Sales can be a short or long process depending on the product or service being offered. At the beginning of a buyer’s journey, it is important to interrupt the prospect because their status quo will be to not take your call. Once you are speaking to a prospect you must understand what is going on in your buyer’s mind. When you understand their underlying motivations and behaviors you can tailor your approach to the individual situation. The B2B buying process has become increasingly complex over the last decade. Today, there may be as many as ten decision makers when deciding on the B2B solution you are presenting. The salesperson must learn to drive consensus.

Sales “best practices” are much more refined due to a greater understanding of decision science. Sales and marketing boil down to illustrating a risk (pain) or describing a benefit (gain). Businesses usually buy based on their situation and whether the business is at risk enough to trigger a purchase to solve their problem. Once you present a product you can get a “yes”, “no” or no decision. At least 40 percent of deals are lost to “no decision”. As the outsider, you’re fighting inertia—your buyer’s natural tendency to stay with their current situation. To do this, you need to create a powerful perception of value in your sales conversations by highlighting the gap between the “before” story (todays approach) and the “after” story (the improved new way). It is that contrast that creates the urgency to act in the mind of your buyer. When you’re telling customer stories, include financial proof to underpin the buying vision, linking data with emotion.

A marketing strategy determines how your company will interact with prospects and customers and helps build sales momentum. The marketing strategy is needed to define who your customer segments are and what the value is that will appeal to these segments. Marketing messages need to be consistent and a sales funnel which formalizes the customer journey in interacting with your company, which includes the sales approach. Some interactions could be promotions, information, or a call to action for a specific product. This is often called content marketing, which can also lead to viral marketing if a message is shared at an exponential rate.

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