The One KPI B2B's Should Focus On

According to the November issue of the Havard Business Review, 84% of business-to-business sales start with a referral-not a salesperson, along with peer recommendations influencing more than 90% of all B2B buying decisions. 

Outbound B2B sales are becoming less and less effective. In fact, a recent survey found that connecting with a prospect now takes 18 or more phone calls, callback rates are below 1%, and only 24% of outbound sales emails are ever opened.

As the graphic below details, we use more and more technology to prospect clients. Yet returns on time, money, and energy are lower than ever. Technology is supposed to make your life easier, yet when it comes to prospecting and sales, it seems to perplexing and demoralizing. 

Image From: Topo Blog

So how do you stand out from crowd? 

Focus on the problems you have solved, not the solutions you can provide.  

Why are more and more buyers avoiding salespeople during the buying process? Sales reps, according to Forrester, tend to prioritize a sales agenda over solving a customer’s problem. If organizations don’t change their outdated thinking and create effective sales models for today’s digital era, Forrester warns that 1 million B2B salespeople will lose their jobs to self-service e-commerce by 2020.

The answer to the shift away from reliance on outbound sales could reside in social selling, the strategy of adding social media to the sales professional’s toolbox. 

Social media has become a pre-requisite for companies in today's digital era. Instead of posting the solutions your company provides, promote the success of the companies you work with. It's an unbiased, third party prospective that provides credability to your company and your solutions. 

[May we suggest reading: Influencer Marketing 101]