Signs That You Are Killing the Deal
Most salespeople are aware that understanding prospects is a crucial part of the sales process. This includes understanding their problems and needs, understanding their business and setting expectations. The follow-up is an equally important part of the sales process.
A deal can be a contract, an order, or a payment for goods or services. Without it, B2B marketing is impossible. Sales is complicated and salespeople sometimes make mistakes. Without even realizing, you could be ending up killing the deal. Here are 7 signs you might be killing the deal.
Sales reps fear the B2B selling process. However, many have learned how to avoid the problems and pitfalls faced by B2B sales teams. Many B2B reps don’t understand that in order to succeed, a B2B team must understand the B2B selling process, and specifically the 7 critical pitfalls sales reps could fall into. This can have a negative impact on the sales process.
B2B sales can be difficult because of all the dangers and blind spots that could entrap sales transactions. It is possible to optimize pricing and comply with laws while still using the most effective sales methods.
Contrary to what you might have heard, there are no shortcuts to increasing your sales funnel.
My belief is that B2B salespeople need to be humble enough accept failures when they happen. Then, they should get out of the way and move on.
Before we get into the danger signs that you are about to lose the transaction, let us first define B2B sales.
What is Business-to-Business (B2B), Sales?
B2B is shorthand for business to business sales. B2B sales is the sale of goods or services to other businesses rather than individual customers. There are three main types of B2B sales: 1) service sales (such as SaaS), 2) distribution and wholesale, and 3) sales through supply.
- Software sales
Instead of selling products or consumables, service providers offer a solution or service. This is often delivered in the form of software, SaaS or consulting. Many instances of this occur in the B2B SaaS market, where companies offer cloud-based software services for other businesses. Microsoft, Slack and Hubspot are only a few of the examples.
- Wholesale and distribution sales
Another type of B2B sales is distribution sales. This involves a wholesaler selling essential parts and components to other companies. Wholesalers include those who sell food wholesale to restaurants and clothing wholesalers to retailers.
- Supply Sales
Although firms might appear to be similar to wholesale, they could specialize in providing specific types of consumables for enterprises. They sell to businesses that use a formal procurement process that requires buy permission from a decision-maker, and not to individuals. Computer equipment and office supplies are excellent examples.
We’ve now covered the basics of B2B sales. It’s obvious why selling products to a customer with a credit card is more difficult. B2B sales can be more complicated due to many moving parts, multiple decision makers, longer sales cycles, numerous contact points, and many opportunities for errors.
You can find more information about the differences between selling to businesses and selling to consumers in our post on B2B sales versus B2C.
In this post, we have compiled seven common errors made by salespeople during the B2B selling process.