2020 saw the biggest shift in B2B buying, selling, and marketing in recent history. What was originally speculated to be a temporary pivot ended up being a cataclysmic shift in how revenue is generated in B2B organizations. The trends and strategies that emerged have permanently altered the future of B2B buying.

The biggest change to the B2B landscape over the last year has been the move to digital selling strategies. Digital is now the preferred contact and buying method for B2B buyers to do research, order products, and schedule service. And like many of the changes we have seen arise in 2020, the digital trend does not appear to be going anywhere any time soon. In fact, 80% of B2B buyers want to stick with digital interactions (remote interactions and digital self-serve) in 2021 and beyond.

As stay home orders were instituted across the country businesses were forced to rapidly adapt to changing market conditions. Employees began working remotely and sales functions went virtual to meet business and consumer audiences where they were.

While some industries surged with revenue growth overnight, other industries abruptly saw these business operation changes create barriers to meeting revenue projections. Businesses that previously relied on face-to-face and in-person interactions to sell were left scratching their heads as they tried to figure out how they could leverage their strengths to conduct sales in a new way.

Your best client might be those that purchase your most expensive products or services. Or not.

Either way, you need to know who your ideal client is. Who are they, where are they, what motivates them to buy, when do they buy, why do they buy, how do they buy? (For help begin with the Resultist Ideal Client Persona Worksheet.)

After identifying your best current client and creating your ideal client persona, the next step is to evaluate your prospects as compared to your ideal client. This will ensure that your sales team is investing in the “right” opportunities. Our team uses the  Sales Qualification Matrix.

To grow profitable revenue, I recommend that you do more of what’s working and less of what’s not. A key to achieving this state is knowing the characteristics of your ideal client. Actually, not just the characteristics, but also their demographics, psychographics, and purchasing patterns. In other words – their persona.

Savvy business executives understand that sales aren’t just about selling – it is about positioning and planning to ensure long-term success. An effective sales model has always laid the framework for a go-to-market strategy across all areas of the business. However, sales models today vary substantially from their historical counterparts.

Modern businesses face more rapid change and more complex logistics than ever before, which means their sales models have to follow in stride. Traditional sales models are failing to keep pace with the number of potential buyer touchpoints that B2C and B2B businesses manage.

Today’s sales model must be strategic in nature – integrating sales, marketing, distribution, and promotional considerations.

This checklist will help you align business functions with the end goal of a strategic sales model in mind:

It appears the top 20% of your sales team are closing 80% of the deals. This reality of 80-20 performance, where approximately 20 percent of salespeople produce approximately 80 percent of sales, can be disappointing. (Though it validates Pareto’s Principle).

Pareto’s Principle was named after Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923), an Italian economist who observed that for certain economic conditions, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

Instead of accepting Pareto’s Principle as a standard, I would prefer to see your team perform with excellence. Inspiring and leading a team to break away from average can be difficult if they are following the crowd and paying attention to what ‘everyone’ follows. I learned firsthand the importance of a network, excellent habits and a mindset of high standards when I grew a business from $4 million to $16 million over the course of four years.

Today I want to share thoughts, habits, and mindsets that help many to be a top 5% sales professional and potentially break Pareto’s Principle.  

Sales forecasting is not simply a necessary evil mandated by finance. The best sales leaders use revenue forecasting as a tool to manage the business, support strategic decisions, and allocate resources. Estimating sales accurately for the upcoming 12 months gives your organization foresight into where your income is really coming from and when. Sales forecasts drive decisions related to:

Each year annual sales quotas and long-term goals are set. While they are important, when too focused on the end game, it is easy to take your eye off the pipelines. To keep new leads coming into the pipeline, also set manageable prospecting goals.