B2B Sales Fundamentals for Startups

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

Entrepreneurship 101: B2B Sales

January 28, 2015

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Buyer Behaviour• Value Proposition• Targets• Types of Sales• Inbound Leads• Process Tools• CRM• Cold Call vs. Warm Call• Social Selling• Other Sales Tactics• Meeting Plans• International Sales• Great Resources• Questions

Agenda

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Mark Elliott, Co-Founder • VA Partners provides Part-time

Sales and

Marketing• Almost 20 Years of Sales and

Marketing• Helped to drive millions of page

views, hundreds of meetings, and millions of dollars in revenue

Bio

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Sales is hard• Sales more of a science

than an art• Present

• The right benefits• At the right time• To the right targets• With the right frequency

• You should be successful

It’s Fishing not Catching

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Understand how your target makes decisions

• Select sales and marketing tactics that get them the information that is needed at the right time

Buyer Behaviour

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• What benefits are you selling?• Revenue increase• Cost reduction• Productivity improvement• Avoid something bad

• Quantify the benefit• Multiple value

propositions• How are you different vs.

your competitors

Value Proposition

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Where do your benefits best match-up?

• Vertical focus• Horizontal focus• Leverage knowledge and

success to own a market segment

• Best contacts within a company

• Engage high within the organization

Targets

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Types• Direct• Channel

• Outbound• Inside• Marketing

• Decision• Cost of Sale• How do target customers

buy?

• May do unnatural things at the start

What Type of Sales is Best?

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Components• Blogs• Whitepapers• Email marketing• Social Media• SEO

• Website• Easy to update• Capabilities to add the

components needed• Customer testimonials

Inbound Lead Generation

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Path to Sales Success• Activity targets• Handling objections• Email templates• Telephone scripts

Sales Process Tools

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Must Have• Tracking

• Accounts• Contacts• Past Activities• Future Activities• Opportunities• Notes• Leads• Share information

• Funnel and Forecasting

Sales CRMs

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• What is your goal?• Research

• Company• Person you are contacting

• Call the right person• Have the right message• Prepare for objections you

may face• Find the right time to call• Block time in your

schedule

Cold Calls vs. Warm Calls

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• LinkedIn • Get connected• Explore 2nd connections• Send InMail• Research• Post updates

• Twitter • Use tools, like Hootsuite• Schedule Tweets• Create lists• Engage

• Look for Triggers• Use it everyday

Social Selling

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Research• Social Media• Web• Data.com

• Targeted Email

• Networking

Other Sales Tactics

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Ask questions• Sample Agenda

• Introduction

• Overview prospect• Overview your

organization• Next steps

• Who are you meeting?• What are they hoping to

get out of the meeting?

• What are your goals?

• What are your next steps?

Meeting Plans

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

• Research• Resources available

• MaRS• DFAIT• Export Ontario• Expat communities

• Start remotely

• Be selective

• Find partners

International Sales

@markeelliott #Ent101 @MaRSDD

Sales Peer2Peer

Sales Peer to Peer

Great Sales Resources