How do businesses get better at B2B sales?
In a survey of nearly 1,000 B2B buyers, 43% of surveyed respondents agreed that they would prefer a rep-free buying experience.
Why is B2B sales hard? The current B2B challenges include the amount of time it takes to close B2B sales. We all know the story suggesting the B2B sales funnel is longer - but do we know it doesn’t have to be this way? Many companies believe they need to “align” sales to marketing to ensure a seamless “handoff” as a deal “progresses” along a linear buying process”.
This thought process represents an inaccurate solution to a changing B2B buying process. The alternative is to rebuild your business website for B2B advertising, sales, and marketing functionality from the ground up. Additionally, if your business's current sales processes include speaking to sales representatives, 48% of salespeople never make a follow-up attempt which means you’re losing potential customers.
According to CSO Insights, almost half (46.4%) of B2B sales to new customers take longer than seven months to complete. The way to boost B2B sales appear complicated but research has provided a few key approaches to decrease the sale closing or turn around time.
57% of buyer decisions are made before buyers even pick up a phone to speak to a supplier. Therefore your potential customers require more information acquisition via the business’s website. According to studies, a potential B2B buyer spends the majority of their time researching prior to making a purchase. This is a result of potential B2B buyers now having access to constant information via smartphones, computers, and tablets which creates a unique and complex path to purchase.
Websites are not setup to close B2B sales
Market trends show that websites are not set up to close B2B sales without speaking to a sales rep. The data shows that 70% of B2B decision makers are open to making new, self-serve or remote purchases greater than $50,000. This means B2B buyers want to find all the information about the product and service on your business website and complete the purchase - often without speaking to a sales representative. Therefore, if your business website isn’t set up to close B2B sales without speaking to a sales representative, it's functioning ineffectively.
Further stats show 85% of prospects are dissatisfied with their experiences of talking to sales reps on the phone. B2B buyers find sales reps are unable to personalize the conversation and design solutions specific to the buyer’s needs.
B2B companies are using B2C strategies
B2B sales is hard because businesses are using B2C strategies or antiquated sales tactics to close these deals. The majority of websites are still using “call us” and “Contact Us” forms yet data shows buyers want to come to a business website and purchase without the conversation with your companies staff.
The benefits of B2B sales far exceed the difficulties in setting up a successful B2B sale system. Be sure to check out this blog post that expands on how to master your B2B sales cycle.
Now that you understand the reasons your B2B sales aren't working efficiently, get started with Digital Geeks on increasing your B2B revenue.
