I’ve written about how B2B companies rely too much on digital marketing to identify, qualify, and close opportunities.
In business-to-business (B2B) markets, an inbound strategy is a lead generator and a brand builder. It generates leads but is not merely a question of putting things on autopilot.
Invariably, your sales team must maximize its customer face-time to close sales. So, to help you hit the ground running in the New Year, here are some strategies to get your marketing and sales back to basics.
1. The Gap Analysis
I am a big proponent of the gap analysis both on a micro (sales territory) and macro (total market) level. Some refer to it as wallet share. However, it’s not just about defining market share. Instead, it’s about defining what you’ve won and must defend versus what is yet to be closed.
In this case, it’s all about defining the remaining opportunities by a customer and then using that to define where you are in your market.
This is the all-important first step to starting the New Year right. If you haven’t used the Gap Analysis before or don’t feel it fits into your overall sales and marketing approach, then you either don’t understand its benefits, haven’t properly defined your main focus, or are working in an extremely large market where opportunities abound.
However, even in a market where opportunities are everywhere, you still need to define priorities, and the analysis will help you do just that.
The analysis isn’t just about taking an inventory of what you can pursue. It’s also about understanding where your competitors are, what business is available to close, and where you can make quick and immediate sales.
2. Account-by-Account Strategy
The first step identifies the opportunities within a given account, but a strategy is needed to close those opportunities. This is ultimately about outlining what the salesperson and company need to do to win new business. Come up with a specific strategy to win business by customer account.
This may not be possible for all customers and is most likely unnecessary. However, your salespeople should define a strategy for the majority of customers – starting from the mid-size accounts to the largest.
Finally, don’t “Monday-morning-quarterback” your salespeople. Give them free rein to come up with a strategy of their own and then debrief that strategy afterward. Closing sales is hard enough without having the pressure of an all-knowing overseer micromanaging your every move.
3. Greater Synchronization Between Sales & Marketing
Marketing handing leads off to sales and then moving on is a losing proposition. Today’s business markets are dynamic and constantly changing. Your sales and marketing team needs to adapt and react accordingly. This requires greater synchronization so that both are fulfilling proactive, revenue-generating roles.
Marketing must provide help before, during, and after the sale. Granted, it seems rather intrusive for sales to work that closely with marketing, but it isn’t. Sales must still close the deal. However, marketing must take ownership of the quality of leads and decide whether the company’s value proposition is clearly defined enough for sales to win business.
This means marketing must generate leads beforehand and nurture those leads alongside sales until the opportunity is closed. Afterward, both functions must bring the customer back into the fold. In this case, it’s not just about how fast sales respond to incoming leads but really about how both sales and marketing can outline what the customer needs to move forward.
This cohesion is by no means easy. It involves reviewing the quality of leads, how much revenue was generated from new sales, and how often new customers returned. The whole team must treat customers as assets and constantly engage them to keep them coming back.
4. Ask for an Opportunity With New Customers
I see a lot of companies trying to get their customers to go from 0 to 60 in record time. This idea that you can walk into an entirely new account, give them a PowerPoint presentation, and then walk out as a primary or secondary vendor is not feasible. It’s too big of a pill to swallow for the customer.
Yes, there are times when a customer wants to move all or most of their business to you because their primary vendor fell short. However, this is the exception to the rule; most customers in business markets want to see how you move from order to order and from batch to batch before giving you a substantial portion of their business.
Get your foot in the door. Start small if need be, but start somewhere. A small order today can quickly grow to something substantial tomorrow, so don’t dismiss whatever opportunity your sales uncover. Customers want to see a history of performance. This is often a prerequisite to becoming approved. So, ask your customer for an opportunity. If all they can grant is a small order, then so be it. It’s an opportunity and should not be ignored.
5. Maximize Customer Face-Time
A great sales call is a long sales call – as long as there are definitive opportunities uncovered. Companies nowadays place too great an emphasis on the number of customer visits and calls, not the quality. It’s much better to have multiple meetings with multiple contacts at a customer as opposed to simply stopping by and hoping for the best.
Salespeople who visit multiple contacts within B2B accounts are going deep. They’re maximizing opportunities and gathering important market intelligence. On a personal note, I always focus on meeting multiple decision-makers each time I visit a customer.
For example, if I’m working with engineering contacts, then I typically put together an agenda for the day and forward it to the head of the customer's engineering department.
Each engineering contact is copied accordingly; all participants have bought into the process. If a contact misses a meeting, then he or she will likely hear from the engineering manager, not me.
Hopefully, most of this work has been done beforehand, and your business development team is ready to hit the ground running. If not, then get started on the first day of the New Year.
Keep it simple. Define what you are going after, how you'll win that business, and how your marketing and sales team will work together.