The Biggest Problem With Sales Communications

Before the internet, salespeople had to tell customers everything about their product, service, and company. Obviously, this has changed. Today, buyers can go online and find a ton of information about any given company: the range of solutions they offer, reviews from customers, who the leadership team consists of, and so on. People are doing a lot of research: studies have found that B2B buyers typically go between 57% and 70% of the way through their buying research before engaging with a salesperson.?

If the buyers reaching out to your company already have this much information, how does sales messaging fit it? What should it focus on??

It could be easy to repeat statistics and product specs from your website, push cookie-cutter sales pieces, and send follow-up emails every few days. But is this effective? I would argue that it’s not. One of the biggest problems with sales messaging today is not adding value to every touchpoint.?

Add value early in the process – build the relationship?

Let’s say a potential client reaches out to your team - we’re talking top of the funnel. They’ve done some preliminary research on your company but aren’t ready to get into the nitty-gritty details. How do you add value when you interact with them??

The best way to add value at this stage of the buyer’s journey is to build rapport by having open discussions with the buyer. What are their pain points? What are they concerned about, and what are they looking for? Focus on building trust. Research from Forrester found that B2B buyers who trust a company are almost twice as likely to pay a premium to work with that company or recommend it to others. You’re not pushing the product at this stage. The focus is on building a relationship.?

Now, people who’ve worked with buyers in B2B settings may tell you that many buyers come to a salesperson with a specific tactical need. They want something that can do X. The thing is, there’s usually something that’s causing the problem with X. Maybe that buyer doesn’t realize (or has not acknowledged) the root cause. But you, as the outsider, see the problem. In these instances, do you just help them with X, or do you try to uncover the root cause of the problem?

This scenario now presents an opportunity: you can start adding value to these interactions.?

First, address the tactical issue that the prospect came to you with – at the moment, that issue is what’s valuable to the buyer. Then, you can start working backward to uncover the root of the problem. Some buyers will have no idea what has caused that issue and here is your chance to offer valuable input. Research from the Harvard Business Review finds that 85% of executives believe their organizations are bad at diagnosing problems.?

While we’re talking about the early conversations with potential buyers, I think it’s important to at least mention chatbots. For some buyers, chatbots may be a prospect’s first interaction with your company. Just be aware that buyers may have mixed feelings about chatbots. One study found that while people like the idea and potential of chatbots, many are frustrated by chatbots’ unhelpful answers to their questions. To whatever extent you choose to use chatbots or AI in your sales communications, be open and honest about it, and have a way for buyers to contact real people on your team if they prefer.?

Add value further down the funnel – trust at every touchpoint

Say you’ve built a good relationship with a buyer and you’re getting closer to a sale. Now it’s time to discuss all those little details about your product or service. And these interactions should, as stated previously, add value. In this stage, be sure to offer details or information that is not on your website. If your company customizes products or services for clients, discuss how you could customize them for this particular buyer. Be specific.

It’s natural to want to highlight all the great things about your product or service, but be careful not to oversell or make things up. You want to be realistic so customers' expectations are met. Sometimes, this means being honest about things that are less than positive (but with suggestions for addressing these potential issues). This transparency is more valuable than giving a nonanswer that leads to problems down the road.

Back to trust: I can’t overstate how important maintaining your buyer’s trust is throughout this process. A study by Dale Carnegie found that 71% of customers said they would rather buy from a salesperson they trust than one who gave them a lower price. Keep that in mind.?

Use sales materials strategically?

I’ve talked about how to strengthen your sales communications at different phases of the engagement – but where do your specific sales materials fit in? Since buyers get a lot of information online, throwing a bunch of generic materials at them right away is not helpful.?

Your sales materials should have a purpose. Can you create a deck that features industry-specific numbers and success stories that aren’t on your website? Or offer ideas on how your products or services could be tailored toward this individual company?

Keep in mind, sometimes the sole purpose of sales collateral can be for the buyer to share it with their team. For complex B2B purchases, there are, on average, 11 individual stakeholders from the buyer's team, sometimes closer to 20. Instead of a meeting (or meeting recording), a slide deck that summarizes the key points is an efficient way to get your message across to all stakeholders.

Now for the pitfalls.?

I do want to mention a few common mistakes that I see with sales materials. The first is reading directly from a slide deck when presenting. No one wants to sit in a meeting where one person just reads every single word from a slide. Frankly, it’s a waste of everyone’s time. Slide decks can be useful, but if you’re going to use them in a meeting, make sure you’re doing something else to add value to the meeting – like asking and answering questions, providing additional resources, getting feedback from the buyers, or involving them in theoretical scenarios.

Another bad practice is sending too many sales materials. A survey found that over 50% of B2B buyers feel overwhelmed by the volume of information they receive on their purchase journey. Also, avoid sending too many messages. It takes time to decide on a purchase and get the entire team to agree. Give the buyer some breathing room and be strategic in deciding what to send and when to send it.?

It’s hard to undo a bad first impression with prospective buyers – and problems in your sales communications can cost you the sale. When you focus on adding value to each interaction and building trust throughout the different stages, you’re on your way to greater success.