The customer experience also matters in B2B sales. FOM tools structure digital sales conversations and enable data-driven sales management.
An Editorial of the FOM Magazine
We all deal with annoying salespeople from time to time. They babble, don't get to the point, and waste our time. They talk too much and ask too few questions. Most of the time, this kind of "sales talk" ends in a lose-lose situation.
Every meeting is an investment of time and resources! A successful sales meeting must therefore not be a flippant conversation, but a well-planned process with a clear agenda, prepared questions, a structured presentation and sales strategy.
Structured sales talks are crucial to success, especially in the B2B sector. Enterprise customers have different expectations than private customers. They often have little time and make decisions based on predefined parameters rather than on gut instinct.
B2B sales goes digital
The trend in B2B sales is clearly moving toward digital sales conversations:
- According to a study by management consultants Bain & Company , 92 percent of all B2B buyers now prefer virtual meetings.
- 79 percent of salespeople consider virtual meetings to be an effective sales channel.
- A study by research firm Gartner predicts that by 2025, more than 80 percent of all B2B sales conversations would take place digitally.
So the key question is how to optimize the customer experience for better sales performance.
Customer Experience: Structured Sales Conversations
Digital meetings offer many benefits, from reduced travel costs to easier scalability.
However, companies report that their digital sales success lags behind physical meetings in some cases. Most often, this is due to a lack of structure.
This is exactly what meeting management software is for: while CRM tools such as Salesforce or Hubspot are used in sales management, companies can optimize their sales meetings with FOM software.
Ideally, software solutions integrate with popular video tools such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams and provide tools for preparing, conducting, and following up on digital sales calls.
FOM tools improve the customer experience
A good sales conversation starts before the actual meeting.
Send your customers an agenda so they know exactly what will be discussed in the meeting and how long it should last. FOM software provides agenda templates and allows you to include an interactive agenda during the video conference.
Another advantage of digital meetings is that it is relatively easy to address geographically dispersed decision-makers in a single meeting. This can significantly shorten the sales cycle.
To do this, it is crucial to identify the key people in the buying center in advance. A digital participant management tool makes it possible to invite all participants to the conference at the push of a button.
Good salespeople ask good questions! With digital voting tools, you can let customers vote on desired product features during the conversation, for example, and get a better opinion.
FOM software also allows you to create automated protocols that you can distribute to customers afterwards. Use protocols to agree on concrete next steps. The big money is in the follow-up!
Sales management: data insights enable better sales conversations
Structured sales talks create a wow effect with the customer: you appear as a professional supplier and thus increase your chances of success.
At the same time, the use of FOM software enables the evaluation of meeting data:
- How long are your sales calls?
- Does the number of participants have an impact on the conversion rate?
- Which video chat tools do your customers prefer?
You can answer such questions using FOM software and continuously improve your strategy.
The trend is clear: B2B sales is becoming increasingly digital! Every meeting is an investment of time and resources. Don't leave your sales success to chance and use professional software tools.
