When I first started my business, I had no idea how to sell my product to a big company. It seemed like an impossible task. But with some research and hard work, I was able to figure it out and now I’m here to share what I’ve learned with you! If you’re looking to take your business to the next level by selling to enterprise, this post is for you. Learn how!
Selling to Enterprise Customers
Selling to enterprise customers is different from selling to consumers because enterprise customers are usually larger organizations with more complex needs.
To be successful, salespeople need to understand the customer’s business and what they are trying to achieve.
They also need to be able to build relationships with decision-makers and influencers within the organization.
How to Start Enterprise Selling
Each industry is different, so their sales processes are a bit different.
The enterprise sales process, as outlined by Steve Sinow of Andreesen Horwitz, has three major steps that are more or less the same across the board.
1. Build a Relationship in Enterprise Sales
We’ve all had our fair share of annoying salespeople who won’t stop talking.
Building relationships with your prospects is important, but so is knowing what they want. Enterprise software sales require a different strategy than car salesmen or window installers. You shouldn’t just jump right into talking about your software’s features, benefits, and pricing.
There are some tried and true approaches for doing that:
In enterprise sales model, it’s all about the customer. You need to invert your perspective and focus on their needs and problems. Only then will you be able to offer solutions that address all aspects of their business. It’s also important to find a champion inside the organization who can vouch for your product.
Building relationships with enterprise customers is all about understanding their challenges and goals. Once you understand this, you can present them with a vision of how your business can help them achieve their goals. By building this relationship, you can ensure a long and successful partnership.
2. Articulate Your Vision
The primary function of salespeople is telling stories.
You need to show how your product adds value to your customer’s organization.
1. Your company needs to be able to save money or make money with your product or service.2. You need to show exactly how your offering will save or generate money for your client.3. Demonstrate how the product will help the client’s bottom line.
This is a direct approach to sales in which you show your prospects how their problems can be solved by your product or service.
You’ll need to be well-prepared for any potential objections to your proposal, and be prepared to address them. By doing this, you’ll make it much easier for the stakeholder to make an informed decision.
1. By sharing useful, engaging, and informative content with your prospects, you can position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.2. By offering your unique perspective on your market or industry and by sharing your insights, you can establish yourself as a trusted advisor.3. By helping your prospect learn more about their options, you can become a valued resource.
These are used in lead nurture programs, but can also be used for staying in touch and showing your prospect how your business can be of benefit to them.
3. Build a partnership
In nearly every business, the lifetime value of a customer is far greater than the upfront cost. This is because it costs less to retain an existing customer than acquire a new one.
When you’re selling to enterprise clients, the goal should be to establish long-term relationships with them. That mindset should come into play even before you’ve closed your first deal. It takes a lot of patience, so it’s a good idea to keep the bigger picture in mind.
Enterprise sales cycles are typically very long, so it’s crucial to be the cust=omer’s go-to person. Be prepared to answer their questions and provide helpful suggestions.
That’s one way to compete with bigger, more impatient, companies.
Enterprise Selling #Rule 1: Be Ready for a Long Game
Sales cycles are typically longer in enterprise markets than in small business.
If you’re trying to sell to an enterprise, be prepared to put in a lot of work. Since there are more people involved, it can take months or even years to close the deal. But don’t let that discourage you—the extra work you put in now will pay off in the long run.
Sales cycles can be long and drawn out, which can be tough for salespeople who are used to getting quick results. However, the eventual payoff in the form of a hefty commission makes it all worth it in the end.
If you want to be successful in enterprise sales, you need to be prepared for a long game. This means restructuring your sales team and compensation process to incentivize long-term success. By doing this, you’ll set yourself up for success in the enterprise market.
“If you are planning on starting to sell into the Enterprise, your sales process might have to be altered,” advises Rose.
If you want to sell to enterprises, you should hire sales reps who are experienced in closing deals with large organizations. Make sure to compensate the enterprise sales reps fairly so they’re incentivized to stick around.
