Einstein once said, "The only source of knowledge is experience" but is it so? Well, a very well-known fact is that experience isn’t cheap at all. It prima facie requires some sort of failure. The backdrop is that failure costs money when one is dealing with all these challenges of B2B online selling. These failures cost a huge at times, leaving a question to think upon is there any way out? Anyone operating under the B2B e-commercial business very well knows that it comes with a particular set of challenges.

B2B companies are often asked to deal with longer sales cycles, not so great B2B marketplace. This makes B2B marketing challenging. It's next to impossible to deal with every challenge one may face in the online B2B marketplace, let’s give you an account of some common B2B problems which the sellers face when they are willing to expand their business online. This article will also tell you as to how should one overcome these set of challenges.

1. Selling instead of building relationships

Most effective B2B sales strategy could be to stop selling entirely. The strategy should be such that customers should feel that they’re making a choice and not that they are being sold product or service just for the sake of making profits.

The most ethical and efficient way is by thinking in the sphere of your sales conversations in terms of analysing the problems and suggesting some solutions to it. One must engage the prospective customers in a discussion pretty much relative to their business and their needs. Once you are ready, just make sure you prepare for your meeting beforehand by exploring on company’s prospects.

Ask questions be it big or small such as:

  • What is the driving force that aids you in keeping up at night?
  • Where do you see your company within the next six months, one year or five years from now onwards?
  • What measures are you going to take in order to make it happen?

2. Focusing on your product, not the prospect’s needs

One must have spent years and years in developing and surely marketing your product as well. On the contrary, but the irony is that the prospects aren’t interested in whatever you have got to sell. They are more or less interested in how your product or service can be of some use to them.

When you very well know what your customer wants or what are his needs, you will be able to provide him with the best solution you can think of in that situation. The million-dollar advice what we can give you at this point of time is to better focus on highlighting the benefits of your product instead of just describing its features.

It is rather advisable to keep your presentation short and simple. It should be so lucid and vivid to comprehend that your prospects are able to grab as to what your product or service can do for them and give them a satisfactory reason as to why should they be doing business with you.

3. Rushing the client

It is, therefore, advisable to ask your prospects for their next move or a follow up after each and every meeting keeping in mind that you give adequate time to people in order to consider your proposal. You should keep in mind, it’s better not to hire a pushy salesperson because a pushy salesperson is always a turn-off.

When the time comes to follow up an action, better focus on understanding your customer's problem and take a step to find a solution to every objection that they have.

4. Making promises you can’t keep

The most major mistake B2B Online Selling salesperson does is to over promise in order to get a deal. This act creates an expectation among the customers which in case you are not able to fulfil by delivering the product or service will ultimately frustrate your customers, for sure. This negligent act of yours can let them come back to you on regular or mundane basis resulting downgrade of your reputation in the market.

Therefore, it is more or less advisable to make it quite vivid to your salesperson the extent as to how far they can go when discussing your product or service with prospects.

Once you have turned yourself into a trusted advisor, proficient in asking questions and listening closely to what the prospects have to say, what you are exactly doing is that you are making a long-term customer relationship. It is not only that you have aided them by clarifying a certain set of problems instead you have also given them a solution to it.

What’s Next

The above-mentioned tips, tricks, and online B2B marketing tactics can help the sellers to overcome these number of challenges and generate revenue from the online sales.

In the event of one not being sure as to which technology or system one should be looking out ways as to how can you use a multichannel selling strategy inclusive of B2B eCommerce.

Author's Bio: 

Manish Shrimal is CEO & Founder at LogicSpice Consultancy Pvt. Ltd - Mobile & Web development Company, having Industry experience of more than 12 Years. Experienced in dealing with global customers for their diversified requirements of Customized Web Application Development, Mobile Apps Development and Digital Marketing.