 10) B2B buyers admit that online content ?has a moderate to major effect on their purchasing decisions.
Next, they don’t trust the “traditional”?analytical reports or rankings ?as much as older generations (Generation X or Baby Boomers). Less than 20% of millennials use analyst rankings.
But what makes them really tick is?reviews! According to?research , 8 out of 10 millennial buyers won’t make a purchase without reading a review first. In other words, peer-powered content is the most trusted by modern buyers.
Finally, they are also aware of risks associated with purchases.
Modern buyers want to feel confident that they’ve made the right decision, and try to do as much as possible to mitigate post-purchase dissatisfaction?during?the sales process.
“Prospects often second-guess themselves over making the right choices or are afraid to commit and potentially missing out on a better vendor. B2B buyers are also increasingly seeking out ways to identify and reduce risk factors,?including damage to professional credibility, reduction in job security, inability of the software to technically perform as promised, and loss of monetary investments.”
All this results in a wide range of challenges for the modern B2B sales teams to overcome:
How to?overcome modern sales challenges
Luckily, there are ways to overcome these sales challenges, and here?are?3 of the most effective ways to help you generate?better quality leads .
1. Embrace sales enablement to help prospects make better buying decisions
Just because today’s buyers prefer to?conduct research online themselves, it?doesn’t mean that they can’t interact with you during the process.
Quite the opposite, in fact.
You see, B2B buyers rely on the content to guide them through the buying process, and gain the knowledge necessary to make an informed decision.