Karina Collis
Viktoria Fischer-Werth
Viktoria Fischer-Werth
5 sales insights
TO take your sales tactics
to the next level
Monthly digest, September
How to deliver a B2B sale?
B2B sales are not always straightforward. There are many moving parts you have to pay attention to: how should you present your product? What are the best ways to persuade others? And how do you catch someone's interest in the first place?
Too often the initial attitude of people is negative when someone tries to sell them something. That's why especially persuasion skills can be of help to present your product in the right way and convince your prospect that it's worth paying attention to the message you want to deliver.
Too often the initial attitude of people is negative when someone tries to sell them something. That's why especially persuasion skills can be of help to present your product in the right way and convince your prospect that it's worth paying attention to the message you want to deliver.
By applying certain persuasion tricks, you can easily change an initial negative attitude to something positive. Open and positive attitudes towards your message and your product will always help you to sell more.
We publish our monthly "5 Sales Insights" series to help you navigate through the complexity of B2B sales and learn more about certain techniques that will help you to win your prospects. Every month you can learn more about tips to catch people's attention, persuade better and improve your sales.
Sales insight #1. ASK FOR A SMALL REQUEST FIRST
You would like to close a large deal but don't know where to start? Or are you in a situation where you want to ask your prospect a favour but you are not sure that he will be happy to help? The "Foot-in-the-door" technique can help you to get what you want.
The principle behind the foot-in-the-door technique is simple: start by asking someone for something small. If they accept the small request, they will be more likely to agree to the second and bigger request.
It sounds almost too easy, so why does it work? People have a natural need for consistency. When accepting a small request, they want to keep this consistency with agreeing to the bigger request as well.
Here is how you can use this technique for your future sales:
The principle behind the foot-in-the-door technique is simple: start by asking someone for something small. If they accept the small request, they will be more likely to agree to the second and bigger request.
It sounds almost too easy, so why does it work? People have a natural need for consistency. When accepting a small request, they want to keep this consistency with agreeing to the bigger request as well.
Here is how you can use this technique for your future sales:
1
ask for a small request first
determine an appropriate small thing to ask. This should be something which your prospect is likely to agree to, for example giving you his or her email address or agreeing to a second call next week
2
and later ask for a bigger request
create a way to introduce the bigger request. This can happen right after the smaller demand. For example, after receiving your prospect's contact details you can send a follow up e-mail asking to activate a trial or to organize a call with decision-makers
One of our clients, his name is Pieter, used this technique to understand better the organizational structure of the company for which his prospect was working. Over a Zoom call, Pieter asked the prospect about how his department is organized. The prospect was very keen to explain. Pieter followed by asking if the prospect would be open to draw an org structure of the entire company to help Pieter better understand how they operate. The next morning in Pieter's mailbox there was an email with the org structure of the prospecting company attached.
This shows that sometimes it is easier to first get your foot in the door with the small request - to later open the whole door for the bigger favour.
This shows that sometimes it is easier to first get your foot in the door with the small request - to later open the whole door for the bigger favour.
Sales insight #2. FRAME OFFERS IN TERMS OF LOSS
We don't like to lose. Whether it's a game, an argument or an item we own – it never feels good. You should keep this psychological fact in mind when closing your next sale.
What do you think affects you more: losing 100€ or winning 100€? Surprisingly, the loss of 100€ provokes a stronger emotion than winning the money. It has been established that the pain of losing is psychologically about twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining. People are more willing to take risks to avoid a loss than to make a gain.
Here are two helpful ways how you can use loss aversion in sales:
What do you think affects you more: losing 100€ or winning 100€? Surprisingly, the loss of 100€ provokes a stronger emotion than winning the money. It has been established that the pain of losing is psychologically about twice as powerful as the pleasure of gaining. People are more willing to take risks to avoid a loss than to make a gain.
Here are two helpful ways how you can use loss aversion in sales:
make your prospects feel like they already own your product. Once your prospects feel like that, they will not want to lose it again. Free trial is the best example. But even without a "free drive" you can induce this feeling of ownership by simply saying "Imagine you double your sales by the end of the month"
save customers from future regret. Clearly express what your prospects would lose if they don't own your product ("Don't miss out on the great chance to double your sales and save a lot of time and effort!")
Sales insight #3. DON’T GIVE UP, FOLLOW UP
Only 8% of salespeople score
80% of all sales
80% of all sales
You write to your prospect once, twice, maybe three times … still no answer, so you give up and your prospect is gone. But there lies the mistake! Don't give up, but always keep in mind to follow up.