Often times, inexperienced salespeople will focus only on one account in their pipeline and ignore the rest.
Small companies or startups may not have the resources to hire a full time business development person.
They have to carefully plan the goals, compensation, and team structures for their teams, taking into account the needs of their various customers and the internal needs of their company.
Large companies can assign different sales reps to different roles, depending on where they are in the sales process. This reduces stress and attrition for reps.
“One thing I’ve learned from managing sales teams is that capturing and retaining the knowledge of your reps is incredibly important,” explains Clauss.
In order to have an effective salesforce, you need both a good CRM system and a process in place for knowledge sharing. This will ensure that everyone on your team is aligned and knows what they need to do to successfully move deals through the pipeline.
Selling Long Sales Cycles – Do Titles Matter?
Titles are important, according to business consultant, Douglas C, Brown.
Find out who the decision maker is and who the influencers are on the decision. Then, try to match up the decision makers, or their equivalent, for a direct conversation.
When dealing with longer, more complex sale processes, it’s important to have a team of salespeople that are able to effectively work together. This will allow them to better understand what each stakeholder needs.
If a salesperson is selling to 11 people, and none of them are peers, then he or she won’t be able to understand their needs and concerns.
If you want to sell to customers who take a long time to make purchasing decisions, it’s important that you have a team of salespeople who are able to work together. Each salesperson should be at the “peer” level of the other team members, and there should be one leader who is able to gather all the information from the different teams and present it to the customer.
#Rule 2:Create accurate financial models, including a compensation.
Failing to adapt to a new customer set is a common pitfall for smaller companies when first entering the world of Enterprise Sales. Metrics such as Customer Acquisition Costs and Forecasts, while important, can be misleading when measuring success against a larger company.
Your B2B and B2C customers have different expectations, and your pipeline and your KPIs should reflect that.
When combining your small and large business pipelines, remember that your large enterprise deals will inflate your figures. For an example, consider an MSP with $140,000 in MRR.
It’s 4X that for enterprises.
As a business, it’s important to analyze all inputs and outcomes when generating forecasts. This ensures that your pay plan is reasonable and attainable.
A partnership amongst your finance and marketing teams will help to generate more accurate forecasts for each marketing channel.
Alignment and accountability for shared goals are critical to success.
Figuring out compensation can be tricky.
While salespeople may want higher commissions, if it takes 12 months before a deal closes, your sales rep will need a livable wage until then.
In response to this, the sales team at GreyStone is structured very differently. The team is very slim and consists only of very seasoned individuals with strong connections in the industry. Because of this, the salary for this position is very high.
At Greystone, we believe in teamwork. That’s why we base our commissions on our team’s collective success rather than an individual salesperson. This collaborative approach helps us provide better service to clients and increases our chances of closing a deal.
“Your average IT sales professional who’s just looking to make $100,000 per year and closes $5,000 per month in small business deals isn’t going to be sophisticated enough to sell to enterprises,” explains Melby.
As a small company, we’re too small for reps to bring enterprise deals back to just drop off on the sales floor.
Our small sales team allows us to bring in the technical experts who serve as our sales reps.
At our company, we incentivize employees by tying their bonuses to company-wide or specific service-line revenue targets. This helps us go after bigger clients, but isn’t something you see everywhere.
Team members can spend time on sales pitches without worrying about it affecting their livelihood.
Now, think about your strategy for seizing and compensating for “land-and-expand” sales.
“The opportunities for sales in enterprise accounts are surprising,” according to one expert.
If you have a good working relationship with the marketing team, you already have access to other key departments, such as finance and legal departments, as well as any other subsidiary companies.
You have to be aware that such situations arise and know how best to capitalize on them.
Sales Expert, Kathryn Rose, says there are opportunities everywhere in Enterprise Accounts. You just have to be observant and proactive enough to seize them.
Conclusion
If you’re looking to take your business to the next level by selling to enterprises, this post is for you! Learn how to sell your product to a big company and get tips on making the most of the opportunity. With some research and hard work, you can make it happen!
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