My 10 Tips For Higher Sales, Better B2B Approach

Who wouldn’t benefit from a toolbox of potent sales tactics? The top B2B sales strategies are compiled in this research-backed compilation if you want to enhance your sales.

So What Is Worth These Sales Techniques?

The short answer is that these methods do not rely on firsthand knowledge, unproven folklore, or any purported “best practices.”

Research has shown that the correct response is often the most illogical. If you choose to adhere to best practices, you may employ the strategy that most people use widely. But this does not mean that it is the strategy that works the best.

Best practices are also by nature “lagging practices.” It may take years for something to be recognized as a best practice, by which time people may already use it widely.

Science is unbiased and unchanging. The purchasers and their conduct are the exclusive emphases. Science is reliable. These sales strategies may seem strange and illogical. But behavioral research studies have proven that they all work best when pitching B2B decision-makers.

Here are five startlingly convincing sales strategies that are supported by science and study, without further ado.

Tip 1: Examine The Situation & Make Sales To It, Don’t Push On The Buyer’s Character

The past ten years have seen an increase in the complexity of the B2B purchasing process. In 2015, each purchase decision required the approval of an average of five to six people. The usual buying group for a complicated B2B solution today, according to Gartner, comprises six to ten decision-makers.

You’re influencing several stakeholders to agree rather than just selling to one individual. The situation of those stakeholders unites them even though they may not have the same title or demographics.

---

Not Subscribed Yet?

Do it now so that you are always updated with our latest posts and news.

Because of who they are, their demographics, or the demands of their jobs, people don’t buy from you. They are more focused on determining whether their current circumstance jeopardizes their professional objectives.

A scientific theory known as Fundamental Attribution Error supports this.

The difficulties your buyer faces—not their professional demeanor—are the natural forces influencing actions and behavior change.

Your customers are posing serious inquiries that are relevant to their present circumstances. We collectively refer to this set of inquiries that are situation-specific as the customer decision journey.

The Customer Decision Journey

The customer decision journey depicts what is going on in your customers’ heads as they decide whether to purchase from you. You may adjust how you sell to fit the scenario and succeed when you are aware of the underlying motivations and actions that each customer displays during a conversation.

Don’t concentrate on the name, role, or persona. Instead, begin pitching to your buyer’s circumstances. Help your potential clients and customers determine whether their current strategy is jeopardizing their corporate objectives. Then, adjust your sales strategies to each stage of the customer decision-making process.

Tip 2: Challenge The Status Quo Of The Buyer

Many sales representatives believe that the sales cycle is linear, comprising a series of steps that each prospect must complete. It culminates with the prospect of selecting between you and your rival at some point.

These aren’t the only two endpoints, in actuality. Your customers have a third choice: “no decision.”

According to studies, at least 40% of agreements in the pipeline are lost due to “no decision” as opposed to rivals. This is because of a phenomenon known as Status Quo Bias, which describes your prospect’s innate resistance to acting differently from how they already behave.

As the outsider, you must combat your buyer’s inclination to maintain their current condition. You must upset the status quo of your prospect, promote the need for change, and develop a buying vision that sets you apart from your rivals if you want to convince them to change and select you.

However, keep in mind that you can’t immediately start praising the qualities and advantages of your solutions. If your potential customer doesn’t first recognize the need for change, they won’t care about your solution.

Instead, concentrate on making your prospect feel the need to change by demonstrating how their current situation inhibits them from achieving their most crucial business objectives.

Tip 3: Help Customers Identify The Needs Which He Didn’t Consider

If you base your strategy on the needs that your prospects identify, whether through discovery questions or the voice of customer research, you’ll be more likely to link the unique capabilities of your solution to those needs.

The issue is that your rivals are also responding to the identical suggestions made by their clients and prospects. As a result, you end up communicating generic signals that don’t help you stand out.

When potential customers read and hear similar messaging from you and your rivals, they recognize no differences between their options. The buyer maintains the status quo, since there are no urgent reasons or interesting reasons to change.

You are not a trusted advisor if you inform your client of problems they are already aware of; rather, you are a tape recorder. You must introduce prospects to Unconsidered Needs—unmet or unidentified challenges or missed opportunities—that are preventing them from changing and overcoming Status Quo Bias.

A provocative message that starts by introducing an Unconsidered Need increases your persuasive impact by 10%, according to research.

In this little video, learn more about Unconsidered Needs:

Play 20 questions but don’t. Instead, assist your prospects in realizing what is preventing them from achieving their professional objectives.

Tip 4: Showcase The Before and The After Situations In Stories

Unconsidered Needs are effective tools for convincing your prospects that a change is necessary. But what follows? How can you create a purchasing vision that links to your offering?

