4 Practices in B2B Sales That Have You on the Verge of Losing a Deal
There’s a lot of focus on what you should be doing to deliver better conversion rates in your B2B campaigns, and that makes sense for a number of reasons.
However, it’s also crucial to get to grips with the mistakes you can make, and even the practices that were once gospel but have since been found wanting, so that you can improve your performance and avoid losing out on potentially lucrative deals.
To that end, here are just some missteps that plenty of people make so that you can be on the lookout for them in your own team.
Failing to target the right prospects in the right way
It is certainly important to scale your LinkedIn outreach as a means of connecting with as many prospects as possible and building your brand up in the eyes of your target audience.
However, this should not be done at the expense of providing the leads you identify with a bespoke experience when you get in touch with them.
Modern tools which let you automate outreach on this B2B-friendly platform are able to provide personalization as part and parcel of the campaign management process. So it should be straightforward to avoid the possibility of frustrating new contacts with messaging that doesn’t take into account their unique background, skills, interests and specialisms.
Likewise if you set the scope of your campaign too generically and take a scattergun approach, your conversion rates will obviously suffer as you’ll be wasting time and resources on prospects who have little or no interest in what your business has to offer.
Combining personalized outreach with a carefully crafted prospect profile which narrows down the field to avoid this situation should be a priority.
Ignoring the impact of old-school tools
Having spoken a little about the latest solutions for B2B sales and the best platforms to work with, it is sensible to also consider that if you aren’t comfortable with more traditional means of handling lead generation and outreach, you’ll definitely end up leaving deals on the table.
It’s all about being flexible, rather than assuming that just because your sales strategies and associated services are high-tech, they are definitely the best way to land juicy new clients.
Simply put, knowing when it is time to pick up the phone and call a lead for a tete-a-tete will put you ahead of the pack.
Likewise if it has become obvious that a prospect prefers a particular means of communication, such as email, then you need to be cognizant of this, rather than persisting with an approach that they are not comfortable with simply because it is deemed to be the best practice in your organization.
Moving on too soon
The world of B2B sales is arguably harder to navigate than that of B2C sales, since you are dealing with busy professionals who are on the lookout for obvious examples of outreach and might be more resistant to your advances than the average consumer.
However, this should not be a situation which causes you to treat prospects as only worthy of a small amount of time and effort. Just because a lead does not engage on the first few attempts to connect, doesn’t mean that they won’t eventually come around and commit to a deal that makes a big difference for your employer.
Some prospects will even be actively testing salespeople, checking to see whether they are just chancing their arm by getting in touch, or whether they truly believe that they have something of value to offer.
As such you must aim to be persistent, and not be dissuaded if prospects are not forthcoming immediately. Following up time and again will not take almost any time out of your day, but may push you towards a promising relationship if you endure.
Focusing on the figures and forgetting the heart
This is more of a point about how to sell to B2B customers, but is one which you need to consider if you are struggling to get deals across the line time after time.
There is a temptation to be clear and clinical when you are pitching to prospective clients, amping up the stats which show just how good your products or services are. These facts and figures will definitely help you get a foot in the door, but they aren’t what will convince a client to sign on the dotted line.
You also need to appeal to the heart of the prospect, as well as their head. Weave a narrative that reveals the benefits of what you have to offer within it, rather than clobbering them with a barrage of unconnected facts.
Final thoughts
If you find yourself teetering on the precipice of a lost deal, don’t panic. Every failure or near-miss is a learning experience, and the biggest error is to ignore the opportunity to grow and improve your B2B sales practices and skills.
