Has your sales team ever had a deal that just seemed to get stuck?
The prospects were excited about your product. They liked the features and capabilities you offered, and they saw how your offer was better than the competition’s. They even seemed to understand that your product was a great value.
But they didn’t buy.
And no matter how much pressure your team brought to bear or how many sweeteners you added to the deal, they still didn’t buy.
If you’ve been saying “Yes! Yes! Yes!” as you read through this description, you’re not alone. Most sales teams run into a sale that just won’t close no matter what they do, and it can be incredibly frustrating.
In our experience, B2B sales teams can dramatically reduce the number of these “stuck” sales by providing their reps with a key missing ingredient.
If you’re like most high-achieving B2B organizations, you already give your sales force a lot of resources. They have reams of information about your products and services, complete with all the speeds and feeds. And you’ve given them insights on your key competitors—who they are, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are, and how to exploit those weaknesses. If you’re a regular SellingBrew reader, you’ve probably also given them messaging that exposes your differential value, showing how your product is absolutely the best deal for the money.
What could possibly be missing?
In many cases where deals become stuck, firms have failed to provide their sales teams with insight about their prospects, specifically what motivates their prospects to buy.
In our research, we’ve uncovered 17 different categories of prospect insights that can help reps close more deals. For example, what kinds of problems is the prospect currently facing? If you eliminated that problem what would it mean for your potential customers? And what things does the prospect value? How does your product align with those values?
Frequently, these types of insights give sales representatives everything they need to nudge stuck sales into the closed sales column.
Imagine what it would mean for your company if you could boost your close rates significantly just by providing the sales team with these sorts of insights. Even better—don’t just imagine, actually model the impact that an improved close rate would have on your company financials and on take-home pay for the sales team. When you—and they—see the impact that even a small 10 percent improvement could make, you’ll probably be motivated to research prospect motivations and make the information available to the team.
Of course, providing sales with better customer insights is just one method for improving close rates. For twenty more, check out the express guide on “Strategies and Tactics for Boosting Your Close Rates.” It’s full of tips other B2B firms have used to improve their number of wins and make the sales team more efficient. And fortunately, most of them don’t require a whole lot of effort.
If your team is experiencing a lot of deals that just don’t seem to close, examine whether you are providing your reps with the customer insights they need, and consider putting some of the suggestions for improving close rates into practice. You might just find that with minimal effort you can get those stuck deals moving again.
17 Insights That Improve Close-Rates & Margins
The more your team knows about how your prospects perceive the marketplace, the better the chances are for success. This guide provides the key prospect insights that can improve close-rates, margins, and long-term customer values.
Strategies and Tactics for Boosting Your Close Rates
Most B2B companies would like to improve their close rates. On nearly every sales research study ever conducted, something to the effect of "improve our win rates" shows up as a top priority or objective. But what are they really doing to make it happen?