Most sales are being scored by a very small percentage of salespeople. Why? Because the majority of sales require around five follow-ups, but more than half of all salespeople give up after just one. They don't want to bother their prospect, they forget about it or they simply don't realize how important following up is in order to close a deal.
But you shouldn't just take no for a no. Your prospect might be very busy, he might need some time to think about the offer or it might just be the wrong timing.
Follow-up calls or emails can help you understand where you stand in a deal. They can help build trust, or maybe address possible missing information or problems. And most importantly: they will help you sell more!
But you shouldn't just take no for a no. Your prospect might be very busy, he might need some time to think about the offer or it might just be the wrong timing.
Follow-up calls or emails can help you understand where you stand in a deal. They can help build trust, or maybe address possible missing information or problems. And most importantly: they will help you sell more!
Sales insight #4. ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
Every day we are overwhelmed with countless emails, adverts and posts on social media. People are trying to sell their services and products non-stop, without the prospect even asking for it. How can you stand out from this crowd? Well, how about simply engaging more with your audience?
Engaging with your audience might be more helpful than you think: 68% of consumers feel more positive about brands who share engaging content. It provokes their interest and builds up trust.
If a person gets value from consuming your content, then that's a step in the right direction, towards building a relationship with your prospect and closing the next deal.
Here are some tips on how you can easily engage with your audience:
Engaging with your audience might be more helpful than you think: 68% of consumers feel more positive about brands who share engaging content. It provokes their interest and builds up trust.
If a person gets value from consuming your content, then that's a step in the right direction, towards building a relationship with your prospect and closing the next deal.
Here are some tips on how you can easily engage with your audience:
Ask Questions
get the attention from costumers with engaging questions (here are some examples for questions you could ask).
Focus on Relevance and Quality
limit yourself to relevant and qualitative content to get the best out of your request
Create an Emotional Connection
talk about engaging stories which trigger positive emotions
Use Engaging Formats
visual stimulation and interactivity can enhance your customer's experience and let them engage more with your content
Sales insight #5. USE SOCIAL PROOF
Just imagine: you are on your holiday in Spain, trying to decide which restaurant to chose for dinner. One is packed with locals, the other one completely empty. Which one do you choose?
Most likely the first one. What is more convincing than knowing that others already had a good experience with the product you want to purchase?
Social proof is a powerful technique to build trust and make a product more desirable. It reduces the perception of risk and persuades the prospect by showing him that others had a positive experience with the product.
In fact, almost 63% of consumers indicate that they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews. What's more, presenting positive reviews on your website can increase conversions by up to 270%!
You can activate social proof in many ways:
Most likely the first one. What is more convincing than knowing that others already had a good experience with the product you want to purchase?
Social proof is a powerful technique to build trust and make a product more desirable. It reduces the perception of risk and persuades the prospect by showing him that others had a positive experience with the product.
In fact, almost 63% of consumers indicate that they are more likely to purchase from a site if it has product ratings and reviews. What's more, presenting positive reviews on your website can increase conversions by up to 270%!
You can activate social proof in many ways:
refer to similar customers by using phrases like "most businesses in your situation …"
display positive reviews or customer testimonials on your website
show your prospects that buyers similar to them have purchased your product and experienced positive results
Conclusion
Sales are not only about telling a person why they should buy your product. If you want to sell successfully, there is so much more behind it: how do you talk to your prospect? What is your purpose in engaging? Can you help them find a solution to their problem?
There are many different aspects you should pay attention to, but also many useful techniques which will help you close a deal more easily.
There are many different aspects you should pay attention to, but also many useful techniques which will help you close a deal more easily.
Stay up to date with our monthly digest of 5 powerful sales insights to learn more techniques that will help you win your prospect and increase your sales. Are you curious to learn more? Then check out our other monthly digests from August, July and June
Good luck with applying the techniques we share! The more you practice, the better you will become.
Do you want to increase your sales but are not sure how? Check out our other articles for other helpful tips to grow your business:
>> Five cold email templates to connect with your prospects
>> Top 10 B2B prospecting tools that will help achieve more with less
>> Five B2B enterprise sales features every sales person should master
>> Five cold email templates to connect with your prospects
>> Top 10 B2B prospecting tools that will help achieve more with less
>> Five B2B enterprise sales features every sales person should master
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