B2B sales strategy is more than closing a deal, as it requires sophisticated sales strategies to convince all parties involved in a business transaction. B2B sales can be difficult if we don’t have the right strategy. We need to work hard to keep our sales process healthy to get more acceptable results, and because of the long sales cycles, we need to set up the sales process in advance.
A B2B sales strategy is essential to the success of our business. All we have to do now is to choose one of the most suitable types and implement it effectively. To read more articles about business organization, you can refer to the articles page.
What is a B2B Sales Strategy?
A B2B sales strategy occurs when one person sells goods or services to another. Also, B2B sales strategy is often more difficult than producer-to-consumer (B2C) sales; Because more decision makers are involved, that translates into longer sales cycles. However, B2B sales typically generate more revenue.
What is the strategy? According to the Oxford dictionary, a strategy is a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall goal. If we combine these two definitions, we realize that a B2B sales strategy is a program that helps our company to increase its sales to other businesses and reach its goals in a structured and timely manner.
Types of B2B Sales Strategies
In this article, we share 4 B2B sales strategies with you. They have helped many of our clients overcome many challenges and stay on top of their game.
1. Strategic Selling
Strategic selling is a tactic that focuses on helping businesses win complex deals with a scalable, insight-driven approach. The core of this approach is to be able to identify the different points of our target company based on their impact on our sales process.
For example, let’s imagine we want to sell a tool or product to a company. In this case, our first point of contact could be the operations manager or a marketing manager who has been looking for productivity tools to increase team effectiveness. After contacting them, we may find that the marketing manager is a good person to promote the introduction of our software in the company, while the operations manager is the one who makes the real decision, which is the economic buyer. So we deliver the value of our product proposition in the form of a meaningful conversation.
With the help of the marketing manager, we make sure the operations manager signs off and the IT manager approves it, it’s a strategic sale. This B2B sales strategy forces sales teams to go beyond a typical call. It forces them to dig deeper into a potential company’s organizational chart. By doing these steps they can actually identify all the people who can influence their decision.
2. Selling the Solution
As the name suggests, this B2B sales strategy focuses more on the prospect’s needs than on the actual sales process of the product. In other words, the salesperson focuses on identifying or helping to identify the customer’s needs, challenges, and goals. Next, they recommend products or services that help them overcome these challenges and address weaknesses. This type of B2B sales strategy is especially useful when our business offers the right solutions to its target market. To explain this with an example, let’s say our business offers a product. Here’s how the solution sales process works for us:
Research
Research the customer’s weaknesses and challenges and their solutions.
Diagnosis
We talk to potential customers and ask questions to understand what their business is, what their product needs are, etc.
Having the Necessary Conditions
Based on our conversation, see if the prospect matches our ideal customer persona and if they are interested in buying our product. Find out who the final decision maker is. We should also check whether they have enough budget and time.
Education
If the customer qualifies for the solution we offer, educate them on how our product works and how it will help solve their challenges and overcome their current weaknesses, and why we are better than others in the market.
Presenting Solution
Provide them with a suitable solution based on their needs, along with other examples of how we have helped similar clients.
Close the Deal
Now we have convinced the potential customer that they need our product and solution and are eager to buy it. Therefore, we can continue to negotiate the terms and close the deal.
This B2B sales strategy works very well because the prospect feels valued from the very beginning of the sales cycle. First feeling heard and then offering solutions tailored to their needs helps build stronger relationships between businesses and prospects, leading to higher conversions and sales rates. Our goal in this strategy is not to sell. If we want to turn a successful company into a long-term customer, we need to build a strong relationship.
3. Account-based Sales
It is a sales technique that involves a multi-pronged strategy implemented throughout the target company to connect with multiple stakeholders in the company, each of whom is considered a potential customer. Account-based selling usually includes four tactics: 4 key tactics to understand the target and engage with the audience Let’s look at an example again. Suppose we sell a service management software to a company. Here is the recommended course of action:
Selection of Target Customers
List all companies to whom we can offer our product and solution based on the selection criteria we recognize in our existing customers.
Check and Identify
We should also research the data and the common challenges faced by the target companies in different processes at different levels. Also identify key decision makers and influencers.
Personal Value
Adjust your value proposition to make different changes that address the challenges and goals of different stakeholders in the company.
Inclusion
To start the conversation with the shareholders we have identified in the previous steps, we need to contact them. To implement account-based selling, we need to know enough about our current customers or target market to identify their common characteristics. This strategy is about 90% gathering information and 10% providing solutions.
Typically, account-based selling is ideal for companies that have more complex sales interactions, have longer sales cycles, require the approval of multiple people to make decisions. This type of B2B sales strategy allows multiple stakeholders in a company to in this strategy, the right message at the right time to the right person helps to build stronger relationships with the prospective company. Additionally, it gets more votes from potential company shareholders, leading to high-value sales. Keep in mind that if we don’t take care of the customer and don’t pay attention to their needs, our competitor will.
4. Social Selling
Almost 68% of B2B customers find the solutions they need on search engines or social media. Social selling focuses on the second type, the use of social media. Social selling refers to the tactic of first establishing your business in a defined target market and then focusing on building relationships with potential companies as the first step in sales. Today, this usually involves using social networks such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Telegram and other networks to share relevant content in order to attract potential buyers or develop existing ones.
But there is a fundamental difference between social selling and marketing. The first focuses on building one-on-one relationships with potential customers on these social channels. While the latter is marketing, it is all about communicating and delivering a message from one person to many. The goal here is to establish ourselves as industry experts who want to connect and have conversations with companies, not just sell to them. The better the conversations and message delivery to them, the higher the number of conversions.
This B2B sales strategy works very well for many businesses because it focuses on first building strong relationships by connecting with potential customers and then selling to them. By promoting content relevant to them on the channels they’re most active on, the seller is more likely to have deeper conversations with prospects about things they really care about. In addition, it helps us to keep an eye on competitors and know how they approach the target market, how people relate to them and what their customers are saying about them.
Example
Let’s imagine that our company sells a product. To develop and sell our solution through this sales strategy, our sales representatives optimize their social media accounts so that customers in future communications know exactly what we sell and how we can help them. Once social media accounts are optimized, they connect with potential customers and build relationships with them online. Reps then share content related to our product to promote themselves as experts in the field.
After a reasonable period of time, our sales representatives will talk to potential customers and try to convert them into final customers. This type of B2B sales strategy works very well because it prioritizes relationship building over sales. When we build real relationships with potential customers, we can have deeper, more meaningful conversations with them, which in turn leads to more sales.
Up to Sum
You may be wondering which B2B sales strategy we should use for our business?
In response, we say follow any strategy that you think is suitable for you. While the four strategies above have been proven to be effective, not every B2B sales strategy is right for every business. Before we choose a strategy to implement, we need to look at our current sales processes. We need to define our target market and know which method of interaction we prefer. We also need to know how many decision makers are involved during the sale and what resources we have available. The one fact that cannot be denied is that B2B selling has changed. Some companies and organizations need a unique prestige in the market, which B2B sales fulfills by using modern strategies. Stay with the specialists of Uprodemy website to get business advice and international trade.
