I was recently speaking to a prospect on a phone consultation and I was trying to get to the bottom of what their problem was. When I’m on calls like this, honestly this is my favorite part. I’m trying to see what they might not be seeing which could be hindering their success.
This company was a Business to Business (B2B) service company who was desperate to make sales. So far, this tracks right?
So I wanted to dive deeper.
“How many leads are you generating and fielding in a month?”
Silence.
“How much does the average client net you once they come on?”
Uhh… more silence.
The person was beginning to get a little defensive at this point – and I wanted to make them feel more at ease. The truth is, that I have been on hundreds (or more) of calls with business owners, marketers, sales managers, and everyone in between, and this call was not unlike its predecessors.
The issue was that they were missing some of the basic rules of B2B marketing.
I’ve said this before recently, and I will say it again, I never look down on people not having the correct data to track and execute marketing strategies. I read the marketing and sales press, I see the number of gurus popping up every two seconds with a new funnel that is the magic answer to your nagging ROI problem. And you know what, I think that a lot of those magic solutions DO work. The systems are well-built and the strategies are sound.
So what’s the issue?
You need to follow these rules for B2B Lead Generation first, before you start making major moves with these “perfect sales systems.”
Rule #1: Know Thy Audience.
If you do not know who you are trying to target, you will never be able to target them. Write down a DETAILED demographic makeup of your target audience. Then look at your customer/client records. Your sales to the target audience that you defined better be reflected in at least 80% of those sales. If they are not? Back to the drawing board.
Rule #2: Know Thy Decision Maker.
If you have ever had to cold call or execute a multichannel (or multilevel) marketing campaign, it will come as no surprise to you that there are a lot of time wasters out there. People that tell you they love your service, your product is the best, or that you are really changing the way they think would love to work with you! But guess what? They don’t have the pull to make the decision. They don’t control the money. They just wasted a lot of time and (emotional) energy by taking you no closer to the end game. Knowing your decision-makers titles will help you narrow your opportunities and reduce the time of your sales cycle.
Rule #3: Know Thy Price Point.
It is important to understand how much your target decision-maker is willing to pay for your service AND what monetary benefit it will bring them. Not sure how to find it? Figure it out. Ask your peers, do secret shopping, just flat out ask them on the call. Price is everything to many, so if you are not aware of how to present your value proposition with conviction that lands, bye-bye lead.
Rule #4: Know Thy Services Inside and Out.
When you are doing a sale (technical or more straight-forward), understand your services/products AND target decision-maker enough to be able to develop a custom solution that will delight and excite. Creating excitement with a lead, as well as offering something that makes them feel special is beyond perfect.
Rule #5: One Shall Not Bark Up the Wrong Tree.
Target audiences are made to be edited. Just because you only did business with one audience for 10 years does not mean you should continue for the next 10 years. Businesses and corporate roles are changing – and you need to be malleable. Have you ever looked at who is visiting your website? Probably not. This is exactly why my team at The Go! Agency developed a tool call Web Wisdom AI – which identifies every visitor to your website and sends you a detailed report. Based on data like that, you could see that your top industries could be something you never considered.
Rule #6: It Is Not All About You.
Ask questions. Be sociable. Listen. Just because you got this call (or are on this call) doesn’t mean that it can’t end soon or go downhill fast. People do business with people they like. Truth.
Rule #7: Thou Shalt Want to Prospect.
Nothing will kill a B2B salesperson or process more than one who is sitting at their desk, waiting by the computer or phone for a “hot lead” to be delivered. In fast-growing companies, intelligent prospecting has been proven to be a major growth stimulant, taking business through a tough time while competitors that rest on their laurels become stagnant. Get off your butt and get to action. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a great tool here!
I’ve seen so many clients break these rules, and hurt their sales numbers in the process, which is why I wanted to share my rules with you. That being said, if you want to learn about which companies are visiting your website or if you want help executing outreach to your target audience on Linkedin, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or my team of sales and marketing professionals at The Go! Agency. We’re happy to help!
