The savvy salesman or woman should, by now, be armed with reams of sales factsheets and company statistics to plan his or her next successful strategy and killer sale. But, lacking a more coherent and all-embracing approach to broadening their horizons, oblivious as to how markets are changing right before their eyes, they often fail to meet sales targets, whether set by them or the company that they work for.
The following B2B sales facts should serve as an eye-opener, mainly to those who have failed to embrace changing trends which are now occurring on a quarterly basis, never mind annually.
- The past is still good
Print media is here to stay. Successful and influential businesspeople are still relying on news and trade magazines to keep abreast.
- So is the future
The social media environment has revolutionized the way people interact and seek out information becoming less reliant on old-school advertising campaigns and mail shots.
- The youth market
Do not assume that young men and women are disinterested or disillusioned with the idea of doing business.
- The evolution of Generation Y
The so-called millennials may not be high earners yet but with a high standard of education, they are better equipped to succeed in business where their predecessors have begun to lag.
- Bigger isn’t always better
Whether advertising or prospecting, larger, perceptively big-budget companies may have reached a saturation point.
- Less is still more
Smaller companies by necessity are slowly but surely becoming more efficient and discerning in their business choices.
- The lack of visibility
B2B companies who have not yet embraced the idea of extending their reach in line with the technical tools available to do this will not survive.
- The conversation
The B2B sales process still needs to include effective listening and persuasive speaking skills which now needs to be adapted to viral communication mediums.
- No more educated guesses
As mentioned earlier, business entrants are more educated and today won’t easily be swayed if the B2B process is not followed through correctly in line with principles that have always worked well before.
- The principles still apply
Whether established or new markets have evolved with the new technologies that go with the required changes, it has been proven that the old principles of effective B2B sales and marketing remain relevant.
This is just a summary of what is happening in the market today. B2B salespeople need to ditch the prehistoric practice of persistent door to door knocking which yield very few results. To avoid having the door slammed in their faces or, worse still, never being opened to them, salespeople need to be both flexible and proactive in their approach to foraging for new markets. Taking some of these facts – based on extensive research conducted elsewhere – to heart, salesmen and women will discover that their next big customer was right next door to them all along.
