Does it feel like closing deals in the B2B space is getting tougher by the day?
It actually is.
New businesses start every day, bringing extra competition to an already competitive market.
Then you have the savvy buyers who no longer want to go through linear sales processes driven by salespeople’s actions. Their needs have become increasingly sophisticated, meaning only B2B sellers who discern, adapt, and meet these needs can secure deals and drive business growth.
How do you become that seller?
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Use Data Analytics in Your Sales Processes
A McKinsey survey found that 53 percent of organizations that perform highly use analytics effectively.
Forward-thinking companies understand one thing—data analytics can help them achieve considerable top-line growth by informing the decisions their sales teams take.
In analyzing data, these companies draw conclusions that allow them to understand consumer needs, add new services, and provide higher value to their customers.
Here’s how to leverage data analytics for higher sales:
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Improving marketing segmentation. Many marketers target overly broad marketing segments, hoping their message will appeal to someone. What audiences receive is a diluted message that doesn’t address their needs fully. Data analytics grants you granular-level marketing abilities, allowing you to reach audiences with relatable and highly customized messages.
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Accurate product recommendation. Through data algorithms, you can divide potential customers into groups and compare these potential customer groups with present or previous clients to identify buying patterns and behavior. You can then suggest relevant offerings to these potential buyers to encourage further engagement and purchase.
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Predicting future behavior among consumers. Predictive analytics allow you to assess past customer interactions with your products/services and predict future sales. It saves you the trouble of contacting uninterested leads so you can focus on the most viable ones.
2. Map Your Customers’ Journey
A customer’s perception of your brand doesn’t just come from the campaign messages and imagery you put out, but also from their experience with you.
With most companies operating distinct departments, the customer deals with different people when making inquiries or orders, needing technical assistance, or sending complaints.
Understandably, these departments are in place to manage operations and build expertise, but they can also make for fragmented experiences.
To keep customers from feeling the disconnect, it’s necessary for you to track and detail customer experiences with every department and at each stage of their purchase journey.
Mapping your customer’s journey allows you to step into their shoes and visualize their interactions with your company to improve their experience.
Ideally, your map should comprise
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A detailed flowchart of the journey your customer takes
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Customer and brand interactions
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Areas along the journey that may elicit negative emotions or present difficulties
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Areas along the journey that may make or break your relationship with your customer
Through your findings, you can streamline services and processes across departments, and tailor solutions that meet their customer’s needs satisfactorily.
3. Make Cold Calls
You have around 5 to 10 minutes max to prove your value to the person on the other end of the phone. How do you do it?
Cold calling can be a hair-raising, nail-biting experience that unnerves even experienced salespeople.
You’re trying to convince a stranger to trust that your company has what it takes to improve their business lives. That, without sounding like you really want to close the deal, real soon—which is what you want.
Tough.
Best practices include:
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Qualify your prospects. Evaluating prospect viability for your solution ensures you call good candidates. While building your list of potential customers, you’ll need to consider their ability and willingness to spend, the contact person’s decision-making ability, and how soon the prospects want to make the purchase.
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Personalize your script. Even when you’re calling prospects in the same industry, tweak your script to speak to their specific case. This shows the prospect that you care enough to identify their concerns and can meet their needs.
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Believe in what you’re selling. People can easily tell if you don’t believe in what you’re selling, and worse, if you don’t understand it well. They will lose confidence in you, what you’re selling, and your brand. Know your product well and find something about it that excites you to inject enthusiasm into your voice.
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Turn rejection into insights. Analyze the points where listeners raise objections and reject your pitch. The product may not be a good fit, the price higher than they’re willing to spend, or you tried to sell too soon. Use your finding to fine-tune your pitch in your next call.
4. Leverage Case Studies
Here’s what a DemandGen report has to say about case studies: 73 percent of buyers will view case studies in their search for products/services.
Your team is likely creating all kinds of promotional material to appeal to buyers, but without proof to back up their claims, buyers can’t fully trust their word.
The materials talk about possibilities, but prospects won’t have specifics on the kinds of results they can expect.
Case studies corroborate your claims by detailing the experiences and outcomes other buyers have enjoyed by using your products/services. This instills confidence in your capabilities and encourages prospects to engage you.
Here are practices to help you put together compelling case studies:
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Gather exhaustive information. What problem troubled your customer? What value did your products/services bring into the situations to solve the problem? What was the impact of using your solutions on the customer’s revenue growth, market share, or other important metrics?
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Substantiate your case study with data statistics. Include key metrics and use both illustrations and graphics to make the data more intelligible. It helps substantiate the impact your solutions create and builds your credibility.
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Inculcate storytelling. Numbers are great but can be boring to look at. Give your case studies a human touch by talking about specific customers and constructing narratives around the different facets of the case studies. Remember to incorporate direct quotes from the customers as well.
5. Invest in Paid Ads
With the number of people viewing non-promoted content declining, it’s becoming increasingly necessary for brands to use paid ads to boost visibility and reach audiences.
Not just any audiences, but defined audiences who have shown interest in your brand and fit your personas.
You can also run retargeting campaigns where former website visitors, including existing customers, are shown highly relevant ads to encourage engagement or repeat purchases.
Best practices include:
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Use your buyer personas to identify your target audience. Think about their wants, pain points, the social platforms they use, and how to position your offerings as solutions.
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Determine your budget. Consider the advertising rates on your preferred platforms and the typical ROI for every $ spent as well as your company’s present financial position.
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Choose a suitable media format. If your business leans towards visual appeal like say an office furniture company, capitalize on display ads to catch a user’s eye. If you’re more text-focused like a legal, accounting, or digital marketing firm then search ads may work better for you.
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Target High-Intent Keywords. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, Ubersuggest, and Google Keyword Planner are fantastic online tools that may help you identify high-intent keywords relevant to your business. Use these keywords in your ad copy to maximize visibility.