In 2023, 425,698 new businesses were registered in the United States in July alone. The increasing number of choices available to consumers makes lead conversion challenging, especially for B2B sales teams. To add to their woes, sales representatives often unknowingly repeat the same B2B sales errors.
To enhance lead nurturing and boost sales closures, we present nine straightforward yet effective B2B sales strategies that you can, and should, implement immediately.
10 B2B Sales Strategies to Attract More Clients
In most cases, increasing your sales doesn’t necessitate elaborate tactics or costly software. The key lies in mastering the fundamentals. Let’s explore.
1. Conduct Thorough Research
B2B marketing strategies and sales processes have evolved and reached a plateau in recent years. Prospects are bombarded with familiar sales tactics that have lost their effectiveness, including poorly researched questions and generic messages.
When everyone is chasing after easy targets and quick victories, the most effective approach to achieve results is through superior research. In-depth research will set you apart from your competitors.
Psychographics Over Demographics
Before engaging with a prospect, delve into their buyer persona, which should be based on their problems rather than just demographics.
For instance, generic demographics would group Charles, Prince of Wales, and Ozzy Osborne together. They share similar age, financial standing, marital status, and social standing. Sales representatives who rely on generic personas struggle to sell products effectively.
[_
_](https://twitter.com/desireewhite42/status/1465825187195195395) Image source
Instead, you should prioritize understanding their pain points, fears, goals, and aspirations. This applies to both B2C and B2B sales because, ultimately, you are selling to individuals seeking solutions.
Target Decision-Makers
Another common mistake sales representatives make is approaching low-level buyers. Every company has numerous roles that are “visible,” but they rarely hold decision-making power. Focus on decision-makers who have the authority to approve purchases, not just the first names that appear in a quick search.
2. Listen More Than You Speak
Securing the attention of a busy buyer is challenging, so it makes sense to close the deal immediately, right?
Wrong.
Many sales representatives fall into this trap, pressuring buyers too aggressively and too early. While it may work in B2C, it’s ineffective in B2B. Unless you’re revolutionizing an entire industry, you’re not the only company pitching, and buyers find it off-putting when sales representatives solely focus on closing the deal.
Only 27% of leads are sales-ready, yet only 34% of companies have a lead nurturing strategy.
Instead of launching into a hard sell and explaining everything during a call, make prospects feel heard and understood. Here’s how.
Ask Questions
Pose thought-provoking questions about the company that encourage prospects to think. Questions that:
- Validate their perspectives.
- Demonstrate your thorough research on the company, its employees, decision-makers, competitors, and the industry.
- Enable you to gather small details to mention later, showing your attentiveness.
Listen to the Answers
Allow prospects to speak. As you listen, you’ll pick up on cues that will help you nurture the relationship. When you invest time in building one-on-one connections, you not only outperform competitors and secure the sale but also cultivate lasting client relationships. According to Invesp, companies that excel at lead nurturing generate 50% more leads at one-third of the cost.
Incorporate Personal Details
A similar approach applies to initial email outreach. Your emails should reflect the depth of your research. When cold emailing to prospects, start by mentioning recent company developments or even a personal milestone. Once you have their attention, seamlessly introduce your service or product and highlight its short-term and long-term impact.
Far too many salespeople concentrate on hard selling without realizing that recurring revenue from satisfied, loyal customers is significantly more valuable than one-time sales.
3. Avoid Rushing Prospects
Closing a B2B sale involves navigating multiple decision-makers and touchpoints.
Pressuring a buyer into a hasty decision indicates a lack of understanding of the company’s internal processes. Besides appearing inexperienced, you also risk alienating potential customers.
When you invest time in understanding the business, you also uncover its triggers and pain points. Once contact is established, focus on obtaining buy-in from other stakeholders to expedite the sales cycle.
For example, if you’re selling logistics software, request a meeting with the warehouse staff to document their challenges, gather all the data, and present a compelling case to the executives.
In essence: Respect the time required to close a deal.
4. Engage Existing Customers
Before pursuing new leads, explore your existing customer base for potential opportunities. You’re 65% more likely to sell to existing customers than new ones. Existing customers are also 31% more likely to increase their spending on your offerings.
Userlane’s research on product adoption revealed that 60% of new SaaS features remained entirely unexplored by customers. Beyond the initial sign-up surge, the most significant increase in customer engagement occurred when existing customers purchased new features, resulting in negative churn.
Prioritizing existing customers reduces customer acquisition costs, increases upselling opportunities, and strengthens partnerships. CRMs and sales intelligence tools provide valuable data to identify customers at risk of churn or those likely to purchase your new product.
However, B2B automation tactics and tools can only take you so far. Maintain regular contact with your existing customers and schedule frequent calls to discuss their product usage, desired new features, and emerging challenges they aim to address.
Often, they will provide you with valuable first-hand insights into product use cases and sales opportunities you may not have considered. You can leverage this data to retarget them or approach new prospects. Don’t overlook your existing advocates; you’ve already established a foundation with them.
