As we all know all too well, the internet is overflowing with content. There’s even a famous statement saying how you can make the internet say and prove anything you want, or any point of view, which to a certain extent, is true.
However, with this hearsay comes to the ability for myths and lies to be created, much like Chinese whispers. This can lead people down the wrong roads and paths, teaching them information which isn’t necessarily true. Today, we’ll explore seven of the biggest myths and false statements to come into and form in the B2B sales industry, help you understand your industry a little clearer and to do your job more effectively.
Making a Sale Includes Endless Phone Calls
Although it may seem like this is true most of the time, the actual myth claims that over 70 phone calls need to take place before a meeting, or a deal is set up.
However, the real number falls between 10 and 20 but can dramatically vary from company to company, depending on the product, service or the industry.
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80% of Deals Require Five Follow-Up Meetings
There’s a statistic flying around that this amount of deals requires at least five follow meetings before it will be secured. However, it also refers to the context that many salespeople will give up with their prospect long before they reach this fifth attempt.
This, of course, doesn’t mean that a sales rep you simply stand in front of a prospect to ask five times and they say ‘Oh, okay then’, instead, it doesn’t matter.
Some products and services can be sold without any form of interaction whatsoever, whereas other purchases may require dozens of meetings and planning.
Instead, you can use email writing services, such as State of Writing, to create compelling email content that speeds up this process even more.
Nobody Uses Cold Calling
Cold calling is renowned for being one of the most basic, most simplistic and one of the oldest sales tactics in the book, but surely nobody uses it anymore? Didn’t cold calling have its day nearly a decade ago?
However, in truth it’s still going on today but, it’s occurring in a much different and more meticulous form. “Nowadays, marketers have access to large volumes of data with means that each cold call can be a personalized experience, backed by data, where a sales rep could be able to generate between 40 and 60 new leads per day” – says Robert Clayborne, a Sales Manager at Paper Fellows.
This form of professional cold calling is still very present, especially in fast-growing businesses that want to expand rapidly.
57% of Journey Travelled Before Reaching Sales
This is an extremely common misconception among all professionals. Of course, should it be true that 57% of a B2B customer’s journey is complete before they even reach sales, this would be something to remember, however, the context of this fact was lost long ago.
The original study was carried out by CEO.com in collaboration with Sirius Decisions. The study only covered 22 large B2B businesses which fell into ten unique industries. The overall study as small, only 41 pages long and mentioned this statistic once throughout the entire piece.
B2B Sales Industry Changes More in the Last 5 Years than the Last 50
This may again seem true, especially when you consider the role that social media, especially in a marketing sense, now has on our everyday lives. But let’s just back up one second. Go back to 1967, and there was no internet, no smartphones, no giant LED and LCD billboards.
Of course, things are going to be different, but in the last five years, social media has taken off, and marketers have been learning how to use it better than ever. Now it’s easy to see that so much more has changed over the last 50.
However, have you thought about your next five years and what’s going to change in that time? Using tools like Get Base or Sales Loft now, you can build up a large amount of data to refer to, helping you to identify trends and market influences.
Social Media is the Key to Business Success
If only this was true, then our lives would be so much easier. Mastering social media, however, is not the only, be-all and end-all way to market your business and it’s worth remembering that there is a tonne of businesses out there that don’t even have a Facebook page and are still successful through sales in their local area.
Although it’s highly recommended that your business does have a social media presence, especially when it comes to B2C sales, it’s not 100% relevant when it comes to B2B. However, if you’re using services, such as Write my paper or Essay Roo, you can create custom B2B copy that works both online and offline, such as in a printed publication.
The Customers Are All on Social Media
Hand in hand with the consideration above, it’s not wise to think that all your potential leads and prospects are set up with social media pages, so be sure that you don’t’ restrict yourself to just searching for opportunities to generate leads on there.
Of course, the smallest social network site is LinkedIn, which has just over 100 million monthly users but of them, how many do you think track their pages and keep them updated enough to connect, or want to connect with you.
You may use online tools like Crystal Knows to get more information about your customers and their personalities, and improve your communication skills.
Conclusion
Myths can pop up for any reason, whether it’s a misinterpreted study, word of mouth or even just Chinese whispers were the original meaning, fact or figure was unconsciously distorted to mean something else.
However, by debunking these myths, you can be sure that you know the truth, enabling you to act accordingly and make great strides for your business.