In your sales talks, you must emphasize the difference between the “before” tale (the problematic existing technique) and the “after” story to produce a strong perception of value (the improved new way).  In your customer’s view, the contrast makes them feel compelled to act.

When you’re trying to convince executives to approve the purchase, the same fundamental idea applies. They feel more pressure to decide right away when you: 1) point out any gaps or opportunities that could influence their highest-level strategic goals; and 2) explain how the decision will affect their business by using a customer story and a comparison.

Selling to the C-Suite is our article where you can read more about this strategy.

Include financial justification in your customer success stories to support the buying philosophy. But don’t be averse to relating that information to feelings. Talking about how others were impacted by the demanding workplace they were in is one method to do this. Then discuss how your solution improved, made their lives simpler, or made them less stressful.

Tip 5: Don’t Discuss The Competition Value Overlaps In Sales Conversations

How much of what you can offer and what your competitors can offer overlap when you’re selling your value proposition to prospects?

Most B2B sellers acknowledge that overlap is at least 70%. Many businesses can realistically complete the task with comparable capabilities and costs in competitive areas. Shoppers are more likely to do a side-by-side bake-off based on price if they don’t perceive enough distinction between you and the alternatives.

You should stay away from there.

When salespeople engage in the three fatal sins of sales messaging, they cannot express value:

• They provide too much information
• Not describing value from the viewpoint of the buyer
• Failing to recognize what makes them unique

Focus on what you can provide the consumer that is distinct from what the competition can offer rather than competing in that “value parity area.” Your Value Wedge is where you discover your unique point of view.

Your Value Wedge must adhere to these three requirements:

It is specific to you. Deliver a message that is entirely distinct from that of your rivals.

1. It’s significant to the client. By pointing out possibilities and holes in your prospect’s current process, you may add value. Then you can show how your method will address those problems.
2. We can defend it. Create proof points to show how other businesses have adopted your suggested approach to solve similar problems.
3. You provide a unique point of view that distinguishes your solution from the competition and conveys genuine value to your prospect when you develop a solution story that satisfies those three requirements.

Tip 6: Envision Your Customer As The Hero, And You Are The Mentor (Sales Guru)

Many studies have examined how storytelling can influence cognition and spur behavioral change. Stories are a potent tool for showing your prospect the value of your solution in a sales situation.

Every story needs a hero—someone you can identify with as they face challenges en route to their happily ever after. But who is the protagonist of your tale? And does that vary according to the way you word your message?

Positioning yourself as a member of their tribe makes sense in order to show to potential clients and customers that you understand their environment. We imply that the provider and the buyer are “in it together” by using the word “we.” But according to studies, your buyer will be less inclined to act if you use this style of we-phrasing.

A Hero’s Journey

Typically, a hero’s journey looks like this:

1. A person who faces difficulty is the hero.
2. The hero encounters a knowledgeable mentor who is aware of their issue.
3. This mentor supplies the hero with new knowledge, a strategy, and motivation to take action.
4. With renewed assurance and a strategy, the hero confronts their issue.
5. The protagonist solves the issue, recognizes their potential, and accomplishes their objective.

In your tale, it is your buyer—not you—who must intervene to rescue the day. You play the role of the mentor. You’re there to show potential clients and customers how to adapt to the changes in their environment so they can survive and prosper.

Use “you-phrasing” to make your buyer the protagonist of their own story. Changing the pronoun from “we” to “you” in your pitch can enhance urgency and make your prospect feel more personally accountable for finding a solution, according to a research study.

You-phrasing grabs your prospect’s attention in a way that distinguishes your message from the competition, forces them to reevaluate their current situation, and presents a realistic purchase vision.

Tip 7: Make Sure You Evade The Hammock Effect And That Your Buyer Remains Attentive

About 70% of the material in your sales presentation will be retained by your audience, and their attention will peak at the conclusion. However, kids lose focus and attention in the midst, and if you don’t refocus and refocus them, they won’t remember much.

This trend has the appearance of a hammock when displayed on a graph. Email, phone calls, virtual sales meetings, and proposals all exhibit this “hammock effect” to varying degrees.

The final thing you stated during your meeting will inevitably be the first thing your customers remember. What about all the tasty information in the middle, though?

You must use “grabbers”—detailed selling strategies intended to catch your buyer’s attention and re-engage them in the conversation—in the middle of the conversation to spike attention and combat the hammock effect and the brain’s inclination to tune out.

A Number Play is an illustration of a grabber. You list three numbers before explaining them in a number play. Then gradually disclose the meaning of the numbers as you narrate the tale behind them. The narrative should be succinct, narrow in on your target audience, and provide a context for the problems your solution attempts to solve.

