8 Steps to Bigger & Better B2B Sales Results

Tired of putting endless hours of work into your company's B2B sales success only to end up jumping through hoops and getting subpar results?

Even the most successful business owners and sales reps have been there before!

To get you out of that endless cycle, we're sharing a simple 8-step improvement process that'll put you on track to achieving bigger and better B2B sales results.  More than that, following these 8 steps will set you up for sustainable, long-term sales growth!

Think that 8 steps isn't enough to get you on track to success?

If so, you've probably unfortunately been conditioned to believe that if something is simple or easy that it's ineffective!

Not only is that way of thinking invalid, but going in the opposite direction by following a complex  improvement process will only set you back further.

It's time to end the endless cycle of countless hours of work only to get poor results once and for all!  If that resonates with you in even the least bit, start here with this simple 8-step process to end the cycle, and put yourself on the path to bigger and better B2B sales results!

1. STOP and Step Back

If something isn't working, going at it harder or doing it for any longer isn't going to do you any good.

For example, if you've been spending hours cold calling while using the same sales techniques over and over again only to get everybody to hang up on you, wouldn't you step back and say... 'This isn't working, maybe I should try something else or do something different!'.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

Therefore, if you're coasting along right now and want bigger and better sales results but don't ever stop and question the validity of what you’re doing... don't you see a clear problem?

Moreover, to get on the path to B2B selling success, the first thing you need to do is simply stop what you're doing.  Then, analyze what's been preventing you from achieving better results all this time.

Don't even think about making any changes to your plan of action until you simply stop and step back!

Don’t Dig Yourself Into a Deeper Hole

Believe it or not, but for many B2B salespeople and business owners, stopping and stepping back is the most challenging part of the improvement process.

Why?

Because, most of us have been conditioned to believe that if we're not taking action that we're hurting our odds of success.

However, what good is there to taking action if the way that we're taking action clearly isn't working for us?

That being said, don't fall into the trap of believing that simply because you're doing something that it'll improve your business results!  Because, the truth is that, while you can be taking action, action doesn't necessarily matter if it's the wrong action.

By the wrong action, we mean that you're pounding the pavement but going in the opposite direction of where you should be heading!

Furthermore, if you're going ham but not going anywhere, you simply need to stop what you're doing and take a step back before you dig yourself into an even deeper hole.

Remember, not all action is effective action in terms of bringing you closer to your sales goals.

Once you do step back and realize that while you've been taking action that it hasn't been the right action, the best thing you can do is learn from that experience and use it as fuel to propel yourself forward.

Bottom line: If your current plan of action clearly isn't working, stop what you're doing and assess the situation.  Then, learn from the situation and use that newfound knowledge as fuel to propel you forward.  Don't dig yourself into deeper trouble!

2. Address the Elephant In the Room: Your Mindset

So, you've stopped what you're doing and have taken a step back to assess the situation…

Now, the absolute most important thing to do is dive into your own mind and assess what's going on in there.  By that, we mean taking a look at your mindset.

Your mindset is the accumulation of the thoughts you think.  If you think mostly positive thoughts, then you have a positive mindset.  On the other hand, if you think mostly negative thoughts, you have a negative mindset.

And as you probably already guessed, having a positive mindset is crucial for sales success!

At the end of the day, you can have the most fantastic product or service, social media marketing plan, or lead generation process, but if your mindset is in a terribly negative state, then it all goes to waste.

That being said, don't bypass or underestimate the importance of your mindset in terms of helping you achieve bigger and better sales results!

Understand the Importance of Mindset in B2B Business

Before going any further, you might be wondering why mindset is so important for B2B sales success.

Here's why: The thoughts you think determine the emotions you feel.  The emotions you feel determine the actions you take.  The actions you take ultimately determine your results.

Therefore, if you think positive thoughts, you'll feel positive emotions, take positive actions, and get positive results!

It's as simple as that.

Therefore, every sales professional needs to do two things:

• Understand that their mindset plays the largest role in their overall sales success
• Begin replacing negative thoughts with positive ones

Just like anything else in life, thinking positive thoughts takes practice, especially if you're used to thinking negatively.

