It takes a long time to get deals over the finish line. There are a host of reasons, but let's start with complexity.
Customers will have no shortage of questions about what your offering can do for them. And as a sales professional, you'll likely find yourself digging through documentation and tapping internal subject-matter experts to answer those inquiries. Unless you're selling to a small business with a limited number of decision makers, you'll be dealing with a committee of buyers.
Stakeholders from IT, legal, procurement, and members of the C suite will all be part of the purchasing process. As a rep, you'll want to avoid trying to push these purchasing teams to move faster than they're comfortable with, and you'll also need to take these long sales cyclesOpens in a new window into account when setting sales goalsOpens in a new window.
Tough competition
Fierce competition in the B2B world is normal.
As a sales rep, you'll constantly be scrambling to gain the upper hand over competitors, whether they're undercutting your pricing model or offering features your product lacks. Understand your product inside and out, as well as what's being offered by the competition. If you can build a strong case for why your product is unique and can america phone number list solve a potential customer's problems, you'll be on the right track. Remember, avoid badmouthing the competition, and always focus on building relationships over the hard sell to win over a customer.
Poor coordination between marketing and sales
If sales and marketing aren't on the same page about messaging and buyeOpens in a new windowr personasOpens in a new window, B2B sales can go from challenging to vexing. Inconsistent targeting can create confusion and lead to lost opportunities. There should be a constant flow of information between the teams. If you find that prospects don't have enough information about your product, then work with marketing on how to raise the level of knowledge.