Five Sales Competencies Every B2B Salesperson Must Master

If you could put together a list of the five essential B2B sales competencies you’d want your sales team to master, what would that list entail? Well, it’s fairly obvious that one competency would be the ability to close sales. However, far too many companies focus solely on closing the deal, rather than understanding what’s needed in order to set up the deal itself. In essence, there is far more to B2B sales than merely trying to turn a “no” into a “yes”. In this case the most important competencies should focus on setting up these opportunities and keeping them.

1. Managing Customer Expectations: The first and most important B2B sales competency is to properly manage customer expectations. If a salesperson can’t fulfill this essential take at the outset of any new relationship, then it’s all for naught. Nothing they do or say afterwards will make up for not properly explaining what your company can and cannot do in order to meet that potential customer’s predetermined expectations. However, it’s wrong to assume that managing expectations is only done at the outset of any new customer relationship – it’s a continuous process and one your sales team must master. To help your team, here are a couple of key issues to be aware of.

• B2B Expectations are Predetermined: Every new potential customer is one that comes to your company with predetermined expectations, ones based on how they’ve been serviced in the past by your competitors. In a B2B environment, a customer’s expectations need to be addressed immediately because companies in a B2B marketplace don’t always have the same service capabilities.
• Sales Versus Customer Perceptions: So, what happens when your team ignores a customer’s predetermined expectations? Well, it’s a guarantee that your sales team will see the situation one way, while your customers see it another. In the end, your customer will win out and will dictate future service terms - if the salesperson failed to address their predetermined expectations.
• Long-Term Focus:  Again, managing expectations is a long-term focus. In this case, you must make sure your salespeople understand how to manage expectations on an ongoing basis.

 

2. Market Knowledge: When you think about market knowledge, think about the importance of understanding customer trends, competitive offers and most importantly, think about the importance of identifying the key decision makers inside of individual customer accounts. The best salespeople use intuition as much as they do smarts. It’s a balancing act for sure but it’s the reason why the best salespeople use calculated risks and not gambles when defending market share.  

This competency isn’t as much about assumptions as it is about making factual assertions. With it comes the shared responsibility of understanding market pricing, competitor bids, competitor strengths and the key points that help a customer make a decision on a purchase. That shared responsibility is something individual salespeople and management must come to understand. In this case, the more discussions that take place between management and sales about market trends, the more effective your sales team. One critical tool that can help provide insight into competitive pricing is to use your own backend rebate program, one where customers are rewarded for their loyalty, but one where your company is also advised by your customers once they receive competitive bids. 

 

The above video and back-end rebate program table is taken from the post: Sample Back-End Rebate Excel Sheet for Customer Retention

3. The Sales Gap Analysis & Market Gap Analysis: This competency is one your entire business development team must master. In this case, every salesperson must be able to perform a sales gap analysis on individual customers, and their entire sales territory, while management must be able to amalgamate these territory analyses in order to come up with a market gap analysis. In fact, it’s the market gap analysis that allows your company to determine its market share. It’s about defining the amount of business your company has versus what remains to be pursued.

The above table is taken from the post: Sample Sales Territory Gap Analysis Excel Sheet With Pie-Chart

4. Negotiation: At the end of the day, there are two essential criteria to negotiation: First, match a concession for a concession and second, continually ask “What if”. In fact, negotiation ultimately comes down to preparing scenarios to this aforementioned question. This includes coming up with a list of concessions your company is willing to grant, in exchange for concessions your company needs your customers to grant your company.

 

The above video is from the post: Sales Negotiation: Defend Price, Customer Scare Tactics & Managing Concessions

Again, this goes back to the importance of managing a customer’s expectations. Any salesperson entering a negotiation must understand that it is between two parties. A successful negotiation is never measured by a “win-win” outcome, but by the appearance of a “win-win” outcome. Now, this doesn’t mean the salesperson tries to swindle the customer. Instead, it means that they must come prepared with a list of concessions they can secure as part of the negotiation process. One side always wins out in a negotiation. One side always gets more than the other. However, it’s not about getting more, but about getting what you feel you need in order for the sale to be valued by your company.

5. Defending Business as Incumbent Supplier: In the end, if your salespeople can’t defend your company’s position as the incumbent supplier, then it’s all for naught. It’s not enough just to close that first sale. Your salespeople must be able to defend business in order to help your company defend its market share. Success means salespeople must rely upon their market knowledge, their understanding of the business they have, their strengths in negotiation and their innate ability to understand their competitor’s offer. To help, here are some key points to be aware of.

• What is included in the competitive offer?
• Does the offer make market sense in terms of the competitor pricing, or is the customer claiming to get major concessions not typical of competitor offers?
• What is the total cost of the competitive offer – not just in terms of pricing, but costs pertaining to freight, financing and inventory management for the customer?
• What “hidden” costs can your salespeople expose in terms of the competitor’s offer?

 

The above is from the post: Stop Losing Business to Overseas Competitors: Define Your Customer’s True Purchasing Costs

Don't underestimate the importance of managing your customer's expectations. Remember, every new customer your company pursues is one that has been exposed to a competitor with different service competencies. It's up to your salespeople to discuss what your company's particular competencies include. If they fail to do that, then your customer will immediately assume control and it will put your company behind the proverbial "eight ball". In addition, it's important to build a platform where your company is able to call upon market pricing. This pricing can come from your own backend rebate and reward programs, or from customers who are all too willing to provide competitive pricing. Next, your salespeople must use their knowledge to outline the opportunities at individual customer accounts and across their entire territory, while your company must define these opportunities within the market as a whole. Finally, make sure your team understands negotiation and is able to defend your position as the incumbent supplier.