AI Roundtable Discussion
The AI landscape is evolving rapidly. While some organizations have fully embraced AI, others are still taking their first steps. Recently, we...
Launch hosted a series of sales training workshops with customer service and engineers who have a hand in sales. Together, we discussed tips for successful B2B technical sales. Key strategies from the sessions include optimizing prospect qualifications, managing no-bid situations, and getting a response from potential clients. We emphasize understanding customer needs and strategic positioning to focus on customer-centric sales strategies.
In speaking engagements, workshops, webinars and start-up accelerator coaching sessions, the most frequent question we get is: “If you had to choose, would you hire a salesperson with no technical background or expertise, or a technical expert with no sales experience?”
The reality is customers do not want to be sold to, and yet sales are critical to your growth and profitability. Developing sales skills and processes for technical experts and customer service people is one of the most important factors in both customer satisfaction and growth. In short, I’d take a technical expert willing to sell any day. We can teach the rest, in a way that’s in tune with your customer’s needs and buying process.
In a series of sales training sessions, we worked with engineers and customer service who have a role in sales. Here are their questions:
Especially if you are in a sales role in addition to operational or engineering responsibilities, you have to create sales efficiencies. A huge part of that is qualifying prospects so you can focus on the right ones. Too often companies have a disconnect between challenging and ‘fun’ projects, and those that are profitable.
First, know what you will and won’t take on. Gauge the opportunity against your company’s market position and target customer profile. Qualify the long-term value of the opportunity to see if it justifies the time investment, both for you in sales and for engineering post-sale:
Broadly, whatever your specific criteria, qualification comes down to:
Every step is a go/no-go. If the prospect can’t or won’t share the information you need to help them, doesn’t respond, or won't show up for scheduled meetings, it will be difficult to serve them successfully or provide them with an accurate quote. It is also a good indicator that they just need a competitive quote to validate their supplier of choice.
Whether the request for a quote isn’t a fit due to current capacity or backlog, profitability, or you don’t have the manpower to invest engineering time in developing a project outside core capabilities, you can actually build your value to a prospect with appropriate no-bidding.
A no can be “no not now”. No is also a good way to:
There is no magic bullet. It now takes 8 touchpoints on average to close a B2B deal, and far more to make contact. Respectful, customer-focused and consistent follow-up is critical and harder than ever. Here are a few tips.
First, recognize that the real value of tradeshows has changed in the last several years. As digital marketing and inbound have overtaken in-person leads, tradeshows still have a valuable place in marketing strategy--but are more important for growing opportunities and building relationships with customers, many of whom you haven't yet met in person. That said, if you're working a booth:
Yes! Not everyone is an extrovert. There's always someone shyer--befriend them and introduce them around. Ask to join a table where you don't know anyone. "Hi, I'm Michele" will suffice as an opening line. Food and bar lines are great places to meet new people, as you're waiting together. There's no need to feel like you have to "work the room"--deeper, more interesting conversations will help others get value from the event and beat small talk any day.
Check back for more FAQs from our series, or contact us if your team could benefit from similar training.
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