by gabriel_sales | Jan 7, 2014
As a quick Google search will tell you, the complexity of B2B sales outsourcing is increasing dramatically as we move more and more into a digitally-driven world. In this new world of digital sales tools, marketing automation and customer relationship management, it takes more than a good cold call script to close a deal.
Scaling your business in this environment is going to take a commitment to smart technology use, authentic storytelling and a strategized sales process. Because many B2B companies do not have a marketing automation expert, a trained journalist and a highly experienced sales team on staff, they now are looking to external resources for support.
When it comes to B2B sales outsourcing and marketing, the right solution for any company is going to depend on their existing gaps and current goals. Some companies may only need help with technology implementation (marketing automation consulting), some have struggles that are on a more strategic level, and others need support through execution (content production).
Here are three ways a sales and marketing outsourcing company can provide value to a company looking to scale:
1. Go-to-Market/Market Validation Consulting
Before attempting to scale any kind of business, it is necessary to have a clear picture of your market and your ideal customer profile. With go-to-market strategy or market-validation consulting, you can leverage expert research and advice and test your markets, message and solution before committing to sales and marketing budgets. By paving the way for success beforehand, you can eliminate time spent chasing bad tactics and unnecessary development cycles and instead focus on campaign refinement and optimization.
2. Pipeline development via staff augmentation
Many times, scaling a business is about having the right people on board. By leveraging an outsourced sales and marketing team, you get access to a highly experienced group of experts you likely could not afford to hire internally. This team can help you with all parts of sales pipeline development including content production, email nurturing, SEO, database management, etc.
3. Measurement and reporting
As a service provider, every outsourced sales and marketing team should be accountable for the work they do. As a B2B company looking to scale, the detailed measurement and reporting an outsourced team provides can be extremely valuable. While we cannot speak for every outsourced sales and marketing company, at Gabriel Sales, we provide our clients with twelve different types of reporting on our efforts—from data on conversion ratios to verbatim transcripts of cold calls—and have weekly meetings to discuss our successes and areas for improvement. This increased level of transparency gives companies the ability to better forecast and understand where and how to optimize as they scale.
To learn more about the value of B2B sales outsourcing and marketing, read How an Outsourced Sales Team Can Help Your Marketing Team or 5 Advantages for B2B Sales Outsourcing in 2014. If you are interested in learning more about what we do, you can visit our services page.
Feel free to contact us with any questions.
by gabriel_sales | Jan 3, 2014
How to use social proof to your advantage in b2b sales
This is the second part of a series on social proof in B2B. To read part one, titled, “Why is Social Proof Effective in Marketing?”, click here.
Tips for Using Social Proof in B2B
Social proof5 is a little bit harder to demonstrate in B2B than it is in B2C; a midlevel office software management software is never going to have the “likes” or “followers” that Apple does. However, there are still many ways for B2B companies to leverage the immense power of social proof6 in the buying process; below, we discuss three.
Use social proof7 with language
Not all social proof8 has to be blatantly obvious. You can incorporate subtle messages into the language of your sales and marketing content that hint at your customers’ high level of satisfaction. For example, in an email, say something like, “ 300 customers agree that our solution is the best for . . .” or “Our 99% customer retention rate tells us . . .” to help put customers at ease by giving them a reason to believe you are both credible and trustworthy.
It is best to be as specific as possible to help strengthen the credibility and similarity (in relation to your prospect) you are perceived to have. For example, the sentences above could be changed to “300 of New England’s law firms agree that our solution is the best for . . .” and “Our 99% retention rate of Fortune 500 companies tells us . . .”. These may seem like small details, but they can have a significant impact in helping you earn a prospect’s trust.
Use social proof9 with visuals
B2B companies can also leverage social proof10 through a variety of visual tactics. If your company has clients who are well-respected and well-known, featuring their logos on your website and throughout sales and marketing content is a great way to demonstrate credibility. You can also ask your clients to record video testimonials where they talk about the value your product/service brought to their company. For a CEO in the midst of a purchase decision, seeing another CEO (who is perceived to be both similar and credible) give his opinion on your product or service can be extremely persuasive.
If you are unable to get your clients on camera, you can use pictures instead. Seeing a face next to a written testimonial has been shown to help increase the likelihood of the testimonial being believed.
Use social proof11 with stories
Despite the enormous amount of statistical data now at our fingertips, humans are still much more persuaded by stories. It is not that we don’t like or don’t trust numbers, we just need something more to be genuinely persuaded. Susan Weinschenck, author of Neuro Web Design: What makes them click, explains, “If you want people to act on the data, then you need to couple it with emotional data.” Stories provide this emotional data and when used correctly, can be very powerful in changing consumer opinion and behavior.
To use stories as social proof12 through B2B marketing content, ask your customers to explain a specific time when you were able to help them or describe what the start-up/implementation process was like. By asking them how they felt while working with you, you may get a more emotional and therefore more persuasive response. Here’s an example of an ideal B2B story testimonial:
“My boss was breathing down my neck as I was trying to find a solution for X. He said he wanted something next week, and everything I was looking at seemed either poor quality or too expensive. I was desperate. When I found Company Z, the team was extremely helpful and worked with me to get everything set up running smoothly within three days! My boss hasn’t stopped thanking me since.”
Emotional stories like this are a great form of social proof13 for two reasons. First, they allow prospects to see that another person felt the pain they now feel during the buying process. Second, they allow prospects to imagine the relief and accomplishment your customer felt when they chose you as a solution. By creating emotional associations and connections, stories carry influence that data cannot compete with.
For more on why emotional connection matters in B2B, click here. Feel free to contact us with any questions.
As a quick Google search will tell you, the complexity of B2B sales outsourcing is increasing dramatically as we move more and more into a digitally-driven world. In this new world of digital sales tools, marketing automation and customer relationship management, it takes more than a good cold call script to close a deal.
