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Imagine that your sales or marketing team plans to increase B2B sales. Your team brainstormed innovative ways to generate B2B leads and developed a B2B sales strategy you implemented. Unfortunately, you still need to reach your quota and goal even after completing the work.
According to the Lead Nurturing & Acceleration Benchmark Survey Report, most business-to-business organizations rely on the top five lead nurturing initiatives. 33% of those were direct in-person meetings, 32% preference for direct mail, 27% preferred thought leadership articles, while 26% and 25% of preferences were respectively denoted to blog posts and white papers.
However, to increase B2B sales, among other things, reps need to seek innovative ways of using these B2B lead-generating initiatives. It is through these leads that you will sometimes make the most sales. However, you have to concentrate on the quality of your leads while looking at other B2B sales strategies for your product and services.
According to a recent report conducted by Salesforce, 89% of buyers are more likely to purchase sales representatives only after they feel their mission and goals are understood. In addition, 71% of the B2B buyers have reported that most of the sales interactions felt purely transactional.
To tactfully land a deal, one must nurture initiatives with a strategic approach and ample information to counter any stance that might produce a negative impact. Therefore, the blog will tell you the top ways to increase B2B sales and generate more leads.
Sure ways that can increase B2B sales
You may be running a large business or a small business just taking off. Regardless of your business, these 10 tactics are sure ways you can increase B2B sales easily.
1. Sales chat
A sales chat ensures that a person or a bot, in most cases, is available to help customers who come to your website. So, you need a sales chat on your website. However, no medium customers/visitors can channel that question to on your website, and they leave your website without making the purchase.
Setting up a sales chat on your website is an effective B2B sales strategy many e-commerce website owners have embraced.
With the sales chat, customers can channel their questions and get personalized answers, content, or information that will be helpful to them. Customers' interaction with a sales chat often helps them know and understand a brand better.
Therefore, even when someone does not immediately purchase after interacting with a sales chat, a person can still do that later. This shows that sales chat helps increase B2B sales and presents an innovative way to generate B2B leads.
2. Use SSL for your website security
You know that innovative strategies boost B2B lead generation and sales, but they must begin with ensuring the security of websites. Often, potential customers and leads are missed due to website vulnerabilities. Even individuals with limited technical expertise recognize basic security indicators in the current landscape.
They see if a site has HTTP instead of HTTPS. Also, they check if there's a padlock sign on your website’s URL. When your website doesn’t have HTTPS and padlock signs, visitors just click away, knowing there is a lack of security on your website.
To avert this, prioritize website security with SSL encryption. There are various SSL providers available on the market from which you can buy SSL certificates and install them on your website.
Not having an SSL certificate on your website can cause you to lose customers. Because people who visit your website quickly leave it because it is unsafe, you may have a high bounce rate and lose your search engine rankings.
3. Develop a strong email marketing strategy.
A B2B sales strategy that you can use to increase B2B sales is email marketing. Email marketing is one of the ways you can nurture leads and customers. Sadly, not all B2B service providers know how to maximize email marketing.
When you want to use email marketing as one of the innovative ways to generate B2B leads, especially in the field of SEO for B2B SaaS you need to build a targeted list of people you will be reaching. This targeted list can be based on the preferences, demographics, age groups, etc., of the people you want to reach.
Your emails should have a clear and compelling subject line that will make the recipient open it. When addressing the recipient, make it personalized so they feel the message was sent just for them. The content of your email should be of good quality and easy to understand.
Include a call to action, whether it is opening a link or making a purchase. Do not forget to include promotions and educative content in the email. We know you want to nurture your leads to increase B2B sales, but try not to overwhelm your subscribers with too many emails.
Send just enough emails to put your brand at the forefront of their mind but not too much to make it seem like you are spamming them. Also, give your subscribers the option to unsubscribe from your email list.
As demonstrated in a Forbes report, 66% of representatives use email marketing to promote their business or to generate leads among the targeted audience. The same study has shown that 79% of business owners acknowledge email marketing to be one of the essential methods for their business to generate leads, and 60% of them think it is an effective approach.
