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| Image Credit: Pexels |
{This is a collaborative post}
Figuring out how to sell to B2B businesses can be
challenging, especially if you’ve previously spent the majority of your time
selling to regular consumers. It’s a totally different animal, and not
something that always comes naturally the first time you try it.
That’s where this guide can help. We explore some of the
techniques you can use to sell better to B2B clients and really make the most
of every opportunity.
Know Their Pain Points Inside Out
The first thing you want to do is know their pain points inside out. You want
to figure out what’s really irking them at the executive level, and what
problems they need to solve.
Unfortunately, if you're solving the problems that
lower-level people have, then the ability for you to sell will be significantly
less. If it doesn’t make the lives of decision-makerseasier or better, the concept probably doesn’t have legs.
Therefore, learn as much as you can and build your pitch
around the specific pain points that buyers face. Make sure you know what to do
to make their lives better, and price it at a level that makes it almost
impossible for them to refuse.
Ensure You Nurture Leads
You also need to focus more on nurturing leads when selling
to B2B enterprises. Sometimes, it can take months or years for them to agree
and make the sale.
Because of this, a lot of companies that sell to other
businesses focus extensively on automation tools. These marketing options allow
them to automate much of the process of stayingin touch with their leads, making their job so much easier overall.
If you have a marketing department you can collaborate with,
that’s also worth using. Experts often understand the B2B landscape better and
know how to work it all the way through the pipeline.
Handle Objections
Of course, during any sales process, you’ll inevitably come
across numerous objections. The trick here is to simply learn how to deal with
these quickly.
Sometimes, you can’t manage objections, and that’s okay. Not
every business should be a client of yours. However, most of the time you can
use stock answers or find workarounds.
Once you get used to finding solutions, you can increase conversions and actually save more. You can also listen actively to the concerns of the people around you and use them to help them validate what you have to offer.
If you can provide them with reviews or client reports, that
can be even more beneficial. If their peers are doing well by using your
services, then the implication is that they will, too,
Leverage Thought Leadership
You also want to explore the idea of thought leadership as a
B2B enterprise. While it might sound a bit clichéd these days, it still is a
way to prove your value, especially to companies that are looking to spend a
lot of money.
How you do this is very much up to you. It could be through
blogs, webinars, eBooks or any other method.
If you can get in front of people physically to show them
your expertise, that can be even more powerful. Actually showing them that
you’re a leader in your field can be highly lucrative and something that builds
far more personal rapport than other methods.
Use Signal-Based Selling
Another tactic is to use signal-based selling. But what is signal-based selling? The idea, essentially, is to measure signals from
prospects and assign a probability that they will eventually become high-paying
clients.
Signal-based selling is one of the best ways to ensure that
you respect your own time. Instead of spending a lot of energy chasing after
clients that aren’t going to lead anywhere, signal-based approaches let you
target those that you know are likely to pay.
The goal here is to intelligently weed out the less
attractive prospects. Doing this reduces time wasting and makes it possible to
only focus on the rare few businesses that are actually in a position to buy
from you.
Leverage Consultative Selling
If you can be consultative at the same time, that’s even
better. This approach can be highly effective because it shows that you’re not
just trying to sell, but that you’re also looking to really help the client and
find solutions.
The best way to do this is to narrowdown on a specific process and ask for the biggest issue in this area. If
you can find solutions that align with the company’s long-term goal, that’s
highly beneficial.
Alongside this, it also helps to provide data-driven insights. Many management teams want to see proof that your approach is going to work for them.
If you can be a “hands-on” consultant, that’s even better.
Most companies just want people to come in and fix problems, especially key
leaders and decision-makers.
Make It Valuable
At the same time, you also want to make what you’re selling
valuable. Being able to clearly articulate that is important and allows buyers
to derive meaning from what you’re doing.
For example, instead of saying “we improve your processes,”
you could say, “we improve your processes by more than 50%.” If you can make
these types of claims and back them up with real-world results, you can go much
further.
Build Relationships With Stakeholders
Finally, building relationships with the stakeholders that
matter (good old-fashioned networking) is one of the most powerful things you
can do. Personal relationships still go a long way in business and can often
sway decision-makers at the top, especially if you keep things professional and
above board.
Building relationships is something that takes time, but it
is definitely worth it. You could use personalised outreach on LinkedIn
messages or send people emails to build trust. You could also use consistent
follow-ups to get people more interested in what you’re doing.
If you can add value ahead of time, that’s also useful.
Solving a quick problem proves your worth and makes the target team want to use
you even more, now that they have seen your expertise.