An Illustration Of A Number Play Grab:

You sell workforce management software, and your prospect is currently managing their personnel by using a number of different systems and manual procedures, which leads to mistakes.

You record figures 3, 1.5, and 70 to aid in telling your tale. You disclose the following meanings of the numbers as you deliver your pitch:

• The lowest error rate you can get when using manual processes and numerous systems is three percent, or 3. This is significant, and unless you alter your procedures and systems, it won’t go away.
• 1.5 = “1.5 million, which is the annual cost to you of a 3 percent mistake rate. This indicates that the faults are being fixed manually by four or five full-time staff.
• The amount required to defend the typical wage and hour case is 70 = “70,000.” This is not a wise use of your limited resources in the cutthroat economy of today.

To alter these figures, you must check your data at the source, which our program can assist you in doing.

Tip 8: Keep Uncertainty In The Prices In The Beginning Of Sales Conversations

Salespeople are taught to “power up” or gain the upper hand in a negotiation through traditional sales negotiation training. However, it’s no longer as successful as it once was.

Your customers currently hold all the sway. They enter discussions prepared to seek discounts and leave if they don’t receive them. How then can you make the most of your weak negotiating position while maintaining your value?

Introducing Unconsidered Needs (remember those? ), for example, is one approach to alter how your buyers perceive the value of your offering. This strategy alters their perception of the value of your solution, which leads to price uncertainty. By highlighting chances and insights that your buyer didn’t realize were significant to them, you raise your value in their eyes.

The initial phase entails introducing pricing uncertainty. But what happens if discussions continue on and purchasers start making demands and requesting discounts?

Late-stage negotiating strategies lose their relevance as deals become more complicated. How skilfully you handle key sales process transitions—moments that have the potential to alter the nature of your opportunity to close the deal profitably—determines your ability to produce profitable outcomes.

Think about pivotal agreements as a way to help you close more transactions while you’re in a low-power position. You can leverage the five different sorts of pivotal agreements to promote your deals while preserving your profitability.

Tip 9: Bring Emotions Into Play, Don’t Just Focus On The Data

There is a persistent misconception that CEOs exclusively consider statistics, quantitative results, and ROI when making decisions. But it isn’t the case at all.

Even at the executive level, people make emotional, subconscious choices before the rational, analytical portion of the brain takes control to support the choice. In fact, a study on the subject indicated that executive decision-makers are just as susceptible to emotionally charged influences as the general public.

Recovery Stages After A Slump In The Economy

Executives in the research had to decide between two recovery strategies following a slump in the economy. Despite the mathematical similarity of the messages, they presented the current situation as either a gain or a loss.

• Gain frame message: There is a one-third probability that this proposal will keep all three factories open and preserve all 6,000 jobs, but there is a two-thirds risk it won’t.
• Loss frame message: There is a two-thirds possibility that this policy will lead to the closure of every one of the three factories and every one of the 6,000 jobs, but also a one-third chance that neither the plants nor the jobs will be lost.

The outcomes? When the status quo was presented as a loss to be avoided, executives were 70% more likely to select a riskier course of action.

The study showed how Loss Aversion, a behavioral idea crucial to Prospect Theory, has an effect. According to the Prospect Theory, which social psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman developed, people are two to three times more likely to decide or take a risk in order to avoid losing money than they are in order to earn it.

Framing the status quo as a risk to be avoided will help you convince the other party and justify your choice.

One of the few topics that aren’t delegated down is risk. The executives stimulate their brain to think and act with greater urgency. Especially when risk is introduced, followed by creating a buying vision to address the risk.

Tip 10: Avoid Bothering The Existing Customers

Analysts estimate that the average company receives 70–80 percent of its income from repeat clients.

However, most sales and marketing executives (almost 60%) do not believe in using a different strategy for client acquisition and customer growth. More than half of respondents think that aggressive statements and sales tactics still hold true when dealing with consumers who are renewing their contracts.

Researchers who reveal that messaging and abilities needed for customer retention and expansion debunk this widely held misconception dialogues are very different. In fact, when you’re attempting to renew or extend business with your clients, using a provocative message will boost the likelihood that they’ll shop about by at least 10–16 percent.

When you’re interacting with new prospects as the outsider, it makes sense to take a provocative tack that introduces Unconsidered Needs, upends their way of life, and convinces them to select you.

But when you’re an insider, you represent your client’s current reality. You must play on their innate Status Quo Bias and argue about why you remain the best option.

Conclusion (Hope you can make more sales now)

The variety of purchasing decisions you need to influence in the customer decision journey won’t hold true for so-called “best practices.” The concerns, actions, and motives of your customers fluctuate throughout the day.

If you genuinely want to improve how you sell, you need to understand a broad range of sales strategies like these, honed with situational awareness, to know when and how to adjust to each situation.