What B2B (Business to Business) Buyers Want

In our digital era, so often what is happening during the buying process in the disconnect between the way people buy from the way businesses are selling. Prospecting customers are using things like Google, social media platforms and company websites to get product/service information on their own accord. Yet, companies are still selling in the old ways, using things like cold calls and mass emails to attract potential customers. The truth is buyers are constantly changing their processes, whereas businesses’ selling processes are remaining stagnant.  

The old tactic of “here are the 25 people you need to connect with today, or the boss will be angry” should be pushed aside. The sales team should be focusing instead on the 25 people who are actually interested in your product/service. Who are the people visiting your website? Who are the people looking at what you offer? You need to understand how these people are engaged, and then engage with them on their terms and on their time.

Determining where and how potential customers are engaging is step one. Utilize those little computers that are attached to all of us: get on your smartphone, get on Google News, get on Twitter, be conscious of your emails. It’s so important to know what is happening in the world and what is happening in your industry. Now more than ever, sales and marketing are converging – especially on the web. In typical organizations there is a sales team and a marketing team, but on the web it’s about blurring the distinction between the two. On the web you need to create the the content people will want to engage with and then lock them down at the right point in the sales process, which is made easier to understand based on the content that they consume. The content, and later on the buyer, is what connects the sales and marketing. A typical buyer is looking to solve a problem using a product or service; they are setting out to make that transaction. The element that lots of companies are missing though is that the modern buyer is doing all the research themselves. From online reviews to social media forums, it no longer about what the salesperson pitches. The buyer is doing the sales themselves.

One golden rule when it comes to sales strategies is great customer service. The better your treat customers the more they will talk about it (verbally and online). Current customers will buy more and new ones will be brought into the mix. Always remember that service creates customer advocates.