When it comes to B2B sales, having the right formula can mean the difference between running a very successful company or one that is average at best.
The importance of B2B sales in your business can never be understated, especially since it is more than likely your competitors are using targeted marketing and sales campaigns to attain and retain business of their own.
With that in mind, have you reviewed your B2B marketing and sales efforts, looking to see what is producing positive results and where you need to make improvements?
Finding a Winning Team
Part of a winning formula is tied to the team you have in place to go after and nurture new sales. Look around the office and see if the right people are on board when it comes to your B2B sales team.
- Have you hired folks who come into their roles with experience or will there be a large training curve?
- Are they comfortable dealing with myriad of clients and varying personalities?
- Can they make important decisions regarding clients without coming to you or a supervisor?
- Lastly, are they computer and Web savvy and will they understand how to read data that will be put in front of them?
Correctly Collecting and Analyzing Data
Speaking of data, what methods are you and your sales team using to properly collect and gauge the data presented to you?
In order to collect mounds and mounds of data, you need quality leads to work from.
This starts with amassing prospect lists, something Zeal Caiden, co-founder and CEO of American Marketing Ventures (AMV) can speak to in putting together Lead Roster.
“It all happened so organically,” Caiden remarked. “We had these email lists lying around from our B2B cold email campaigns. Everyone who practices ‘predictable revenue’ does. One day I realized we could just share these lists and provide a ton of value to other companies who sell to the same industries. I knew in my gut that opening up this opportunity for regular businesses like ours to sell their prospect lists, after they’re done with them of course, would create an incredible opportunity for both buyers and sellers. We all want high-quality leads for cheap!”
With the right leads in hand, farming the data from them becomes an important and highly-focused task.
Among the areas to zero-in on:
- Make sure the contact information is current. Don’t spin your wheels with outdated details in your database. The database needs to be clean and as free of duplicate leads as possible.
- If a fair amount of leads are drying up over time, why is that? Always be on the hunt for trends that develop. Or for example if customers are coming and going, you need to determine why your retention rates are not as high as they should be.
- Consider putting necessary software in place to take the leads you have and ultimately ring-up sales. There are various customer data applications on the market that can prove quite beneficial in your B2B sales pursuits.
Team Effort in Closing Sales
When it comes right down to it, having the best leads at your fingertips is great, but it is what you do with those opportunities that truly matters.
So that you can close more B2B sales, make sure everyone in sales and marketing for that matter are on the same page.
While it is the job of the sales team to ultimately deliver a successful sale, things circle back to marketing doing its part too.
This of course means stellar content marketing copy both in emails/letters and online, a company website that is attractive for new and current customers to come to, and farming for new leads and marketing opportunities on social media.
When all is said and done, the goal should always be avoiding prolonged B2B sales slumps.
Get the best leads, work them, and then ultimately close out one sale after another, leaving your B2B sales efforts something you can brag about.
About the Author: Dave Thomas covers business and marketing topics on the web.
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