Today we would like to share with you the post published by our colleague Ignacio Fdez. Zabaleta on the blog #DeFirma of the BerriUp Accelerator with which we have been collaborating since its inception. We hope you find it interesting.
At least the headline catches the eye, right?
I do not intend to generate a new theory .... but to share a way of approaching B2B commercial work for companies of all sizes, and of course Start Ups, in the short and medium term, in these turbulent times, in which changes in the way of selling have accelerated.
(Please excuse all the "anglicisms" but using Spanish terms seems a bit forced in some cases.)
There are several trends that we need to "pay attention" to. The main ones may be:
- Buyers inform themselves online before deciding. Both about what we offer and our "reputation" and about other options.
- Several people are involved in the decision, so it is in our interest that all of them somehow know who we are.
- There is an excess of offer / content / information. It is difficult for our content to reach the right person.
Therefore, it is true that in these "digital" times "Content is King". But it is not enough to have good content, because there is so much and from so many sources, that we cannot simply wait for our content to reach the person we want, and who also has the time to pay attention to it, no matter how interesting and well designed it may be.
In small (or large) companies that aspire to enter new markets, sectors or niches, it is more than likely that our potential customers have never heard of us.
That is why it is very good to start with the famous 4ps, and the Canvas, and other tools in the initial reflection to launch ourselves to the SALE as soon as possible.
As always, everything starts with:
- What we improve/solve and For whom.
- Segment Target Companies, Commercial Channel and Locate Target People in the companies.
- Prepare "buyerpersonalized" value propositions and prices.
- Prepare ourselves in terms of Image, Formats, Accessible Content, Updated Web, Person and Company LinkedIn Profiles, etc.
And this is where the 3Ps of SALES begin:
1.PUSH 2.PULL 3.PUSH
PUSH
Once the companies have been filtered and the people have been identified (several people per company), we have to get in touch, via phone call (to one) or LinkedIn (to several) so that they know that we want to talk to them and propose something that will interest them. Let them know that we exist. That they answer a first call and give us their e-mail. If we have segmented and communicated well from 4 to 8% on average, they will be interested in knowing more about what we are proposing. PUSH.
PULL
What do we do with the other 96-92%? Quality content strategy, accessible and conveniently published, so that they can be informed about who we are and how we manage to do what we say we do. With Inbound Alarms we will detect when an already qualified customer or another one that arrives to our content, goes from wanting to be informed to Investigate. PULL.
PUSH
Depending on the moment of each company and person, have a cadence of periodic contact/interaction with the people we consider interesting:
- Key accounts and
- Companies we detected that are "investigating. PUSH
This way we can "contact" and "keep informed" several people per company, so that when the time comes to make a decision, all of them will be more "inclined" to work with us.
In short, it is about generating a Commercial Inertia that helps us to have results in the short term and greater results in the medium and long term, being efficient in the use of Commercial Human Assets, which is always limited.
All this is important for everyone, but fundamental for SMEs and Start Ups with a target market that does not know them and therefore they have to be very proactive in the contact, generating confidence through transmitting knowledge and experience and, almost always, with a Commercial team that besides being "limited", goes "to the limit".
