Instagram has changed: 4 ways it'll impact the B2B sales landscape

The whole world has changed in a matter of days.

All because Zuckerberg has decided that business owners now need to pay a subscription to be able to use Instagram. And the whole B2C / online marketing world is in uproar + panic.

Rightly so.

Because effectively, what Zucks has said, is that paying for?ads is no longer enough to be able to use the algorithm on Instagram. Nope. They want a?fully 'pay to play' platform where you can only have certain features (like amount of links that can be used!) if you pay to use them. And the charges to be allowed those, relatively basic things? Range from ￡12 - over ￡300 per month.

But I don't?teach B2C sales... so why am I bothering to share it with you?

Well, here's the thing - I've been saying to coaches, consultants, speakers, trainers?and done-for-you service providers for?years that you must get a corporate revenue stream. Because a) they pay more, b) there's a much more predictable sales process that doesn't involve using someone else's platform and now... c) because it's simply not possible for everyone to be a social media superstar, go viral and convert lots of social media followers into paying clients.

And now, here we are.

Now, I?hate saying 'I told you so'. In fact, over the course of my entire marriage so far, I've not said it.

But unfortunately, not saying it, doesn't mean that I was incorrect.?

And being right on this occasion?

Also doesn't mean that I don't feel bad for service based business owners who've bought every Instagram course on the market and still haven't gone viral/ got 100K followers or made their millions from it.?

But I?am telling you that even if you're not using Instagram to sell, that it'll impact your B2B sales strategy if you don't make relevant and intelligent changes. And that now?is the time to take my advice seriously and start making real shifts.

So let's take a look at what happens in situations like this.

1.?B2C Sellers flood the market: Just like during the pandemic when people were struggling with their businesses, we'll see an influx of people wanting to get off the B2C train (and you absolutely?should!) and moving to a B2B model.?

Whilst this is really sensible, many of them?won't have access to / knowledge of best practice sales strategies or resources... so they'll just hang out on LinkedIn, creating a whole bunch of posts and make that really noisy.?

Meaning that an already noisy LinkedIn newsfeed, becomes even more overwhelming for stakeholders and sees engagement and response rates drop further.?

2. Panic mode = poor quality cold pitching: Yep, when people panic, they don't always make the best decisions. And a lot of people will be moving over to the B2B space and making rushed decisions. That usually means an influx of poor quality outreach, automated outreach and poor pitches that flood stakeholder inboxes. Which can be difficult for your stakeholders to experience?and makes it even more important for YOU to stand out and be different to the mass panic approaches that they'll be seeing more often.

3.?Under-experienced deliverers but shameless sellers, winning more business: This is a tough one. When the market shifts, people who don't?care and are money motivated will do?whatever it takes to 'be successful'.?

Now, this isn't a problem when someone is genuinely skilled/ has a genuine background or qualification that makes them great at delivering the transformation that they've sold to companies... but what we see a?lot of in the online marketing space is that people have great sales pitches and crappy delivery.

So this means two things; A) Those shameless sellers are likely to win business in organisations if they set their mind to it but deliver poor experiences which is difficult for organisations and will damage the reputation of external suppliers and B) That there are?major opportunities for people who genuinely are skilled and?want to deliver great client experiences to compete in this market?and get paid a higher premium... if they're prepared to sell correctly and transparently.

4. Poor sales processes = losing business: I could put this one more gently but I'm writing this 'on the hoof' instead of my regularly scheduled newsletter so I'm not so much on the soft side today. Put simply, those people who've been wanting to sell B2B for a while or haphazardly selling B2B in a feast / famine / unpredictable/ no real processes kind of way... are going to struggle to sell if they don't properly optimise and?implement a best-practice sales process.

People who've been 'getting by' but not doing?well / lacking a predictable B2B sales system without clear metrics, lead generation and business development techniques are suddenly going to find themselves in a competitive market - with no real strategy to support themselves.

Those competitors likely won't be as good at delivery as you - but they?will claw market share from you if your sales process is poor. So - tighten it up ASAP.

Now you might be thinking, 'Blimey Jess, I opened this because you're normally a Positive Polly and here you are, ruining my afternoon cuppa..!'

