Throughout the buying journey new questions will arise and different opportunities will present themselves to demonstrate your expertise and customer service skills. There are four main stages B2B buyers go through in order to buy a product or service:
Establishing their need to solve a problem or grow their business.
Researching to help them to understand their problems and the available solutions.
Reviewing the solution providers who can solve their problem or support their growth.
Selecting a vendor to provide the solution they want.
The role of the sales professional includes demonstrating ways to go that extra mile - in effort or expertise - and help guide the customer to make the correct buying decision. It is your job to reinforce the effectiveness of your solution throughout your customer's experience. This continuous branding helps you retain and grow the relationship with your customers.
Let’s consider some areas where you can show to your prospects just why you’re the right choice.
Content
A major part of tailoring solutions and differentiating a brand is through well-thought-out, targeted and helpful content across the buyer life cycle .
The content you and your marketing team share online and offline should be act to educate at each stage and move customers along through the cycle. This means you need to shape and distribute the content which demonstrates thought leadership and expertise in a similar way to how you work your face-to-face sales.
Rapport
When on the phone or in person, it is essential that you build rapport with your customers. Show something of yourself, be confident but not overbearing and remember to always, always, listen to what their needs are. By helping your customer set the agenda, you’ll build credibility and rapport will natural grow too.
Research
Top sales organisations understand their markets inside and out. This means doing your homework - understanding a prospect or client’s business pains and opportunities and communicating ways your services can help.
To really stand out, you also need to have a solid understanding of the unique needs and opportunities associated with a target customer.
Consultative Selling and Objection Handling
Through a consultative process, you can overcome customer objections, reinforce your solution and close the sale. This is achieved through deep conversations where the salesperson acts as a adviser by "showing" a customer how their product or service will meet their needs.
Make Good on Your Promises
For a strong and long relationship, it is imperative that sales teams deliver on made throughout the sales cycle. This can include, timely follow up notes with next steps, provision of additional materials or helping your customer implement the solution.
Summary
Going the extra mile can make all the difference to building and sustaining business. The best salespeople can show the effectiveness of their solution throughout the customer's experience. This is achieved through intelligent and timely action throughout the sales stages and keeping customer satisfaction front of mind.