In order to practice thinking positively, all you need to do is exercise greater awareness over the thoughts you think.  Then, when you become aware that you're thinking negatively, actively choose to think positively instead!

Think Bigger to Get Bigger Results

Do you ever feel like maybe you're not getting the big results you want because you're thinking too big?

If so, then consider this: Maybe the reason you're not getting big results you want is because you're not thinking big enough.

Straight-up: If you have big visions and goals for your sales outcomes, then you need to think big to ultimately get big results!  More than that, you probably need to think bigger than what you already are!

Big visions only manifest in reality if you take big actions.  But, you can't take big actions unless you think big first!

3. Empower Yourself With Sales Enablement

How many business books have you read and how many podcasts have you listened to?

If you're like most business owners and sales representatives, you've probably read all of the most famous books and regularly tune into the top podcasts.

As a result, you might feel like you've got all the knowledge and skills it takes to achieve sales success.

While we would put money on you having all the knowledge and skills you need to achieve success, we would also put money on the fact that possessing knowledge and skills isn't enough.  

In fact, it doesn't really matter how smart or skilled you are!

What does matter though is whether or not you know how to apply the knowledge and skills that you already have.

Unfortunately though, so many sales reps and business owners think that they're missing some crucial knowledge when in fact they simply just don't know how to apply the knowledge they already have!

Instead of picking up another book or tuning into another podcast, what you need is to empower yourself with sales enablement that teaches you to apply information and become an active problem-solver.

Perhaps the two most effective ways to empower yourself are:

1. A top-level sales training program
2. CEO coaching

Without empowerment, it's nearly impossible to achieve any sales or business-related goal.

Get the Training You Need

What's the difference between being smart and being empowered?

Being smart means that you possess knowledge, while being empowered means that you know what to do with the knowledge you have.

Unfortunately, it's very challenging if not impossible to become empowered through a book, podcast, or webinar.

But, you can become empowered with a full-proof sales training program that has a track record of producing results for B2B companies.

In these kinds of training programs, experienced sales leaders empower others to become problem solvers and apply their knowledge to everyday sales scenarios.

To step up your sales game, the best investment you can make is in you and your sales team's empowerment with a top-tier sales training program.

Call In Reinforcement From a CEO Coach

There is no better person on earth to help you become a better business and sales leader than a CEO coach.

Why?

Because, a top-level coach is a current or former successful business leader themselves, therefore they've gone through most of the trials and tribulations that you're either currently going through or will go through in the future.

That being said, because they've stood in your shoes before, a CEO coach knows the exact business and sales tools that you need to reach the next level.

Every sales pro and business leader needs support on the path to bigger and better sales results, and there is no better person to support them than a CEO coach.

4. Refine Your B2B Sales Strategy

Whenever you take on a difficult task in life, you should have a strong purpose or 'why' for doing it.

For example, if you're going to put yourself through the difficult processes of becoming an olympic athlete, then it should be because you have a dream of becoming the best athlete in your sport.

Similarly, you wouldn't jump into B2B sales if you didn't have a compelling purpose for doing so.  Because, while sales is certainly exciting, that doesn't mean that it doesn't come with it's fair share of challenges.

This is how you should think of your B2B sales strategy... You need to think of it as your purpose or 'why' for doing what you do.  More specifically, it describes why you do everything you do during the sales process to close deals.  

Moreover, if you want to have a strong purpose, you need to refine your sales strategy.  To do that, start by nailing these two points down:

1. What makes your company different than the competition
2. Who your target customers are 

If you can hit these two points on the head, your sales strategy will immediately increase in power and play a significant role in helping you achieve bigger and better results.

Know the Thing That You Do Better Than Anyone Else

Every successful business has something about them that makes them stand out from the competition. 

That thing is also known as their unique selling point or unique value proposition (UVP).  It’s the thing that you believe your company does better than all other companies!

