The First Step of B2B Sales: Learn the Secret to Generating B2B Leads

Nearly 91% of marketers stated that lead generation is their main goal. After all, businesses thrive when there is a constant flow of incoming leads. While generating leads is important, the quality of leads is critical as well.

Unfortunately, business-to-business (B2B) lead generation is no easy feat. HubSpot found that around more than 50% of marketers place lead generation as their biggest challenge.

So, is there a thumb rule to generate high-quality leads in bulk? The answer is no. However, there are a few tips and tricks you could use to take your lead generation to the next level. If you are eyeing a career in sales, ‌this article is for you.

We have listed down some of the most effective strategies to help you boost your B2B sales lead generation.

Effective B2B Sales Tips and Strategies

Before we begin, please note that lead generation for B2B sales is not a walk in the park. You will need strategic planning, extensive research, and frequent interactions with multiple people.

Therefore, it is crucial to have some aces up your sleeve to generate more B2B leads. Here, we have listed some strategies to improve your overall B2B sales process.

1. Start by Creating a Buyer Persona

A successful B2B sales process is incomplete without a buyer persona. As a sales professional, invest significant time to create your ideal buyer persona and determine which companies fit the bill.

While building an ideal persona, always consider what your prospects sell/offer and how your product helps them. You should also try to seek additional information regarding how their business has progressed over the years.

Some important questions you could ask to learn more about a company include:

• Has the company launched a new product or a service?
• Has the company’s management changed over the past year?
• Whether they already have or intend to raise funds? (If you are dealing with a startup)

When you find answers to these types of questions, you will have more clarity regarding whether the company is likely to do business with your company or not.

Let’s move on to our next point.

2. Identify Your Customer’s Pain Points

Your focus should remain on understanding your client’s challenges and what they expect from you. This helps you calibrate an ideal client persona who will be interested in buying your product so that you can attract the right clientele.

Once you identify their pain points, you know exactly what to include in your marketing or sales pitch, which improves the chances of closing sales.

3. Cold Calling Is a Must

Many B2B sales reps and marketers shy away from cold calling. Cold calling is one of the most effective outbound lead generation strategies out there.

Sales representatives call potential clients or customers who they have never contacted before. Although these individuals may be  unfamiliar with your company, they could be interested in what you offer. Do not forget to build your mental fortitude before cold calling, as you are expected to bring your A game at all times.

If you do not pursue this avenue, you are likely to miss out on lucrative leads.

4. Qualify Leads

Sales-qualified leads are ideal customers who are all set to hear your sales pitch and learn more about your product. However, not every prospect you come across will convert to a qualified lead. These questions will give you a better idea if a prospect is a qualified lead:

• What are the different problems you are trying to fix?

You can determine which product or service you should recommend when you have answers to this question.

• Does your sales team have experience in solving such problems?

This question will give you the context you need to identify what will and not work for addressing your customer’s pain point. It also provides clarity on what buyer problems you can talk about.

• Who will make the final purchase decision?

You are in talks with multiple people when you are trying to close a deal in B2B sales. You can create the perfect sales strategy targeting the one who will call the shots.

5. Chalk Out Your Buyer’s Journey

After creating a persona and identifying your target audience, it is time to chalk out your buyer’s journey. In other words, how they will complete a purchase. Creating a buyer’s journey requires empathy. It requires you to put yourself in your customer’s shoes and navigate through different steps they would take before they make a purchase.

Here are the different stages a typical customer would go through:

• Awareness

Your customers identify pain points that require solutions

• Consideration

Here, a potential buyer is in the scouting phase, looking for products and services that suit their requirements.

• Decision

The buyer takes the final decision after carefully comparing different options.

A company’s sales team should stay on top of this information and keep track of prospects across various stages of the sales journey since lead generation essentially involves identifying and attracting customers.

Conquer the Exciting Challenges of B2B Sales

There’s no denying, B2B lead generation is very challenging. When the targets are steep, pressure is high, and everything is at stake, it is easy to give up. We encourage you to take the challenge head-on by implementing the strategies mentioned above.

Businesses should rethink their hiring strategy while building their sales teams. The focus should always remain on hiring passionate, bold, and smart individuals who are well-prepared for the job.

It is also important for existing sales professionals to stay on top of the latest trends and sales strategies to have a long and successful career in their domain.

Wondering where to start? Contact Juno School and kick-start your sales career today!