5 Elements of a More Successful B2B Sales Process

This post originally appeared on the Force Management Blog. To read more content like this, visit the blog here.

In B2B complex sales, every prospect account in your pipeline involves critical factors that will turn that open opportunity into a closed deal.

If you can’t uncover those key components in your sales conversations, you’ll struggle to get that signed contract. Before you make your next sales call, ready yourself to command your message.

Identify These 5 Sales Drivers:

Key Players 

Who are the key players who will play a role in the buying decision?

CSO Insights’ research shows that more and more people are involved in a buying decision. Their latest Sales Performance Optimization Report shows almost 80% of deals involve at least three people who have direct input in the final purchasing decision.

As a seller, you need to know the people who will be part of the buying decision and be audible-ready to articulate how your solution can impact their component of the business.

Compelling Event

What is your prospect currently experiencing that has compelled them to seek a vendor?

Identify the pain or the compelling event that has your buyer (1) calling you for a solution or (2) taking your call. An effective discovery process will help you uncover the current situation that would fuel a purchasing decision.

Negative Consequences 

The compelling event is only one piece of the puzzle. Once you identify the key problems they’re trying to resolve, you need to understand the business impact.

Is it a half million-dollar problem?

A million-dollar problem?

Whatever it is, find the impact.

Remember, there is no value without a customer problem. Identifying the negative consequences will help you better articulate the value of your solution, and how it can help alleviate the negative consequences they’re currently experiencing.

Positive Business Outcomes 

Help your buyer envision the future.

Uncover the business outcomes he or she is looking to achieve.

Perhaps your buyer is looking to improve efficiencies or reduce costs within their satellite offices. Without knowing the end-game, you won’t be able to make an effective case for purchasing your solution.

If you understand the positive business outcomes, you can then work backwards and map your solutions to your buyer’s goals.

Time Frames

Determining the customer’s buying time frame will help provide the benchmarks you need to move the deal forward in your selling buying process.

Is your customer looking to make a decision this year? This quarter? Has funding been allocated to the project? Maximize your time as a seller.

Determining the time frame and then identifying next steps will help you either move the deal forward or put it aside to concentrate on more ready-to-act customers.

The selling challenge is to uncover these five sales drivers consistently, no matter the customer. Developing pre-call planners as part of an overall sales messaging strategy can help drive these best-practices with an entire sales team, not just the top-performers. 

Rachel Clapp Miller is the Assistant Marketing Director at Force Management. Force Management specializes in sales transformations that help B2B sales organizations increase revenue, improve sales margins and gain market share. Follow them on Twitter: @ForceMGMT and on LinkedIn.