5 professional ways to build trust with B2B sales

6 May 2021

If you’ve been in B2B sales for more than a year, you understand how hard it can be to sell in this ever-changing environment effectively. We’re not only talking about the current challenging times we find ourselves in.

We’re talking about how hard it is to sell with the emergence of new technologies and making sure your potential client trusts you enough to take a leap of faith and buy your product or services.

Building trust is at the foundation of all sales; keep reading to learn how you can build more trust with B2B clients and sell more with B2B sales strategies that work.

What are B2B sales?

B2B (business to business) sales refer to the transaction of products or services from one business to another. This is different from B2C (business to consumers), where a business sells its product or services directly to a person.

B2B sales have a much longer sales cycle, with sales taking weeks and sometimes months. Compare this to B2C sales, which happen within minutes up to a couple of days.

How B2B sales used to look

Previously, when someone needed a product or solution, they’d reach out to your company. Then, they’d talk to a salesperson and figure out what the best option for them was. If the person liked them and thought they could help, they would buy right then and there.

The person purchasing would automatically trust the salesperson and buy from them as long as their first interaction went well.

How B2B sales look today

The process buyers go through today is much more complicated. For example, a person will identify a problem they have and research it online. Then, they’d ask friends or family for solutions and search social media platforms for help.

At this point, they most likely have an idea of who they’re going to work with, but will continue to do more research on their own.

After extensively researching their problem and potential solutions, the person makes contact with the company and buys. In fact, only 17% of a buyer’s time is spent meeting with potential suppliers, with the rest of their time spent on various independent research.

The salesperson has to work a lot harder to build trust with the potential buyer and make them feel confident in their purchase. Let’s discuss the five B2B client engagement strategies that will help you build trust during your sales process.

1. Fully understand your target customer

To get the most out of your B2B client acquisition, you need to understand who your target customer is whole. You cannot build trust with them without understanding what they like and who they are.

If you’re selling a technology product, you need to understand that 45% of B2B technology buyers are between 25 and 34. People in this age group, commonly referred to as Millennials, like to buy using technology.

The first step to building trust in your sales is to create buyer personas for your ideal customer. These will help you understand how your buyers like to consume information and communicate with you.

2. Make the most of your CRM

Now that you know who your target customer is use CRM (customer relationship management) software to manage your customer relationships and business data on a deeper level. A CRM is powerful and can help you keep track of the buyer personas you created to communicate with your buyers effectively.

CRM’s are great because they’re flexible and integrated with third-party software that makes them even more powerful. These add ons help you identify when people are most likely to buy and what you can do to help move them along the buyer’s journey.

3. Offer a unique B2B client experience

One of the most effective B2B client engagement strategies that build trust with your potential clients is to offer a unique and memorable B2B client experience.

Actually, answer your phone, don’t have a robot-caller do it. Use their name when talking with them, and always directly and confidently answer their questions.

Even these little interactions are going to help the person feel more comfortable working with you.

4. Create content that matters

B2B marketing looks a lot different than B2B sales, but it’s imperative to use both to build trust with your prospects. With B2B marketing the type of content you create is key to ensure you’re providing your buyer with a solid rationale and a trigger to convert.

If you sell software, you should have information explaining the content to the potential customer, such as a blog post or in-depth video. Then, in that content, including a call to action (CTA) for the prospect to reach out to a salesperson to set up a demo. Also, sometimes it’s not enough to just offer the best information, you need to make an emotional connection with them to get them to convert.

When marketers and sales work together, they create a better sales experience for the customer that builds trust from the first interaction all the way to the closing.

5. Ask for referrals

If you’ve implemented a successful B2B sales strategy then asking for referrals from your happy clients should be easy. Sometimes people think it’s tacky to outright ask for referrals. However, this is one of the most cost-effective ways to bring in new customers that trust you right away.

78% of B2B marketers claim leads that come from a referral are high-quality leads that are more likely to convert. This is because you have to do less work in actually building trust with them.

When you are referred to another business by someone, you trust you spend less time doing research. This is because you assume your friend or colleague has done the research, and if they’re happy, you will be too.

Successfully gain new B2B clients today

Being a successful B2B salesperson takes a lot of work and practice. By following the sales strategies we outlined, you can jumpstart your competition to help your clients better.

Do you need help implementing the B2B sales strategies we explained above? Then be sure to contact us today to get started. We would love to help you succeed in this ever-changing world.