5. Adhere to Your Pricing
One of the biggest B2B sales mistakes is attempting to differentiate solely on price. Sales representatives often believe that offering the lowest price will make it easier to persuade prospects. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
If your product effectively delivers on its promises, there’s no need to undervalue it.
The image below illustrates how SaaS applications are increasing their prices based on the value they provide to high-end clients.
If pricing concerns are hindering your conversations, here’s a secret: Confidence is a powerful tool in sales, and it’s contagious. Stick to your established pricing and emphasize the product’s benefits and importance.
When you can convince a prospect of the genuine value proposition of your offering, price becomes secondary. This approach enables you to secure higher-value contracts and cultivate a strong brand image.
B2B teams can learn from Apple’s B2C strategies: Focus on what matters most to customers, strive for exceptional execution, scale rapidly, and ultimately remove price as a primary factor in the conversation.
However, if you’re uncertain about your pricing strategy, consider creating a three-tiered plan to offer buyers more choices. Just be sure not to overwhelm them with excessive information, and clearly explain each tier.
6. Highlight Benefits, Not Just Features
B2B buyers prioritize direct benefits over features. They rarely inquire about the inner workings of a product; instead, they want to understand its value proposition and potential return on investment (ROI) for their company.
So, why is it challenging to shift the focus from features to benefits, even when we know better? It’s because features are ingrained in product development, while highlighting benefits requires detachment and a broader perspective.
Salespeople, often deeply involved in the product, struggle to convey the bigger picture. Obsessing over features can also lead to neglecting the buyer’s domain expertise.
Despite creating a technological marvel that revolutionized the music industry, Steve Jobs and his team didn’t dwell on the iPod’s technical specifications. They showcased what people could achieve with it.
Today, the most effective ways to demonstrate benefits include testimonials from similar customers, free product demos, and quantifiable impact. Instead of boasting about lines of code, help customers visualize what they can accomplish with your products and watch your sales soar.
7. Follow Up with Sales Leads…
Many sales representatives aspire to build lasting relationships and nurture leads, but they often fail to implement the crucial first step: follow-up. According to a Invesp study, 44% of sales representatives don’t follow up after the initial contact.
[
]
However, here’s the catch: 60% of customers decline the first four offers before agreeing to a purchase.
The B2B buying process is complex, and your prospect likely doesn’t have the immediate availability to review your offer. Your task is to stay in touch and follow up consistently.
Following up with sales leads keeps you on their radar. Even if they don’t need your product at the moment, they’ll remember you when the time is right. Many sales representatives give up on prospects too quickly, so persistence often pays off.
8. …via Email…
Emails are effective for follow-up because they are less intrusive than calls, and you can easily be redirected to the appropriate decision-maker if the initial contact is unavailable.
Follow-up emails should summarize previous interactions and offer new value or perspectives on the product. In other words, your sales follow-up emails should not sound repetitive. There’s a fine line between respectful persistence and annoyance, so proceed with caution.
9. …but Embrace Multi-Channel Communication
According to McKinsey, B2B buyers communicate with their suppliers through 10 or more channels. In a post-pandemic world, omnichannel marketing and sales strategies are no longer a competitive advantage—they are expected. Buyers anticipate 24/7 availability and expect more than just phone calls or emails.
To optimize B2B sales, leverage all available communication channels to nurture leads and build genuine connections. This means tailoring your sales strategy for various social media platforms, emails, text messages, Slack, Zoom, phone calls, and even offline meetups.
Utilizing multiple channels keeps your outreach strategy fresh and engaging while minimizing intrusion. For instance, when following up on a sales call through LinkedIn, reference a relevant topic the prospect discussed and subtly connect it to your product. During a Slack conversation, record a quick tutorial to address a concern.
10. Monitor Your Performance
Sales success hinges on both soft skills and data analysis. If you’re struggling to meet your targets, you might be repeating past mistakes.
Regularly review your performance dashboard and extract insights from the data. These insights provide a clear roadmap for improving your sales tactics.
While modern CRMs and sales enablement tools offer a wealth of data, focus on specific KPIs. Excessive filtering can generate overwhelming and contradictory numbers. Databox, for example, provides customizable sales dashboards that track targeted KPIs for different sales team segments.
Achieve Your Goals with These B2B Sales Strategies
As a B2B sales representative, you’ll achieve greater success by prioritizing the quality of connections over quick sales. When you invest time in understanding your target companies and become a valuable resource for them, you’ll not only close deals but also transform one-time buyers into loyal customers.
To recap, here are the most common B2B sales mistakes to avoid:
- Inadequate Research
- Talking More Than Listening
- Rushing Prospects
- Neglecting Existing Customers
- Undervaluing Your Product
- Focusing on Features Over Benefits
- Failing to Follow Up with Sales Leads
- Relying Solely on Email Communication
- Ignoring Multi-Channel Opportunities
- Neglecting Performance Measurement