Seasoned Founders and Venture Builders share how they build an Effective B2B Sales Process

Sales is often maligned - partly because it has historically been staffed by people with a great smile, a strong handshake and the gift of the gab. Our shared take is that this is an oversimplification and dumbing down of how to run effective sales.

We’ve picked the minds of Principals at @Modern Strategy who are leading growth champions, leaders and business builders to delve into the subject. We will double-click into these points in future posts so make sure you follow @Modern Strategy and leave a comment to receive our newsletters.

According to @Stuart Thornton, sales is a science - a process that can be repeated and readily enhanced to create better outcomes.

 

‘A sales process can be made structured and repeatable while still being dynamic and adaptable to changes in the target market.’ ~ @Colin Allison

Do you have a clear understanding of your target market?

We asked @Stuart, who has 25 years running commercial teams for global MNCs and founding venture-backed startups, what’s the first thing to consider in the selling process?

 

Step 1 is to define who you should sell to. In any market, there are plenty of companies that could be sold to but 101 of startup building — focus — is crucial. If you don’t focus it will mean you’re not truly testing your product market fit philosophy. It’s also important to define your customer’s key characteristics, which could include vertical, size, country, and the job titles of the personas within your target market. Doing your homework upfront leads to an efficient sales team, a deeper understanding of the business, and success in winning the market.

For startups in particular, some customers, although ideal, will not buy at certain stages of your startup. For example, a six-month-old startup with a basic minimum viable product may struggle to sell to a bank.

Test and validate your theoretical ideal customer profile urgently and continuously.

Is there trackability and repeatability?

We asked @Jeffry what’s missing in the B2B sales process of most ventures. Jeffry founded SalesCandy, which he scaled to customers all over Southeast Asia, including six Global Fortune 500 companies, and eventually sold. He has also scaled six of his own e-commerce stores to gross sales of over US$15 million. Jeffry pointed to the lack of tracking and the need to develop a repeatable sales process that isn’t entirely dependent on the charisma and contact list of a few salespeople.

Trackability ensures that every step in the sales process can be monitored, measured, and analyzed. This is crucial for identifying bottlenecks, optimizing performance, and scaling the sales operation. Key elements include:

 

• CRM Systems: A robust CRM system (like Salesforce or HubSpot) to log every interaction, deal stage, and customer data point. This helps in maintaining transparency and accountability.

 

• KPIs: Clearly defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure success at each stage. Examples include lead conversion rates, average deal size, and sales cycle length.

 

• Automation: Automating repetitive tasks (e.g., follow-ups, email sequences) ensures consistency and allows the team to focus on high-value activities.

 

Repeatability refers to the ability to consistently replicate successful sales processes across different teams and markets. This can be achieved through:

 

• Playbooks: Developing detailed sales playbooks that outline best practices, messaging, objection handling, and step-by-step guides for different scenarios.

 

• Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs): SOPs ensure that the sales process is standardized across the organization, allowing for consistent results regardless of the salesperson.

Are you making the most out of each channel?

We ask @Colin, whose track record includes being the CRO for Pathlite.ai, Managing Partner of Konnect Partners, and Partner at Rainmaking, what is the most critical in channel strategy.

With a deep understanding of customer preferences and behavior, you can identify the inbound and outbound channels that will be most effective. In today’s B2B sales environment, customers are typically 70% through their buying journey before contacting your organization. Buyers will do their own research based on what they can find online or in other sources. The challenge today is not just how to make yourself known to customers, but how to help move them through the entire journey.

Start by asking customers where they get their news, how they hear about potential solutions, what social media they consume, and their preferred communication channels.

Plan your strategy around specific stages in the buyer journey, as different channels may be more effective at different stages. For example, content marketing and social media might be effective for awareness, while direct email or phone calls could be better for the consideration and decision stages.

In our future editions, we’ll dive deeper into how your team’s interactions with prospects and or training and recruitment should be managed, the tools needed for success, and how to plan the ramp-up of your sales team from 0 to 100.

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