4. Prioritize video content
Most social media platforms have a video and reel option nowadays. This goes to show that most people are in favor of video content. With video content, you can show viewers how to use your product to tackle their needs, including their importance and features. Utilizing text to voice features in your videos can enhance accessibility and engagement for a wider audience.
Through your video content, you can share industry trends, best practices, problems, and solutions that the B2B audience faces. Your video content should be with a target audience in mind. It should aim to inform, be educative as well as be fun for the viewers. Doing this will increase B2B sales. A report has revealed that creating short video content can lead to 64% of scheduled prospect meetings.
5. Produce case studies to display successful business collaborations.
A successful B2B sales strategy must include case studies. They highlight successful business collaborations and show how your goods or services met certain needs and produced amazing outcomes. Case studies help potential B2B clients see the value that your solutions can bring by establishing credibility, trust, and social proof.
These stories demonstrate your brand's capability while acting as instructional resources and helping sales interactions. Focus on a clear structure, quantifiable results, client testimonials, and visual content while developing case studies.
To optimize their impact and ultimately engage potential customers with the real-world successes your company has had, promote them across platforms. This may be just what you need to increase B2B sales.
6. Use social media to warm up the leads.
One of the innovative ways to generate B2B leads is by using social media. With the help of social media platforms like Facebook, X, Instagram, and even LinkedIn you can warm up leads and actively carry out social selling, playing a crucial role in the B2B customer journey.
Previously, social media was just a place to catch up with loved ones, post cute videos and pictures, etc. Now, people see it as a place to get and warm up leads that can lead to those leads making purchases in the future.
On social media, you can position your brand as an expert in its field. You can create content that will make your brand stand out. You can use colorful backgrounds in stories to make the images pop, can use different stickers and animations to make it more visually appealing When you position yourself as a thought leader and your brand as the best in what it does, it will ultimately help you increase B2B sales.
On social media, you can reach out to people who will be more likely to make a purchase. You can send those messages and other helpful information. With this, it is easier to connect more with your leads and nurture your leads effectively.
7. Ask existing clients for referrals
If your products and services are excellent and fulfilling the needs of your customers, it will be easy to ask existing clients for referrals. Sometimes, you do not need to ask them for referrals because when someone they know requires a brand selling the products or services you sell, they will be inclined to recommend yours if it is satisfactory.
This is a B2B sales strategy. How to increase B2B sales without having to spend money.
8. Stick to your price sheet
Maintaining uniform pricing for all of your goods or services is part of the "stick to your price sheet" B2B sales approach. This strategy creates customer trust, prevents confusion, and establishes a trustworthy and transparent price structure.
It facilitates long-lasting connections, streamlines discussions, and establishes your company's credibility and straightforwardness in the B2B market. When your return customers see that you have a uniform pricing system, they will trust your brand more and be willing to make more purchases.
9. Get more online reviews
Reach out to your customers online and get reviews. For some leads, the only thing that will make them finally purchase what you are selling is if they see reviews from real-life people who have used your product or service. These reviews do a job of convincing prospective customers which leads to an increase in B2B sales.
10. Run A/B tests on key pages
A smart strategy for increasing B2B sales is to run A/B tests on important sites. You may determine the aspects, content, and designs that most appeal to your audience and maximize conversions by contrasting different versions of your websites. A/B testing offers insightful information about user preferences, enabling you to improve your pages for greater engagement and, eventually, greater B2B sales.
Case studies
Several companies and corporate brands have adopted the sales strategies adopted herein. In this section, we will go through some prime examples of companies that have adopted these sales strategies and how they have reaped from them:
1. Sales chat success – Zendesk
Zendesk, a customer service software company, implemented a proactive sales chat on their website. They significantly increased their lead conversion rates by engaging visitors with personalized assistance and immediate responses to inquiries.
The chat allowed Zendesk to address potential customers' questions promptly, guiding them through the decision-making process. This strategy not only improved customer satisfaction but also led to a substantial boost in their B2B sales.
