After spending a lot of time around the trade shows over the last few weeks, I’ve come to the conclusion that a lot of organizations are doing B2B selling poorly.
Not from lack of effort, but from the misguided idea that you need to sell in some entirely different way to B2B buyers.
Which isn’t actually true.
Because all sales are emotional.
That out of the way, what can any of us do to make our B2B selling efforts more effective?
Focus on Emotions: I may as well lead with this. But no matter what part of the selling world you are dealing with, you are still selling based on emotions. You have to focus on what is going to create the emotional connection necessary to get the buyer to take action.
Remember, no emotion, no action.
Forget About What You Care About: No one cares what you think is important. You need to discover what is important to the prospect and shape your selling and your marketing through that lens.
Focus on Outcomes: You know what will get a B2B buyer stoked? Results. So focus your selling and marketing on that.
Boring Isn’t Best: Just because you are selling a business solution, that doesn’t mean it needs to be boring. If you are a solving a problem, you don’t know how thorny that might be for your buyer. So just because you are bored with the idea, that doesn’t mean someone else is.
Likely You Need More Irons In The Fire: Your sales cycle may take longer. That is the nature of the corporate sale in a lot of cases, so you need to know that and manage your process accordingly. Which might mean juggling more would be deals.
Track the Right Things: You should have some KPIs. Track the right ones. The ones that are moving you towards results. Not towards activity.
These are just a few ideas to help you improve your B2B selling.
What say you?