Your B2B sales strategy needs to be simmering with that unique factor.  Unless you hone in on it, it's only inevitable that you'll blend in with your competition.  And when you blend in with the competition, then your odds of sales success sink.

Therefore, be sure to highlight your UVP in your strategy.  Then, get your B2B marketing team in on the game to help highlight that UVP in every way possible, including in content marketing, sales pitches, and direct marketing pathways.

Know Your B2B Customers Inside and Out

There's no point in having a unique selling point if you don't know who to sell it to!

Therefore, the second key to refining your sales strategy is to refine your target B2B buyers.  Specifically, you need to develop a:

1. Ideal prospect profile (IPP) for your target B2B companies
2. Ideal buyer persona (IBP) for the top stakeholders at the companies

First off, an IPP outlines an ideal buyer in your target market.  There are several factors that make an ideal buyer, including if you know that they have a pain point you can solve and if they can afford your deliverable.

Second, you need to have an IBP for the decision-makers at the ideal company.  The decision-makers are the people who have the authority to make final purchasing decisions, so understanding their personas is crucial to success.

Straight-up: If you want bigger and better sales results, understanding who your ideal customers are is absolutely crucial to success!

5. Declutter Your B2B Sales Process

Once you have your 'why' (AKA your sales strategy) refined, you can start to declutter your 'what' (AKA your sales process).

Also known as a B2B sales cycle or sales pipeline, a process is your plan of attack for converting qualified leads into paying customers.  From the initial outreach to the final sales pitch, it's all a part of the selling process!

Unfortunately, many sales teams overcomplicate the heck out of their process.  As a result, they create countless hoops for themselves to jump through that are completely unnecessary.

Therefore, what you need to do to be successful is declutter, shorten, and develop a more straightforward sales cycle.  Not only are simplified cycles easier on you and your sales team, but they're absolutely more effective!

Longer sales cycles with more steps and boxes to check might look impressive, but they actually take you backwards.  If you want bigger and better results, then you need to declutter.

Get Rid of Pointless Steps and Sales Techniques

Whenever you overload your sales process with pointless steps, techniques, and boxes to check, you inevitably create a petri dish of potential problems!

Think of it like this...When you have a simple process with the least amount of hoops to jump through as possible, you decrease the odds that you fall flat on your face.

Moreover, there's no point in making your process unnecessarily drawn out and complicated unless you want to fall flat on your face.

Bottom line... Scale back your process to increase its potency and decrease the odds you run into self-inflicted problems.

Stick to What You Know Best

When it comes to your selling process, stick to what you know best.  By that, we mean take advantage of sales techniques, tools, and tactics that you know you excel with.

For example, if you know that you kill it with cold outreach, specifically cold calling, then don't force yourself to use other methods of outreach when you only have so much time on your hands.

While you should certainly push yourself to try new things, don't force yourself into a box that you don't need to be in!  Stick with what you know you excel at.

6. Put Yourself Inside The Sales Funnel

Knowing how to put yourself in other people's shoes to see life from their perspective is one of the most powerful life skills you can have.

Similarly, being able to put yourself in your B2B lead's shoes to understand their decision-making process is one of the most powerful sales skills you can have.

And, that's exactly what putting yourself inside of your sales funnel does!

The sales funnel is the process that potential B2B customers experience in order to come to a buying decision.

If you put yourself inside the sales funnel, you get a clear view of the customer experience that your B2B leads go through.  And, their customer experience significantly influences their decision-making process.

That being said, if you want to improve your customer's experience so that they're more likely to make buying decisions in your favor, put yourself inside your customer's shoes by jumping into the sales funnel!

Do Your Potential Customers Enjoy the Buying Process?

Don't you think that your potential customers want to enjoy the buying process?

Don't you think that whether or not they have a positive, enjoyable experience will inevitably help determine whether or not they decide to purchase from you?

Here's the thing... You may have the best product or service on the market, but if your leads have a terrible buying experience with you, then the odds that they choose you for their solution are slim.