2. Website security (SSL) – Shopify
Shopify, a leading e-commerce platform, prioritizes website security by using SSL encryption. This commitment to data protection and trust-building has been instrumental in attracting and retaining businesses of all sizes on their platform. Their clear focus on security has reduced bounce rates and enhanced search engine rankings, contributing to their continued growth and success.
3. Email marketing mastery: Allakando
Allakando, an innovative tutoring company based in Sweden, faced a unique challenge in November 2021. With 5,900 dedicated tutors and over 26,000 students to connect, they needed to maintain a personal touch while engaging with a large audience.
Erik Schuss, CMO at Allakando, emphasized the importance of effective communication and highlighted GetResponse as a tool that simplifies reaching the right audience with the right message at the right time.
To overcome their challenge, Allakando adopted a data-driven approach. They collected data from various sources and segmented their contact list into eight distinct segments, assigning ten custom fields to contacts.
This segmentation allowed Allakando to send highly relevant emails tailored to the specific needs of teachers, parents, and students. The key lesson from Allakando's success is the significance of understanding your audience thoroughly and using segmentation to deliver personalized and effective email marketing campaigns.
4. Video content impact – Cisco
Cisco, a global technology leader, has leveraged video content effectively to educate and engage their B2B audience. Through informative and entertaining video content, Cisco demonstrates the value of their products, highlights industry trends, and offers solutions to common challenges. This approach has not only increased their brand visibility but has also contributed to higher B2B sales figures.
5. Case study showcase – Salesforce
Salesforce, a cloud-based CRM solution provider, uses case studies extensively in their marketing efforts. These real-world success stories highlight how their solutions have helped businesses achieve remarkable results. By showcasing the tangible benefits of their products through case studies, Salesforce has built trust and credibility, resulting in increased B2B sales.
6. Social media mastery – Adobe
Adobe, a leading software company, excels in social media engagement. They position themselves as thought leaders in the creative industry by consistently sharing high-quality content on platforms like LinkedIn and Instagram. This strategy has warmed up leads and contributed to Adobe's reputation as a top choice among B2B clients, driving their sales growth.
7. Referral power – Dropbox
Dropbox, a cloud storage and file-sharing platform, has effectively utilized customer referrals to expand its B2B user base. The platform's user-friendly interface and exceptional service have garnered high levels of customer satisfaction, leading to frequent recommendations of Dropbox to colleagues and acquaintances.
This organic word-of-mouth marketing strategy has resulted in a consistent influx of new business clients, highlighting the significant impact of a well-received product on B2B sales.
8. Pricing transparency – Basecamp
Basecamp, a project management software company, is known for its transparent pricing model. They have maintained consistent and straightforward pricing for their software, earning the trust of their customers.
This pricing transparency has facilitated long-lasting relationships with B2B clients who appreciate the predictability and fairness, ultimately leading to higher sales and customer loyalty.
9. Online reviews boost – Trustpilot
Trustpilot, an online review platform, practices what it preaches. Trustpilot has become a trusted source of online feedback by actively encouraging its users to leave reviews. Many B2B companies use Trustpilot to collect and showcase reviews, which serve as powerful social proof for potential customers.
The abundance of genuine reviews on Trustpilot has contributed to increased B2B sales for companies using the platform.
10. A/B testing excellence – Bannersnack
Bannersnack, a leading provider of online ad design tools, faced a common challenge – enhancing user experience and boosting sign-ups on their landing page. To tackle this, they turned to Hotjar Heatmaps to gain insights into user behavior.
Through a series of A/B tests, Bannersnack identified that a larger, higher-contrast call-to-action (CTA) button significantly improved results. This data-driven approach led to a remarkable 25% increase in sign-ups, demonstrating the power of A/B testing in optimizing user experiences and driving conversions.
Bannersnack's success story serves as a testament to the impact of data-driven decision-making, highlighting how even a small design change based on user behavior analysis can yield substantial results in terms of increased conversions and improved user engagement
Final thoughts
There are several innovative ways to generate B2B sales leads and increase B2B sales but these are foolproof methods. You do not want your sales quota to remain stagnant or decrease because you could not meet your target. So, use these steps to increase sales today.
