5 Tips for Creating & Refining Your B2B Sales Process
August 26, 2021
When it comes to the B2B sector, one of the best things any company can do for their bottom line is to optimize their sales process. It’s no secret that the better you can showcase your products the more money you’ll be able to make, the more clients you’ll attract, and the more sales you’ll have to boost your revenue.
As one of today’s leading manufacturing marketing and B2B marketing services, the team from WSI B2B Marketing has collected some important insight for you here to help you hone your B2B sales process!
Why is Developing a B2B Sales Process Important?
As mentioned above, creating a comprehensive B2B sales plan is one of the best ways to help your company grow. Although you should develop a B2B sales process that is standardized, it’s important to keep in mind that no two businesses or customers are alike, therefore you’ll need to hone your process according to the needs and expectations of both your business, as well as your customers.
5 Tips for Refining the B2B Sales Process
Ask Open-Ended Questions
When discussing things with potential customers, never assume you know everything. You should ask open-ended questions that encourage them to offer extensive input. This way you’ll be able to get a good feel on their likes and dislikes, any pain points they have, and other important information that will help you hone your B2B sales process. Avoid yes and no questions that won’t provide you with any useful info and always try to ask questions that call for an in-depth response. Most importantly, be sure you listen to their responses and gain as much useful information as you can, otherwise, you’ll just be wasting their, and your time.
Research & Connect with the Right Prospects
Another key component that will help you streamline and refine your B2B sales process is to perform some preliminary research into what businesses will likely benefit from your product. Familiarizing yourself with the industries and businesses of your potential prospects will help you better understand who you’re trying to sell to before connecting up with them for a meeting. Since nowadays, potential clients have access to information around the clock, they’ve likely already entered the sales funnel; now it’s your job to determine where they are and have a good idea of where they stand before contacting them. Then, determine how they’ve engaged with the sales process and find out how far along they are; you might find that they’re already well on their way to making a purchase before even speaking to them.
Bring Your Expert Knowledge to the Table
One of the best ways to attract more B2B business is to set your company up as experts in your given industry, so always try to teach them something that will benefit them. This will likely be specific paint points or a niche in the industry you can exploit. However, the key to doing this properly is to address such points and teach them something without specifically mentioning your product. This helps you not only establish a good rapport with potential B2B customers but also demonstrates you really want to help them, not simply get your sales commission.
Qualify Your Customer
Before continuing to move your prospect through the sales funnel, it’s important that you properly assess them and qualify that they’ll be a good business for you to work with. Using the GPCT (goals, plans, challenges, and timing) methodology is one of the best ways to do this. Determine what their goals are and what they need to overcome to reach such goals. Additionally, you can also talk about the prospect’s budgetary and business needs and outline a clear timetable for rolling out your services. At the end of the day, the more you understand your customer and their goals, the better you’ll be able to help them achieve success.
Close the Sale
This might seem like the most daunting part of the B2B sales process, but if you’ve followed the steps above properly, it will be much easier than you think. However, not everything works out perfectly every time and if you reach this step and there are still some hitches, don’t be afraid to go back and hone some of the previous steps until you get it right. Doing so might give you the opportunity to discuss some of the areas where a potential prospect might be hesitant and address them to make them feel more at ease. If for some reason, this still doesn’t result in a sale, don’t despair. You can still follow up with them down the road and keep them on your list of potential prospects; perhaps it simply wasn’t the right time for them.
Contact us today for more B2B marketing services!
When it comes to the B2B sales process, practice makes perfect, so hone all of the skills mentioned above and create a standardized process for dealing with potential sales prospects. The more you interact with potential customers, the better you’ll get, and don’t be afraid to make some tweaks along the way.
For those in need of B2B marketing services that will set them ahead of the competition, the team from WSI B2B Marketing has expertise in a variety of different fields. We specialize in digital marketing services for the manufacturing sector, marine marketing sector, and more, in addition to our B2B services.
Our approach is simple: we provide you with a blueprint for success that’s guaranteed to create more qualified leads and can multiply your return on investment up to four times as much as you’re currently receiving.
To learn more about how WSI B2B Marketing can help you, contact us online today or call 1 (800) 494-6212.
