Traditionally B2B sales are boring and expensive. Do you think that companies can change the way they sell?
I’m moving to Wichita, Kansas and one of the first things I had to do before I moved over there was buying a car.
To do that, I googled around for about a week, trying to find prices online for cars (which proved to be very difficult). Eventually, I bought from CarMax, because they have like an Amazon-style set up where you can buy a car right there.
B2B purchases are going the exact same way.
Check my video about how B2B sales will change in 2036:
Think about the last time you bought a tool; first, you identify a need, like maybe a new lead generation tool, then you google it typing “lead generation”, you click a few of those tools and reach out to as many as you want.
Or, you just do a page reading, and for some software service tools, you even sign up without talking to anyone. That’s the way all styles of business are to be soon, meaning that you’re going to win in the service business with a product-type service.
A product-type service means that a customer is able to go to your website, quickly see the type of services you’re offering, pick something without talking to anyone and sign up on the spot.
What can you do right now to get ahead of this curve? Read on.
How can you package your service as a productized service?
If it’s content marketing, maybe that means saying 8 articles for 2000$ and having that on the site with a “Buy Now” button.
For mobile app development, it might mean having a two-week sprint of work there with said “Buy Now” button. Maybe a one-day discovery process where people can buy knowing the price instantly, without them doing anything.
How to close B2B lead generation using your blog and Facebook Ads
Now ask yourself: if people are buying from all around the world, how are you supposed to meet them in person?
The traditional agency business model is all about face to face communication; you have somebody come in into your office, you smooth them up offering something to drink and sell them your product in person.
Well, the way that I’ve seen it go is video calls are about to take over.
San Francisco startups are already far ahead of the game, hiring the best of the world regardless of where they live.
If you check out Buffer’s blog you’ll see a very good breakdown of how that looks.
This is the way is going both for sales and for hiring.
Online feels better
Our entire team at X27 Marketing is remote, which means me and the team can live and work anywhere, as long as we hit our KPIs and we get our work done on time.
I’ve also seen on B2B sales that meeting with people face-to-face vs meeting with them in their office has no effect on the close rate.
This means I’m able to hold the exact same close rates through a Skype call, and then jumping to email and text, as when I was walking into people’s offices.
Once the industry finds out that is a lot cheaper to hire salespeople outside of your metropolitan area and do all of your meetings over Skype, everything will quickly change.
If I were you, the way to get ahead of that is to stop having clients in your office and start getting comfortable talking to a camera and selling over video chat.
Go overseas, go cheaper.
The last topic I want to cover is that software will get cheap and the real money will be on new ideas.
Coding is already getting cheaper by the day; there are incredibly smart coders in Romania, South America, Poland and all around the world, that are rivaling the developers and the coding talent in the US.
While the quality of code has gone up considerably overseas, the prices are staying about the same.
There are some very solid Indian mobile app developing firms whose quality rivals the American ones that are still only charging 25$ an hour or less, same with South America.
I think this is going to keep evolving largely on the production side; the only place you’re going to have an advantage as a salesperson is with your ideas.
Differentiate yourself from others
Anyone can do an “SEO audit” by plugging a domain name into a google search, but a true SEO salesman will provide strategy, recommendations and might even pitch a completely different strategy than what everyone else recommends.That’s where you’re going to be able to differentiate yourself.
That’s where you’re going to be able to differentiate yourself.
I think that if productized services spread through the whole industry, it will make everyone a lot more price-focused, which will bring prices down.
A premium rate will only be possible by creating a close gap between you and your clients, characterized by trust and a quality of service.
One moto that I’ve lived by for the last two years, is to ask to myself before a client meeting: what would you recommend if the client was your friend?
What that means is being true to your word, and only tell your clients that something is going be valuable to them if you 100% believe it, like you would to a best friend, knowing that even if you fail, they still are going to be there for you.
Is there anything I missed? Where do you think B2B sales are going?
Leave the comments below and let’s start a conversation!
If you need marketing or B2B sales support for your digital agency, feel free to contact to us!
Thanks! See you next time.
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