Overcome these common WFH B2B sales challenges

Achieving success in B2B sales while working from home is a lot like punching a cloud – extremely difficult to do.

Okay, so maybe it’s not quite that hard (you’ll probably be tackled to the ground by the air hostesses before you’ve even got the emergency door open… trust me). But still, there are a lot of challenges facing today’s B2B salespeople.

Overcoming these challenges is essential for improving your B2B sales results. This means starting by connecting with the right people, i.e. senior decision makers; not Callum the Junior Account Executive who doesn’t know how to unmute himself on video calls despite spending more time on his laptop than any of his colleagues.

Anyway… below are some of the most common WFH B2B sales challenges, and some helpful tips on how to overcome them.

Connecting with the right people

As I’ve said, your first step should be to target prospects who are most likely to convert. Not Callum. Forget Callum.

You should only be chasing quality leads, meaning your sales process needs to include a solid prospecting strategy. Have a clear understanding of who’s likely to be interested in your products or services, and target by relevant criteria (industry, job title, location etc.). Seniority is especially important as these are the people making the buying decisions.

Without thorough research, converting prospects into SQLs (sales qualified leads) is going to prove extremely difficult. So, do some proper prospecting and let Callum enjoy his podcasts.

Staying at C-level

Focus on C-level professionals, as they’re the most likely to make the final purchase decisions for their companies. Unfortunately, with the current business climate causing so much stress for so many individuals, getting through to these people is harder now than it’s ever been.

So, follow them on social media and pay close attention to what they’re posting, as well as what kind of content they’re engaging with. Then target them based on their interests.

But be wary of trendy B2B organisations and their made-up job titles. ‘Chief Fun Officer’ might get you a bit of attention on LinkedIn, but what does it actually mean? What are your KPIs? Giggles per month? P**s off.

Feeling your customers’ pains

You don’t need to go full Daniel Day Lewis to understand your customers, especially now that most of us are in the same boat. Never has there been so much common ground between 40-something business leaders and salespeople in their twenties.

But still, 60% of B2B buyers do their own research via Google and social media before speaking to a salesperson. So don’t expect to close any deals with pandemic small talk. It’s still crucial that your messages and content appeal directly to your prospects’ pain points.

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Need to improve team morale? Read our blog on staying positive while WFH.

Becoming a ‘Thought Leader’

Reaching ‘Thought Leader’ status is the holy grail for a B2B sales rep. But achieving this is no easy task and if you do it wrong your face will melt off… no, wait, that’s the actual Holy Grail.

Achieving this involves sharing lots of original content and insights which give value to your audience. Of course, creating this content requires time and resources. Between prospecting and closing deals, most B2B sales teams simply don’t have the capability.

If you don’t have any original content, speak with your marketing person/team and make sure the content they’re creating is aligned with your sales goals. Or, if you can’t do this in-house, outsourcing is a good cost-effective alternative.

Ensuring high sales performance

In truth, the challenges in B2B sales are too many to mention. WFH fatigue, hard-to-reach prospects, weak pipelines, lengthy sales cycles, Callum. The list goes on.

Some of these can be solved with a ‘Build’ approach, i.e. upskilling your existing team with professional sales training.

Others are better tackled using a ‘Buy’ approach, i.e. buying outsourced services – this is proving especially popular and effective in the current climate.

And if your sales process is a complete mess (it’s a more common problem than you might think), you can always try a combination of all the above.

If you need any more advice on overcoming your B2B sales challenges, get in touch and speak to an expert.