Business to business (B2B) sales techniques are different than selling to consumers. First, you are more likely to reach a gatekeeper or lower-level manager. The first challenge is catching your prospect at the right time. For cold calling, the best times to call are the first hour of the work day or the last hour of the workday. Calling between 11:00 and 2:00 is the worst period to reach someone. Below are some tips to get the most out of your sales technique.
Lose the Jargon
No one wants to hear about your synergistic accounts receivable strategy that will boost working capital to allow for rapid expansion through the implementation of FinTech. Get to the point.
For example:
“Do you need money for growing your business?”
Your prospect’s time is as valuable as yours. Develop your pitch in line with your company’s value proposition. Keep it short and simple.
Listen
After your elevator pitch, ask open-ended questions to encourage your prospect to talk about their business and needs. The more information you have about their needs, the better you can offer a solution. Don’t talk about yourself, your products, or your company more than they talk about their company. Also, people love talking about themselves, so it’s more likely they leave the conversation with a positive notion of your services.
For example:
“You mentioned that meeting payroll can be challenging with increasing sales. Can you tell me more about that?”
This gives your prospect the time to tell you specifically about their challenges. If you have a product that fulfills this need, you can pitch it with more insight as to how it would function for their business.
Focus on Benefits
Don’t explain the features, explain the benefits. Let’s say your hotel has a pool. Don’t sell the pool to potential travelers. Sell the relaxation after a day of sightseeing. Sell the valuable family time around the pool. Explain to your potential customers how your product will benefit them.
Feature:
“Our funding solutions are in line with your volume of sales.”
Benefit:
“There is no need to reapply for more funding, so you save time with a growing financing solution.”
Selling the benefits of a product draws a connection between what your product is and how it can help their business.
Do Your Research
Do you know how much information you could find on a company with a quick internet search? A lot. Knowing the contact and the nature of the business you are trying to sell to goes a long way in B2B sales. A quick search can show you signs of business growth or business loss. This information plays into your approach. Overlooking this step of the sales process will result in fewer conversions and waste everyone’s time.
Know the Competition
What are you selling against? Is there another company that offers the same services as you? Find what’s different about your offer and lean into that. Additionally, keep tabs on your competition’s strategy. Notice what seems to be working for them and what doesn’t. If a prospect tells you they decided to purchase from your competitor, ask why. That insight can help you make adjustments to your pitch in the future by telling you what your customers care about most.
Follow-Up
One phone call won’t seal the deal with B2B. It takes, on average, 15 touches before a deal is closed. These touches typically include phone calls, emails, letters, and texts. Phone calls are crucial in B2B sales. 80% of successful sales require 5 phone calls, yet nearly half (44%) of salespeople give up after a single follow up. Don’t stand in your own way of making the sale. Be politely persistent. Ask to schedule a call if your prospect is busy or disengaged. Decision-makers are busy, but it doesn’t mean that you should give up.
Increasing Your Business to Business (B2B) Sales With these Tips
Increasing your B2B sales requires improving your cash flow to cover the expenses. After taking a look at your recurring costs in the form of payroll, office space, technology, and supplies, take a look at your receivables. Unlocking the capital in your accounts receivables or open invoices allows your business to afford hiring, opening new locations, purchasing more supplies, or developing new products. One way you can do this is offering your customers a discount for early payment. Another method of getting access to immediate working capital from your open invoices is selling your invoices to a factoring company. Invoice factoring advances payment on your open invoices. This increases your cash flow so you can afford new customers and larger orders.
How Does Factoring Affect Your B2B Sales?
Factoring services or accounts receivable financing can actually boost your business to business sales. Typically in the B2B sales process, you could make a sale and then wait a month or longer for the profit of that sale. Whereas with factoring, you can afford to make more sales, fulfill more orders, and increase your profit all without waiting. Factoring is a debt free small business growth solution that accelerates your cash flow in your sales cycle, so you can make more sales and grow your business. Below is an example of how you can make more B2B sales while using factoring services for your small business.
