7 Tips to Foster a Positive Sales Experience for B2B Buyers

Are you creating a positive sales experience for your B2B company's buyers? According to a study conducted by Zendesk, over six in 10 buyers purchase more products or services after having a positive sales experience. When buyers are happy, they'll typically stay with your B2B company while making more purchases. To take your B2B company's sales to the next level, you must create a positive sales experience.

#1) Track Interactions

You can foster a positive sales experience by tracking interactions with buyers. In the B2B industry, most buyers don't make a purchase during their initial conversation with a sales rep. Rather, it often takes a half-dozen or more interactions to close the sale. By tracking interactions with buyers, you'll have a better understanding of how far along they are in their respective journey. You can then adjust your sales messages so that they are highly relevant and targeted, which should result in a more positive sales experience for buyers.

#2) Use an Omnichannel Approach

Using an omnichannel approach to your sales strategy will likely lead to a higher level of buyer satisfaction. Not to be confused with multichannel, omnichannel is defined by the use of multiple channels -- typically four to eight channels -- with which to engage buyers. Channels can consist of direct phone, virtual meetings, social media, a website, email and other communications platforms. Using an omnichannel approach means that buyers can use multiple channels to interact with your B2B company.

The key thing to remember is that omnichannel focuses on integration. Regardless of how many channels you intend to use for buyer interactions, you should integrate them together. Integration means that the buyer's data, as well as his or her experience is shared between the different channels.

#3) Identify Buyers' Needs

Selling requires an understanding of the buyer's needs. If you're trying to sell a product or service to a buyer, you'll need to explain how it can benefit his or her needs. Doing so will allow you to properly pitch the product or service while fostering a positive experience for the buyer in the process. Research conducted by HubSpot even shows that identifying the needs of buyers is the single most important thing sales reps can do to foster a positive experience for buyers.

All buyers have needs. More specifically, the businesses that own or operate have needs, which is why buyers are looking for a product or service. Products and services are the solutions to their problems. Maybe a buyer's business is struggling to expand into a new market, or perhaps the buyer's business is trying to lower its operational costs. Identifying their needs will allow you to match the best product or service for a given buyer.

#4) Pitch But Don't Be Pushy

Another tip to foster a positive sales experience for buyers is to pitch your products or services without being pushy. The same HubSpot study previously cited found that that not being pushy is the second-most important thing sales can do to foster a positive experience for buyers. Being pushy, of course, means aggressively pitching or promoting a product or service with little regard to the buyer's experience. You can still pitch products or services, but you shouldn't be pushy. Using a gentler sales pitch will create a more positive experience that compels buyers to interact with your B2B company.

#5) Seek Feedback

You can leverage feedback to foster a positive experience for buyers. After closing a sale, send the buyer a feedback survey so that you can gauge his or her satisfaction. It doesn't have to be long or complex. Rather, you can create a simple feedback survey in which buyers rate their experience on a scale from zero to 10. Using this data, you'll have a clearer depiction of whether buyers are satisfied.

Feedback alone won't necessarily create a positive sales experience for buyers. Instead, you'll need to put the feedback to use. As you collect feedback from buyers, take note of their overall satisfaction level. If most buyers rate their experience a nine or 10, it's safe to assume they are satisfied, in which case you can continue with your sales strategy. If buyers rate their experience a three or four, on the other hand, you should consider adjusting your sales strategy. Doing so will help you create a more positive sales experience for buyers.

#6) Ask Questions

Don't forget to ask questions when talking to and communicating with buyers. Many sales reps make the mistake of having one-way conversations with buyers. When calling a buyer, they'll talk nonstop without giving the buyer the opportunity to speak up. Asking questions offers a solution. When you ask a buyer a question, he or she will respond which an answer. This will create a two-way conversation that promotes a higher level of satisfaction for buyers. Buyers will feel valued and appreciated. In turn, they'll have a more positive sales experience that compels them to continue doing business with your B2B company.

Here are some questions you can ask buyers during your sales calls and communications:

• What's the biggest challenge your business is currently facing?
• How long have you been working at your business?
• What's your business's budget?
• Who is your business's target audience?
• When are you looking to buy the product or service?
• What are your primary job responsibilities and duties?
• Have you used any similar products or services? (e.g. competitors' products or services)

#7) Respond Promptly

Punctuality goes a long way in fostering a positive sales experience for buyers. According to Convince & Convert, over two in three buyers expect a response within just one hour of reaching out to a B2B company via email. If it takes you longer than an hour to respond, they may choose a different B2B company from which to buy products or services. You can create a more positive sales experience for buyers by responding promptly. As soon as you notice an email or any other message from a buyer, craft a response as soon as possible.

Calling Project Report

Now let's put this to work. When you receive a Project Report from SalesLeads, some of the homework is done for you. Be sure to read the project overview. This will give you a good basis for asking questions, however, they will be more detailed. Getting the answers to these questions will give you a deeper, faster and more purposeful sales cycle as you'll be able to possibly close the sale faster. With the 'opportunities', you'll also be able to understand what else the project needs. You'll be able to ask more questions and possibly offer a more vibrant solution.