Before the COVID-19 pandemic started, it was common practice for industry leaders in B2B sales to dedicate at least 80% of their time either keeping their existing clients satisfied or searching for new clients. This search for potential clients was done through events where they have face-to-face chats and interactions.
All the rules and tactics for B2B lead generation had to be thrown out of the window when COVID-19 hit the world in 2020. No longer can business owners and sellers travel or meet with others in conventions, expos, and such. B2B sellers had to find new ways to find prospects and close deals.
What are the rules of B2B lead generation in the new normal? Read on and find out:
B2B Sales Rulebook for the New Normal
1. Establish a Go-to-Market Team
To remain competitive in the new normal, businesses should have a cross-functional team that will come up with a standard, repeatable processes. These processes should be streamlined, and there should be at most three standardized marketing assets that are all industry-focused. It is crucial to leverage the regional stakeholders in the process of content creation and make sure to incorporate feedback from the marketing and the sales teams.
2. Come Up with Simplified Content That Focuses on the Company’s Offerings
Work on content that is focused on outcomes – highlight the problems that your clients are having and offer them your solutions. This should be used on landing pages, as well as your social media, blogs, and not just on product descriptions.
3. Push the Content to Your Market and Enhance Awareness
Leaders should communicate the go-to-market program as well as their content with everyone in the organization. They must also ensure that their content can be accessed by their sales team. The salespeople would then get their content to market and utilize platforms so they can be distributed. Tracking tools should also be used to measure performance and progress after the content has been distributed.
4. Demand Generation Teams Share Leads with Sales Team
The sales team can gain leads through their actions, from emailing prospects to taking their content on social media platforms. For instance, when prospects land on the company website and their customer information is collected, the sales team needs to ensure that they use that information. More importantly, share them with the field so they can be incentivized.
5. Always Measure Outcomes at Different Levels
Different teams in the organization should be able to monitor the overall performance of the company and its content. This should include the number of views their content gets and how that affects the deals. The organization should build on the content that is proving to be effective and remove those that do not gain traction. Additionally, there should be internal metrics, so quality content is maintained and even elevated. This will ensure that the content you put out is always of value to your prospects.
Conclusion
These steps can help improve your B2B lead generation performance in this new normal. Think of it as a complete shift to digital. Instead of having your sales team head out to meet potential clients and do their pitches in person, everything is done through emails, posts, and virtual meetings.
True, this new approach is not as easy as it sounds. There are challenges to be dealt with. But once you’ve gained your footing, you’ll find that these are actually excellent lead generation practices that can keep your business at the forefront of the game.
WhoKnows can provide you with B2B lead generation solutions that you can benefit from. Let our team help you move forward during these challenging times. Contact our team today!
