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10 Simple Solutions for Selling to Uncreditworthy Customers

Nothing is worse for a salesperson than to have an opportunity to close a sale and not be able to simply because the customer doesn’t qualify for credit. However, selling to uncreditworthy customers need not be a painful process.

There are some simple solutions that can help you get that new relationship off on the right foot. It’s merely a question of matching up the solution to the new customer you’re pursuing. Don't let your customer's credit problems stop you from winning business.

How Well do Your B2B Customers Know Your Company? Maximizing Sales Potential

My entire career has revolved around sales and business development. B2B consulting has always been a part-time thing, something I did when time permitted. I’ve had my own direct customers and have worked through different consulting firms. Yet, there’s one thing that has consistently surprised me about the companies I’ve worked with: Many think they’re well-known, when in reality, they don’t know enough about their customers, and their customer’s don’t know enough about them.

Five Things B2B Salespeople Must Know About Their Customers: Essentials of Customer Management

How well do your B2B salespeople know your customers? I’m not enough just to know where they’re located, who the purchasing manager is and how long they’ve been in business. Your salespeople must know more. They must become ingrained in the customer’s decision making process. To help, here are five things B2B salespeople must know about their customers in order to become that all-important trusted advisor.

Leading Indicators as Sales KPI: Performance Indicators for Current & Future Sales Actions

Most B2B enterprises rely upon historical trends and past performance when defining future sales goals and objectives. Unfortunately, relying upon historical trends alone doesn’t help to define what needs to happen now in order to attain these all-important numbers. This is why leading indicators should be defined as sales key performance indicators or KPI.

Should You Negotiate Restocking Fees With B2B Customers? Accounting for Carrying Costs on Product Returns

A B2B marketplace isn’t conducive to taking back product returns without charges. Consumer markets are known for adopting a “no- hassle, money-back guarantee”. Unfortunately, this doctrine simply doesn’t apply to business-to-business markets, ones where companies must cover substantial inventory carrying charges. However, does this mean your company shouldn’t be willing to negotiate restocking fees with customers?

B2B Sales: Proper Etiquette for Customer Lunches

Are you aware that there is a right and wrong way to take a customer out to lunch? Now, I am sure you’re well aware of the basics: First, ask well in advance. Second, plan around the customer’s schedule. Third, leave enough time to discuss business. However, there’s more to making sure your business lunch is a success than merely covering these three points. For some sales professionals, the list is fairly obvious. However, for others it's a true revelation. 

Kan-Ban Manufacturing: Lean Strategies for Demand-Driven Industries

A Kan-Ban is a fairly simple production process. The idea is to have semi-finished goods in various operations, all waiting for customers to place orders. That customer demand initiates the process by moving semi-finished goods to the next operation in order to replenish the finished good counts. In the end, it’s the ideal solution to a demand-driven industry and it’s fairly easy to implement and manage.

B2B Sales Cold Calling: Three Steps to Success – Your Value Assertion, Customer Concerns and Leading Questions

The biggest mistake companies make with B2B cold calling is to ask their salespeople to read, use or memorize a sales script. Instead of understanding what the customer wants, the salesperson focuses entirely on their product’s features and benefits. Unfortunately, the script doesn’t address the fears, concerns or requirements of the customer. In the end, the customer easily dismisses each selling point, while the salesperson is left with a disinterested customer. 

Video Explaining Five B2B Customer Fears: Understanding Your Customer’s Decision Making Process

Salespeople that have an innate ability to negotiate are ones that are able to instantly dial into a customer’s specific fears and concerns. They can immediately disseminate what is preoccupying their customer, what is stopping them from moving forward with a purchase, and how best to confront the prospect's fear head-on. So, what is it about these salespeople that allows them to intuitively understand why a customer may, or may not, move forward? Sometimes it's innate. However, in many instances, it's something that must be learned.

B2B Brand Champions: Five Strategies to Using Your Best Customers to Grow Market Share

One of the biggest misconceptions with brand management is that it only applies to business-to-consumer (B2C) markets. While product branding is a staple of consumer goods, it also applies to industrial finished goods within a business-to-business (B2B) marketplace. In fact, every company has a brand. Every company has brand champions. Some are just better at identifying them and using them than others. Therefore, we’ll review five strategies to using your best customers to grow your company’s market share.