Generally, when it comes to B2B sales, tips, techniques and tools are aimed at salespeople. However, what can managers and sales leaders do to help their teams and the company achieve results?
We have selected the five best strategies for those in charge of sales. Check them out!
1. Make a challenging but realistic sales plan
Sales planning guides the sales team on the goals interior designers service email list to be achieved and aligns the area's performance with the company's overall objective .
To create an effective B2B sales plan that promotes salespeople engagement, it is essential to work with realistic numbers. The best way to define them is through practices such as:
market analysis and competitor study (which can be done by collecting information and public data, such as reports and surveys);
evaluation of the company's sales history;
measuring the current team's work absorption capacity.
Using this data, apply methodologies such as SMART ( specific ; measurable ; attainable ; relevant; time based ).
Understand better in the infographic below:
B2B sales
2. Improve sales funnel management
Improving sales funnel management means closely monitoring each step, helping the team identify which phase leads are in, and defining B2B sales strategies to maximize progress at each stage .
These are some good examples of approaches that help in this evolution:
SPIN Selling : acronym for (S)ituation, (P)roblem, (I)mplication and (N)ecessity, helps to understand what the customer needs and to get the product and/or service offering right;
Solution Selling : sales technique that focuses on offering personalized solutions to the customer to solve specific problems and add value to their journey;
Challenger Sale : Challenger selling argues that the important thing is not what you sell, but how you do it. Unlike the consultative approach, this technique emphasizes the seller's control during sales conversations;
Consultative Selling : the professional acts as a consultant and works to understand the needs and challenges of clients and identify ways to solve them.
3. Closely monitor the steps of the sales process
One of the best ways for a manager to closely monitor all stages of the B2B sales process is through technologies such as CRM — Customer Relationship Management.
It is a system that centralizes all contacts and interactions with customers at all stages of the funnel .
A CRM helps to, for example:
segment customers;
carry out follow-up;
build and maintain interaction histories;
forecast sales;
generate a report with data to support decisions;
have a complete and realistic view of the sales team’s performance;
automate various tasks, such as updating records and schedules.
Discover some features of a sales CRM:
B2B sales
4. Use sales metrics to measure results
Analyzing sales metrics is essential to monitor the performance of the sales team and the achievement of goals. If you use a CRM, it is easy to generate reports with data from different periods.
With the numbers in hand, compare them with the planning and see the satisfactory points and those that need improvement.
If the results are below expectations, implement B2B sales techniques according to the stage that needs improvement. For example, in prospecting, you can include active approach strategies, such as cold calls and cold emails , both for customers who have never contacted your company.
To ensure that the sales team doesn't make mistakes when using these techniques, train them correctly to know the best time to "pull this card out of their sleeve" and not appear invasive, which can actually scare customers away.
5. Adopt good B2B sales tools
In addition to CRM to improve customer relationship management, there are other solutions that boost B2B sales, such as:
marketing automation tools : such as automatic email sending and social media post scheduling platforms;