The global crisis that we're currently living is far from over, resulting in a massive amount of economic pain and high unemployment. However, in the world of B2B sales, we seem to be emerging from the other side of the crisis and entering into the so-called “new normal”. Some businesses are starting to open again, some are trying hesitant to spend or invest during the lowest points of crisis, and the stock market has recovered much of its losses. It is quite clear that we are still in the dark, but it's safe to say that a lot of B2B buyers are coming out of the bunker.
Keep these few insights in mind to help you adapt your B2B sales to the new normal life with COVID-19.
This is not the time to wait for customers to come. Put your head down and start working. Conceptualize on how you can approach your customers and improve your lead generation from all possible channels: outbound lead generation like cold calls, email marketing, and direct mail. You can also do inbound lead generation like search engine marketing, social media posts, or even PPC ads.
Try to be more proactive when asking for referrals from your existing customers. This is the perfect time to pull out all the stops and figure out where your potential customers are, and how to reach them.
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Try to revisit your current sales process. A lot of B2B sales organizations tend to get a bit complacent about going through the motions of the sales process or treating every conversation the same. Do not fall into this. During these times, every client counts more than ever. You cannot be improvising in your sales process right now. Do not assume that every customer you try to contact you is ready and eager to buy your product or services. Customize your sales process to reflect your own company’s typical experience.
Not every customer may go through the whole sales process but there will be customers who might need to spend more time in one stage of the process than others. However, if you can pinpoint a few key stages and the typical steps from your customer journey, you will be well equipped to guide your customers in the right direction, eventually saving time and maximizing your efforts to get them ready to buy and complete the sales process.
If you have sales prospects that haven’t received a follow-up call ever since the pandemic started, this can be the perfect time for you to reach out. You may think that this prospective customer is not ready to buy, but since circumstances have changed, so have their buying decisions. Get this opportunity to reach out and check with your “cold” prospects, even the ones that might not have seemed to be in the high priority six months ago.