B2B sales represent a huge portion of business activity and are projected to generate three times as much revenue than their counterpart, consumer sales. By 2023.
As opposed to consumer sales, which typically involve just one buyer purchasing from one entity, business-to-business sales involve multiple stakeholders which makes the process more time and resource intensive.
1. Marketing
Marketing plays an integral part of B2B sales. Marketers may need to collaborate closely with sales representatives in order to establish long-term relationships with customers while providing them with products or services they require.
Additionally, B2B selling processes usually involve multiple levels of management that make it challenging for marketers to create an all-inclusive marketing plan that will increase sales.
As such, when creating and executing a B2B sales campaign it is vitally important to employ various strategies if targeting specific companies and organizations.
One way your company can stand out in the market is to offer unique content that helps other businesses overcome their pain points and challenges. You can do this by producing white papers or case studies that offer useful information for potential customers.
Referral programs can also help get people talking about your company, while making some extra cash in the process.
Google offers a program in which users can refer friends to their workspace app and receive 20% recurring revenue as a reward. Unbounce also has an affiliate referral program where you can get paid to share marketing materials of your business with others.
Researching is vital when creating marketing strategies. Doing this will enable you to understand the needs of your target audience and identify gaps in the marketplace that you can fill.
Once you understand who your target audience is, it is time to develop your marketing plan and identify both ideal customers and Total Addressable Market (TAM).
A TAM (target account market) estimate provides you with an estimation of how large of an audience you can potentially reach with your B2B product or service, so that you can identify which marketing channels will most successfully connect with it.
Begin your research of your target audience to understand their pain points, goals, and desires as well as identify any competitors and how they are handling issues in their industry.
2. Sales
B2B sales involve selling goods or services directly to businesses rather than directly to consumers (B2C). Although the process may appear similar, there are key differences that must be kept in mind.
B2B sales tend to be more complex than B2C transactions due to involving multiple decision makers and stakeholders; as a result, sales cycles may last longer with greater risks posed to seller businesses.
An ideal b2b buyer seeks a solution that saves them both money and time-to-implement; one which meets their particular needs and circumstances with as few problems as possible. This requires having a deep knowledge of their business goals and needs and how a product or service could best meet those.
One factor making B2B sales more complex is working with their marketing team to source leads – which may involve cold calling, lead scoring and account-based selling techniques.
Once a prospect becomes a customer, salespeople should follow up to ensure their needs have been met and make any necessary adjustments in the relationship. This step will create long-term mutually beneficial relationships and drive future repeat business and revenue growth.
B2B buying journeys are complex affairs involving various stakeholders who each have their own motivations and concerns, making salesperson’s job even harder, sometimes necessitating spending significant time per lead before closing a sale.
Salespeople need to understand their customers’ pain points and challenges so they can assist in selecting products or services to address those needs. This takes time and patience.
B2B sales can be challenging, yet rewarding if the salesperson puts forth the effort necessary to understand their customers’ needs and goals. By aligning their sales process to follow a customer journey they increase the likelihood of closing sales more easily. It is also essential for B2B sellers to recognize when one product may not be suitable for another and be willing to let go so they can focus on building new business relationships with more suitable clients.
3. Customer Service
Customer service in B2B sales is essential to fulfilling on the promises made by your business and keeping customers satisfied, leading to greater loyalty levels and increased patronage.
B2B customer service differs significantly from B2C customer service in that instead of using automated tools like chatbots and knowledge bases, it typically relies on human agents. Therefore, agents should be trained to work directly with clients one-on-one and offer personalized solutions.
Customers seeking services for businesses need representatives that understand their specific needs and are committed to developing strong relationships with their customers. It is therefore imperative that a company invest in training for all of its representatives.
Proactive customer service can be an advantage for most B2B companies, particularly those in the SaaS sector. It can lead to increased customer lifetime value, stronger relationships with your clients and reduced support costs.
B2B customer service requires instant answers for complex inquiries, whether that means an online chat, mobile application or chatbot – offering real-time communication can reduce customer service representative workload, boost productivity and enhance overall customer satisfaction.
Totango’s customer success platform can be configured to automatically send emails when customers encounter common support questions, providing tutorials or links to support documents that could solve their issue.
Create a company-wide FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), such as an answer list of frequently asked questions (FAQs). This will benefit both new and existing customers alike while building community around your brand.
Provide multiple self-service options so clients can handle most issues themselves, saving your customer service team time and improving customer satisfaction. In addition, train your representatives so they can handle more complex issues that cannot be resolved via self-service.
Customers today are more informed and have greater expectations, making exemplary customer service essential to long-term growth and customer trust. Spending the time to train representatives and deliver quality service will allow your organization to gain their trust, earn their loyalty, and ensure long-term growth.
4. Support
Sales support refers to the practice of providing your customers with all the information necessary for using your products and services, which is an integral component of business and particularly important when selling B2B services.
The purchasing journey for businesses can be complex and involves multiple stakeholders from both sides. Furthermore, this typically takes more time than an ordinary consumer purchase.
As such, suppliers often struggle to offer comprehensive support. But there are ways you can optimize support processes and increase customer satisfaction.
One way is to develop a support policy that outlines the procedures your team will follow when handling customer issues, so your staff can focus on providing superior service.
An additional way to improve support is through the implementation of tools that streamline customer contact and response. For instance, CRM or customer support software integration could make life easier for agents when handling customer issues by giving them all of the relevant data quickly.
One way to streamline support is to utilize a central ticketing system accessible by all members of your team. This can enable them to handle more issues more efficiently and provide faster resolution times.
There are also software solutions that facilitate communication among team members working remotely, helping reduce response times and boost productivity.
Customer service requires being compassionate and quick in response, particularly for B2B customers relying on your product or tool to keep their businesses operating smoothly. Therefore, having a team who understands these unique customer needs and can quickly address customer problems accurately can greatly enhance customer satisfaction and retention rates.