B2B Sales and the Documentation You Need

B2B sales processes are quite different than those used for B2C. In B2B sales efforts, you are trying to sell a product to a very narrow audience. You are presenting a solution for a particular problem to a specific industry or even a single customer. Just as the handling of sales processes differ from those in B2C sales, so does the required documentation.

THE TYPE OF DOCUMENTS YOU NEED FOR B2B SALES

Because of the limited playing field in B2B activities, documentation and other sales materials should be dedicated to customers and should not be generic in nature, i.e. marketing takes a back seat here. Sales materials should be defined and developed by the sales team and not the marketing people. Documents must be based upon a customizable set of messages that can easily be modified for particular customers, whenever necessary. The B2B strategy has to deal with a customer’s needs. It should not deal with what you have to offer, but the immediate market needs. You must identify customers’ realities and your documents must convince them that your product is what they need to resolve their problems.

In fact, a good product description or solution description (that can be easily adapted to meet the expectations of customers) – together will a well-populated website – is all you really need to get going. If you have a properly-structured document you can be on your way to a successful sale. It is really important that you include customer-based case studies (if you have any) to ensure the dubious that you actually know how to implement a delivery.

The B2B sales documents should never include standard marketing hype. Prospects can get all the information they want over the Internet and social media, and your sales process must be in sync with this fact. Never believe that your sales documents will be read and relied upon as if they are holy scriptures. It is terribly easy to find out to whom you have sold and what you really have to offer.

If you assault your customers with B2C-style jargon-laden brochures, etc. all you have done is wasted a good sum of money. Brochures are physical proof that your company has marketing money to burn. When it comes to B2B, a web link to a case study is far more effective than a full-color brochure with a picture of a scantily-clad woman.

BRANDING

Quite different to situations in B2C sales efforts, branding activities by B2B companies (advertising, logos, flashy brochures, packaging, etc.) have very little impact on sales. They’re mostly just noise, and in some cases become distractions. Either your product will sell itself or you are in trouble.

BACKING UP YOUR PEOPLE IN THE FIELD

Provide massive support for your presales guy (if he exists at all). Let him offer prospective customers a video conferencing session with top management. Beat them at their own game. Put your best people in the room and be ready to provide great responses to any issues raised. They will have read your product description and that of your competition, so be ready to provide solid information.

If they ask for it, promise dedicated documentation that will resolve doubtful issues. Even if you do not have a single word written, give them a firm date and then scramble to get it out. The cost of developing a document is minuscule when compared to the revenues from a successful sale. The cost of video conferencing is a fraction of the cost of flights, hotels and – worst of all – mistakes and misunderstandings.