6 Tips & Techniques for a Successful B2B Sales Strategy

To increase B2B sales, it’s important to periodically revisit your B2B sales strategy. This is particularly relevant after the recent shift to a customer-centric sales approach. As information about products and services are increasingly accessible to B2B buyers, they trust online information and product reviews more, and a self-interested sales rep less. Rather than focusing on closing deals, B2B sales reps need to establish customer trust.

Here are six tips for a B2B sales strategy that works:

1. Research your target customers and prospects

Don’t call your list of qualified leads straight away. Before your sales reps make any contact, they need to do thorough research. Check out their websites and follow them on social media sites to determine which leads are most qualified to target for your sales.

Recognize the pain points, challenges, and goals for their company. You might even be able to get a rough idea of your customers’ budgets. This will help you prepare a strategy for how you can display your product in a way that addresses your customers’ needs and is worth their money.

2. Equip sales reps with product & industry knowledge

Your sales reps should also have thorough knowledge about your company’s product and your industry as a whole. They should be well-versed in your product’s features and functions, as well as the ways your product benefits companies in the relevant industry. Product research, combined with research about prospective customers, lets sales reps tailor their conversations for each customer and adapt their sales pitch to fit that customer’s unique needs.

A with high-resolution product images and detailed product information ensures that product details are always close at hand for your sales reps, even when they’re on the road or offline.

3. Ask questions

After thorough research, it’s time to call your most qualified leads. Use the call to find out more information about your leads, the obstacles they’re facing, and their goals. This will help you consult them through their problems, adapt your product to fit their needs, and ultimately offer your product as a solution.

A mobile CRM system will ensure your sales reps can seamlessly record and access all your customers’ data in real-time.

4. Prioritize listening over talking

Good sales communication involves the same skill as any well-played conversation: listening with interest to the other person, rather than speaking almost exclusively about yourself.

Effective B2B sales strategy is customer-focused, rather than product-focused. Aim to do about 30% of the talking, and let your customer do the rest. Show your customer you are listening to what they have to say, not just focused on closing a sale. Customers are more likely to buy from companies they trust and will want to help them succeed.

5. Adopt a consultative approach

Teaching is the new pitching. That’s the latest mantra for sales teams these days, and for good reason.

If you want your customers to help you increase your B2B sales, you’ll need to give them something in return: good advice that will help them manage and grow their business. Your words of advice shouldn’t require much effort on your part and, of course, shouldn’t inadvertently lead your customers away from your solution. Instead, you can offer help and kindness with general tips that you personally find useful, like recommendations of unaffiliated books, blogs, or online courses.

6. Focus on building relationships

For customers who are on the fence, offer gentle persuasion but give them time to think about whether your product is right for them. Offering a free demo may help them decide. Pressuring them to buy instantly will only leave them with a bad taste in their mouths and suggest to them that your interests aren’t aligned with their own.

Building a relationship is more important than closing a sale. If, after speaking with your prospects, your product clearly can’t help them, don’t be too pushy. It’s more important to build a reputation as a knowledgeable and honest advisor. This will help you draw customers and close deals in the long term.

Remember that while maximizing your number of customers is great, there are such things as bad customers. If you push customers into buying products that you know just aren’t the right fit for them, they could haunt you with bad reviews, tarnishing your company’s reputation long after your relationship with them ends.

Adopting a Customer-Centric Sales Approach

When it comes to your B2B sales strategy, the more you demonstrate empathy and understanding with your customers, the better. Make sure your marketing and sales teams collaborate in researching customers so that they can better understand their qualified leads before making the initial call.

Likewise, make sure that your sales team has a complete understanding of your company’s product and the whole industry, so they can showcase your company’s knowledge in the field, while offering your customers helpful and relevant solutions.

Train your sales teams to delight customers with empathy, patient listening, and helpful consultation.

Using these B2B sales techniques will not only help you attract new B2B customers, but will also help you develop a loyal customer base.

Learn more about B2B sales software to help you implement your B2B sales strategy. Talk to a B2B sales expert today!