Imagine this: You run a business that has been doing fine. Suddenly your customers start delaying purchases and budgets are slashed. Leads begin drying up. Cash flow slows while the bills keep coming in. Reluctantly and painfully, you begin cutting staff in order to cut expenses.
Unfortunately, this imagined scenario is all too real today. One need only watch the news or check the Wall St. Journal to find slumping sales and layoffs at companies like Oracle, SAP, EMC, Adobe and Microsoft.
What’s going on? And what can a B2B seller do about it? I’d love to hear your comments, but let me share my ideas as well.
Let’s explore those problems and try to devise answers, so B2B sellers can prosper.
The current problems of B2B sellers revolve around three areas:
- Nobody ever calls you back.
- It’s taking forever.
- The money is gone.
Let’s start by examining each one of these and explore how B2B sellers can address each one.
We begin with “Nobody ever calls you back.” This is actually a chapter one of the excellent book by Jill Konrath, Selling to Big Companies. If you don’t own this book, hop over to Amazon.com and buy it.
Frankly, this problem is too big to write a brief comment about it, so read Jill’s book and my white paper, How to Find New Customers. Between those two, you’ll find a wealth of information on how to get meetings with decision makers.
Next, let’s tackle “It’s taking forever.” At the recent CMO Thought Leadership Summit, I heard this over and over. The solution to this one is simpler. Focus on the customer and his buying process. It is that buying process that is getting delayed.
The steps in the buying process are:
- Untroubled/Unaware
- Have a problem
- Need a solution
Go shopping for a new ‘thing’ - Whom to consider?
- Who is best?
- Decide
Your goal as a seller is to help the customer move through his process of acquiring your product or service. Delays happen when the process gets “stuck.” For instance, a prospect may have a problem deciding on final vendors — between Whom to Consider? and Who is Best? It is your job, Mr. B2B seller, to recognize this process and provide the right information at the right time.
For instance, the Forrester Wave Report dated January 21, 2009 states “iProspect is a Leader in US Search Marketing Agencies.” Who would use this and when should it be used? While that is an impressive document and salespeople are tempted to use it at any time, in reality it fits in a certain point of the buying process.
Clearly, it would help a company go from a bunch of search marketing candidates to a short list when moving from Whom to Consider? to Who is Best? However, it would not work in the Have a Problem stage at all. A decision maker in the Have a Problem stage is looking for information on how other companies like his have solved a problem similar to his, so white papers and case studies fit here.
Use the right info at the right time. Your goal is to help the prospect move through the buying process — and the sooner she or he gets through the process, the sooner you get the deal done.
The last challenge is “The money’s gone.” This one’s tough — there’s no easy answer. However, you must remember that your competitor is alternative use of capital. You have to really focus on the customer and help him or her get budget authority.
Look at the content on your website. Do you have the tools to help the prospect obtain budget authority? Do you have an ROI calculator, organized and set up so it looks like the prospect created it?
It is clear that B2B sellers face unprecedented challenges. But with deep thought and planning, B2B sellers can address those challenges and prosper.
Take action today by mapping customer buying processes, cranking up demand generation and putting great content on your website.
For companies looking for best practices in b2b lead generation who wish to improve the way they acquire new customers, Find New Customers is the place to go. CSO Insights says companies need to improve the way they generate leads and implement processes for business to business lead generation.
Jeff Ogden, the Fearless Competitor, is a demand generation expert and sales leader, as well as the President of Find New Customers, a lead generation company, who helps businesses create lead generation campaigns and continually publishes the best lead generation ideas, so his readers can determine the best lead generation strategy to find new customers.
