Do you spend most of your time selling to Small Businesses (SMBs)? Are you thinking of redefining your sales strategy to focus more on Small Business customers?
It’s easier to get in touch with key decision makers when you target SMB companies. In the majority of SMBs, the business owner researches new products or services themselves.
You can easily generate prospects and/or leads when selling to SMBs. There are almost 6 million SMBs in the UK… that’s an amazing 99% of all UK businesses.
Also, keep in mind that SMBs don’t always remain SMBs.
So how should we be selling to SMB customers?
1. Make sure you qualify properly
When you qualify your leads, you’re determining whether a lead fits into your ideal customer profile and assessing their likelihood of converting into a paying customer.
Lead qualification is important regardless of which customer segments you’re targeting, but it’s especially important when you’re reaching out to SMBs.
For example, you might not want to reach out to an SMB that:
- Just registered their business last week
- Hasn’t determined their business model
- Has no funding
You’ll want to qualify your leads, to make sure you don’t waste your time on chasing down leads who aren’t a good fit.
2. Understand your customer’s mindset
If this is your first time selling to SMB customers, take some time to get to know your customers, and understand their mindset.
Once you have a thorough understanding of their underlying needs, wants and challenges, this makes it that much easier for you to build rapport with your customer, and eventually close the sale.
For instance, SMB businesses tend to be more concerned about cash flow than some other, bigger businesses.
To work around this, you might bring up your company’s flexible payment options, and discuss how SMB businesses can use your product/service to generate revenue for their company within a short span of time.
3. Avoid the jargon
SMB businesses typically don’t have as many tools, resources, and expertise as larger companies. When you’re pitching to these businesses, make sure you speak simply and with clarity, and don’t confuse your customer with too much jargon.
Overuse of jargon can leave prospects feeling confused and even intimidated.
4. Set your customers’ minds at ease
Generally speaking, SMBs are more risk averse because many are bootstrapped, and must make every penny count.
Bearing this in mind, do all you can to set your customers’ minds at ease, and reduce the friction associated with them becoming a paying customer.
Here are some things that you could consider:
- Offer a free trial
- Offer a money-back guarantee
- Offer monthly payments instead of yearly contracts
- Feature plenty of testimonials and case studies on your website for social proof
If you’d like to learn more about selling to SMBs, get in touch.
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