Winning in the B2B sales arena is different because you are talking to people who actually know what they are talking about. You can’t get by through sweet talking and clever words. You have to operate on the facts. B2B sales winners believe in challenging established views of the world. It is why 40% of all star performers are known as ‘challengers’.
If you want to become a winner, you have to do what winners do including buy Instagram likes. This article will introduce you to the keys to becoming a B2B sales success.
- Connecting with Customers
The sellers who get the most success are those that connect with people. They don’t just connect with people on a professional level, they analyze the people they deal with and come up with needs and solutions. Remember that many businesses don’t know they have a problem so don’t know they need a solution.
You as a B2B salesperson have to figure out where these needs are and where to find the solution. This comes long before the actual sales process.
So how are you going to do this?
A solutions-based approach is the key. Those without a solutions-based approach won’t even finish in a close second. They will finish way behind the pack. The methods people use to solve problems may change all the time, but the underlying concept will always stay the same.
On a side note, that is what many beginners fail to understand. They don’t realize that the principles of selling were the same twenty years ago as they are now. It is merely the delivery and the complexity that has changed. Stick to the simple principles and you should have no problem increasing your conversions.
2. Convincing Your Customers
Sellers who have the most success are the ones who convince their prospects that their company offers the best solution and will provide them with the maximum return, while reducing the risk to almost nothing.
The modern salesperson is well aware that there is a lot of distrust that applies to them. It is no surprise. People are taught to be more conscious and more questioning than ever before. However, the salesperson that waits to convince prospects is the salesperson that loses out.
Forget about being labeled as someone who has an ‘agenda’. You do have an agenda and you should embrace that. You are not here to make friends. The worst thing a prospect can say to you is ‘no’. That is nothing to fear. It is worth the risk.
Buyers expect you to try to convince them to do something, so fulfill this expectation and go out of your way to convince them.
3. Collaborate with Your Customers
You are doing so much more than selling a product. The salespeople who win do so because they have managed to bring along some sort of creative insight. A salesperson has to do more than simply make their prospects aware that a certain product exists. They have to convince them of how it brings benefits to their business.
How the buyer feels about the qualifications of a seller is the biggest influencer. Prospects are always going to ask whether you as the salesperson know what you are talking about. This is where collaboration comes in.
You will not only talk about a product. You will collaborate by understanding your target audience’s businesses. When you understand them, you will show them how they can apply your solution for maximum effect. The salesperson is no longer just someone who sells. The modern salesperson is an advisor.
Fear and Failure
One of the biggest reasons why salespeople fail today is that they are afraid of a refusal. It leads them to not taking any risks at all. This is a problem because it means their risk-taking counterparts are always going to stand more of a chance of making the sale.
This doesn’t mean winners are reckless. It simply means they have no fear over what might happen. They are the people who are willing to try new things.
Here are some tips for making this work:
- Try one new technique every day.
- Monitor your results. This is the only way to find out what works and what doesn’t.
- Take an honest look at yourself and see where you can improve.
The main takeaway from this guide is that you need to understand the needs of your customers, collaborate with them, and then have the courage to put forward your proposals.
How will you change your technique in order to become a B2B sales winner today?
Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.