Therefore, do what it takes for your potential customers to enjoy the buying process by:

• Shortening up the sales funnel (by shortening up the sales process)
• Interjecting your genuine personality into each sales encounter
• Just being a natural, genuine person

At the end of the day, your prospects are people like you, and people like you don't want to experience a miserable buying process.

Practice a Straightforward Sales Approach

So... What's the best way to ensure that potential customers enjoy their time in the funnel?

While shortening up the funnel, showing off your personality, and being a genuine person are all a must, there is one more less conventional tactic that is an absolute must for success.  And, that is having a straightforward, assertive sales approach with prospects.

Believe it or not, but if you aren't assertive, you're not going to get anywhere in sales. 

Why?

Because, when you are assertive, you tell prospects exactly what they need to hear to get their pain points solved.  And when you assert that knowledge, they see you as an expert at what you do.  And when they feel like they're being taken care of by an expert, they appreciate the buying process more!

Don't get it twisted, being assertive doesn't mean that you're being overbearing or pushy.  Instead, it just goes to show that you care about your leads making the right purchasing decision for themselves.

7. Start Before You’re Ready

It doesn't matter if you think you're ready or not, you just need to start!

You can't sit around waiting forever for the perfect timing, because the truth is that there is no such thing as perfect timing.  

The second you overcome one problem, it'll only be a matter of time before there's another one to deal with.

The second you think you know what you're doing, you'll realize that there's something else you need to learn.

When are you finally going to step up and take action?

Nobody Ever Knows Exactly What They’re Doing

The difference between the people who succeed and the people who don't succeed is that the people who succeeded got started even when they didn't feel ready!

Moreover, the difference between people who succeed and don't succeed is simply action despite some uncertainty!

The real truth of the business and sales world is that nobody ever fully knows what they're doing.  It doesn't matter if it's a successful large or small business owner, or a fresh sales rep or an experienced professional, nobody is ever 100% sure if what they're doing is right.

Your goal is to get comfortable with the fact that you're never going to know exactly what you're doing.  But, that unknowingness is what makes business fun!

8. Commit to Continuous Improvement

If you're reading this right now because you want bigger and better sales results, then understand that you can't just commit to making certain changes today only to return to your old ways tomorrow.

Moreover, committing yourself to bigger and better sales results today requires a commitment to continuous improvement.

These days, the business world changes at a pace faster than ever before.  Therefore, unless you're committed to continuously improving yourself and your business, you'll certainly fall behind the times.

Choosing to change today but not tomorrow completely wipes out all of your efforts!  Keep the momentum going into the future if you want your efforts to pay off in the long run.

Don’t Be Afraid to Adjust Course Throughout the Process

Once you commit to continuous improvement, you can't be afraid to change or adjust your business plans during the process of implementing them.

Again... The world changes at a pace faster than ever before, and not only that, but as a business leader, you're going to be learning new information and improving yourself every day.

Therefore, it only makes sense that as you learn more and improve yourself that you'd apply that newfound knowledge to your business plans.

Think of it like this... If you're playing a soccer game and you have all your plays mapped out but then you all of a sudden spot a weakness in the other team, wouldn't you use that weakness as an opportunity to advance yourself even if it mildly disrupts your initial plays?

Similarly, if you're running a business and gain some new knowledge that uncovers a weakness in your business plans, wouldn't you resultantly adjust course to improve upon that weakness?

Being able to adjust course in real-time takes practice, but simply committing yourself to continuous improvement is a great place to start.

Final Thoughts on Bigger & Better Business-to-Business Sales Results

Again, if you believe that it takes more than just this simple 8-step improvement process to achieve sales success, then ask yourself whether or not you believe that because of mental conditioning.  More specifically, the kind of mental conditioning that tries to tell you that something needs to be complex to be effective!

The truth is that complexity gets you close to nowhere.  If you want to see bigger and better B2B sales results, then simplicity is key to success.

And, what better tool to simply improve sales results is there than this straightforward 8-step improvement process?

You've got what you need to get on the path to sales success, now it's just a matter of whether or not you will take swift action!