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4 MIN. READ
Quarter 1 of the sales cycle is much like the first quarter of the year – a time for all of your internal B2B sales strategies, such as product development and data analysis, to garner new business and presales tactics for your existing customers. All of this internal activity leads to your B2B company setting and crushing its Quarter 2 sales goals with innovative and adaptive strategies to take your products across the finish line. The following strategies can help you effectively contact manufacturers in the U.S. and meet their needs.
During your Q1 introspection, you should have noticed one major trend. You need to change your mindset as a company. All of your internal efforts likely revealed that you are more of a partner to your customers rather than a provider. In other words, you should think of your company as a B4B company — a business-for-business company. If you are still beginning your purchasing journey with the manufacturing company’s purchasing agent, you are already behind the purchasing curve.
Your B2B sales strategies for Q2 should begin with frontline workers. Ultimately, they are the people using the product, and they are tech-savvy. Before the purchase order even reaches the purchasing agent, the end-user has identified the problem, researched how other companies solved it and spoken to some of their counterparts at those companies. Your data analytics will provide you with the contact information for the manufacturing front-line workers who would be interested in your equipment.
Your strategy: Speak to current frontline users of your equipment to demonstrate your new capabilities. Visit any company they recommend immediately to get a head start on that company’s sales cycle.
When you contact manufacturers in the U.S., they expect to be treated like customers. They now have some of the same expectations that you or your sales force would have if you were shopping on Amazon. You can adjust your B2B sales strategies to give them what they're looking for.
1. Your customers expect you to improve feedback management.
The businesses that your company serves expect you to identify innovations that will help them improve their bottom line. They want you to document their problems and ensure that they receive timely and appropriate answers.
Your strategy: After spending Q1 in product development, show your current manufacturing customers that you have listened to their needs and expectations. Introduce them to your newly-developed solutions to their ever-evolving world. As an example, the news has been replete with stories about supply chain issues and soaring inflation. Show your manufacturers that you have developed a new product that will produce time and energy savings, or a product they need for their supply chain that you can now source locally for them.
2. Your customers expect more personalized treatment.
Your customers expect a personalized portal into your company, showing offers and innovations that relate to their business. Along with this portal, they expect an easy-to-use ROI calculator to justify buying your products.
Your strategy: After spending time in Q1 honing your data analytics, prepare to reveal your manufacturing customers’ personalized portal to your enhanced products. This activity will get your foot in the door to put them back on the purchasing path, especially when you reveal their ROI calculation.
3. Your customers are looking at your web content.
The problem is that they do not always see content that they find useful.
Your strategy:Having spent the first quarter developing internally, share new content with current customers and prospective buyers. Manufacturers want to see more technical specifications to determine if your products are a good fit for their company. They would also like to see more actual case studies and fewer infographics.
At the time of this writing, inflation is rising, COVID is still wreaking havoc on supply chains and Russia is bombing Ukraine, leading to worldwide outrage, sanctions, and skyrocketing gas and oil prices. To make matters worse, Ukraine supplies 70% of the world’s neon, a critical component in semiconductor chip lithography. Your manufacturers already know what’s going on in the global economy. They do not want you to sugarcoat your abilities or talk down to them.
Your strategy: If you need to increase your prices due to global events, be honest with your manufacturers. Show them how, even with the price increase, your product is still the best option to boost their bottom line.
If you need to extend shipping times due to port closures, labor negotiations or transportation issues, give your manufacturers a realistic delivery date upfront. They will appreciate your honesty far more than they will appreciate another vendor’s empty promises
A great strategy deserves great data. Partner with a renowned data company with roots in the manufacturing industry dating back to 1912. IndustrySelect provides you with both granular company data and overarching manufacturing trends. It empowers you to contact manufacturers in the U.S. in new ways and with greater success. Uncover your company’s best sales strategies with a subscription to IndustrySelect, or try the no-obligation demo and access 600 free company profiles.
Article Sources:
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/industrial-manufacturing/assets/b2b-value-chain.pdf
https://www.superoffice.com/blog/b2b-sales/
https://financesonline.com/b2b-trends/
https://www.industryweek.com/supply-chain/article/21234730/expect-a-new-wave-of-supply-chain-headaches-with-ukraine-crisis-bevy-of-other-issues