And I get it.

But - I want you to know that there are genuinely serious concerns for people who?do not have their B2B sales process sorted. And who've been coasting along, getting a couple of corporate clients here and there by posting on LinkedIn/ luck/ solely through referrals.

That?won't cut it when the panicked B2C coaches and consultants rush over to try and find corporate clients to replace their revenue.

So please, take this seriously. It's one of the very few times that I'm speaking seriously - without my normal laughter and hilarity.

And whilst there are absolutely difficulties that will be faced in the market now that the 'organic social media era' seems to be over, there?are positives for those business owners who take preventative and positive action. If you have a solid B2B sales process already - or you start to build one now, you can expect;

- To generate more revenue from corporate clients that understand exactly how you can add higher levels of transformation + a better delivery experience than incomers. And you won't even have to write that on your emails ??

- To generate additional / extra revenue from potentially poor client experiences and win longer-term business as a result if you operate a high quality B2B sales?and delivery process.

- To maintain successful cold lead generation that gets responses and books qualified sales calls - without?ever having to post on LinkedIn... and avoiding the newsfeed altogether if you want to.

- To increase your average transaction values across?all services - and have your corporate clients?want to pay a premium?and want to book you in advance.

And if you?don't have a B2B sales process that is currently working for you at generating qualified leads, booking productive sales calls or converting into signed deals each month??

You must take action now.

Here are the options that I have available to support you:

1. The C Suite ?: My?entire 15 + years of B2B sales expertise, strategies and templates in?one place so that you can create a best practice B2B sales process that generates qualified leads, productive sales calls and helps you sell high-ticket, highly transformational coaching/ consulting / speaking/ training or done-for-you services to corporate clients.

The C Suite ? has been used by tons of people to generate corporate clients on repeat, has a success rate that sits well above 90% of people generating their ROI back within 6 months and has a list of testimonials as long as my entire body.?

*Well, we have over 2000 testimonials in a Google doc so I'm assuming that's enough A4 sheets of paper for my 5'4 frame.

If you are an executive coach/ consultant/ speaker/ trainer or done-for-you service provider in the health and wellness/ communications / marketing/ social media/ project management/ leadership, talent or management development/ diversity, equity and inclusion spaces??

The C Suite ? is the end-to-end B2B sales resource to use in order to generate corporate clients on repeat and is the market leading B2B sales resource for entrepreneurs to sell to corporate clients.

2. Cold Email Outreach Mini Course: If you are great at converting proposals / business development calls into corporate sales but you struggle to get enough business development calls booked and know that lead generation is your main issue? I'm releasing my Cold Email Outreach mini-course for another 48 hours.?

(Yes... it was open to my newsletter subscriber list first. Because they hang out in my inbox each week to grab my latest trends + B2B sales musings! But you can use the code: LI1 for a special discount)

This course contains the exact cold email outreach strategy that I teach my clients and gives you access to my proven email outreach templates that have worked in over 17 countries and multiple industries.?

If you only want to work on a proven method of lead generation so that you can book quality sales calls with qualified leads, then this course is for you. It contains everything you need to know in order to be able to successfully navigate cold email outreach and is implementation focused. Meaning, no 60 page workbooks on your ideal client - just a clear, actionable strategy and templates that you can immediately customise and send.

I promise - it's really not all doom and gloom.

And I?do really feel for you if you've been caught up in the Instagram kool-aid for the last couple of years, hoping to make it work for you. I'll also completely get it for people who want to just buy the subscription and hope that the algorithm works for those who pay.?

But for those of you who are?done with pandering to Meta's whims, sick of social media or who simply want to future-proof their businesses from the influx of poor sales tactics that are about to hit the market?

Don't wait six months to 'see' if it all works out.?

Grab one of my resources above and give yourself the gift of stable B2B sales, work in a positive, sales-focused way and get more corporate clients.

Jessica Lorimer is the UK's leading B2B sales coach for entrepreneurs selling their services to corporate organisations. Jessica regularly provides insights on sales strategy and techniques on her award nominated podcast; Selling to Corporate ? and has been featured in The i, The Telegraph, Forbes, Daily Express, City AM, Psychologies and is a TedX speaker.