Introduction
Successful B2B sales requires a great deal of persistence and hard work. But it also requires taking proactive steps that will set you up for success with your prospecting. When you’re in the early stages of your B2B selling journey, it can be difficult to know where to start. That’s why we’ve put together this list of eight steps that will help you increase your sales conversions and ultimately grow your business:
Start by deciding on a decision-maker.
In order to be successful in B2B sales, you need a clear understanding of your target customer and the role you will play in the buying process. There are multiple decision-makers involved in this process, so it’s important for you to decide on one person who has final say over whether or not your product is purchased.
You should also consider the type of industry you want to target as well as the type of company that would be interested in using your services/products. For example: if a company sells accounting software, they may have a CFO who is responsible for making all financial decisions while also serving on their board of directors. In this case, contacting someone like this would be appropriate because they can help guide other executives or management teams towards making better decisions about how much money they should allocate towards purchasing new products like yours.(a)
Target Your Ideal Business Prospects.
If you have a product or service that’s intended for a specific business type or industry, targeting the right prospects is critical. Ideally, your ideal prospect will be a company that has a need for your offering, in addition to being an organization that fits well with your core values and competencies.
Once you’ve identified who might be interested in buying from you, develop an understanding of their pain points so that you can find ways to address them through your product or service offering. Also try to understand their needs and goals — these are typically more important than just simply understanding what they want now (e.g., “I just want this one thing”). Finally consider budget constraints as well as time constraints; this will help determine whether or not it makes sense for them to purchase now versus later on down the road.
Create an effective B2B lead generation campaign.
Creating an effective B2B lead generation campaign can be challenging, but it’s a necessary step. The first thing to do is create a lead generation plan. This will help you determine what kind of content you need to create and how much time is needed to create it. The next step is to choose the right tool for your business needs. Some options include:
- Lead generation tools that allow you to enter information about your company into a search engine and pull back leads based on specific criteria (e.g., industries or job titles)
- A lead generation service that provides companies with qualified leads for pre-qualification purposes
- A lead generation software package that allows users access through an internet browser or desktop application
Invest your time in building rapport with prospects.
The single most important factor in sales is building rapport with your prospect. What does this mean? It means getting on the same page with your prospect and building trust over time so they feel comfortable working with you and buying from you. This can take weeks or months, but it’s a critical part of the process that many salespeople skip over or rush through.
Build rapport by asking questions about their business and taking an interest in what they do at their company. You can also find common ground by sharing personal stories about yourself, which helps build trust as well as humanizes the relationship between you and your prospect.
Answer all the questions of your prospects.
- Answer all the questions of your prospects.
- Even if you have a great product or service, it’s not going to sell itself. So, when someone takes an interest in what you’re selling, it’s important that they are satisfied with their experience with your company.
- The best way to do this is by answering any and all questions that come up during the buying process—and having a good understanding of how the sales cycle works (which means knowing where each prospect is at in the cycle).
- You can’t expect your prospect to know all the answers or understand everything about what you’re offering them; therefore, you need to take responsibility for doing so yourself!
Get the prospect signed up for a consultation session.
Once you’ve determined that a prospect is ready to buy, it’s time to get them signed up for a consultation session.
A consultation session is any type of meeting or call that helps you gain more information about your prospect’s needs and goals. In these sessions, you can learn more about what they want out of the sale, how their organization operates and who else should be involved in the buying decision. This will help you build rapport with them so when the time comes for them to meet with sales reps from other companies who are competing for their business, all parties involved will have an idea of each other’s strengths and weaknesses since everyone has already had some face time together!
If possible, ask your customer if they’d like to do this over phone or via video chat so as not only make sure they’re comfortable but also because having visual cues (like facial expressions) makes it easier for both parties understand where things stand at any given moment.”
Draft a customized proposal for the prospect and set up a follow-up meeting.
Once you have gathered the prospect’s contact information and have scheduled a time to meet with them, it is time to draft a customized proposal.
A well-written proposal has four essential elements:
- A clear call to action (for example, “Contact us today and receive a free quote on this product or service!”)
- The right information (for example, the right amount of detail about your products or services)
- Your brand (including your logo and contact information)
- Follow-up instructions for both parties (for example, asking if they need more time to review your proposal before moving forward; setting another meeting date if needed).
Close the deal.
Closing the deal is the most important part of the sales process. This is where you get paid, and this is where you get your business. There are many different ways to close deals, but they all have one thing in common: they must address objections.
Proactive selling means that you are constantly looking for and addressing objections before they occur. That way, when an objection does arise, it can be addressed immediately without hesitation or uncertainty on your part.
Take proactive steps to generate more sales conversions!
Proactive selling is a better way to generate sales. It involves the proactive steps you take to secure new business. The goal of proactive selling is not just to secure appointments, but also to make sure that opportunities are converted into contracts (or even paid contracts).
When you’re engaging in proactive selling, you want to make sure that potential clients understand how your solution benefits them and their organization. You want them thinking about how it can help them improve their bottom line or solve problems for them before they fall out of your funnel altogether.
Conclusion
It is a fact that most B2B sales people do not follow the above mentioned steps. It is also true that they are missing out on several potential deals due to this reason. If you want to be successful in generating more sales conversions and closing more deals, then you should start by following these steps religiously.
