Changing How We Sell in the B2B Market

What differentiates your brand from your competitors?

If you’re selling to a B2B market and you don’t know your differentiation points or can’t clearly articulate them, it’s time to step your game up. Ago Cluytens of RAIN Group warns, “It might be time for sellers to face the truth: if every buyer on the planet fails to see how you are different from your competitors... maybe you simply aren’t.” In a rapidly evolving B2B world, buyers now demand more value and attention before they sign on the dotted line, and they want to know what makes you special.

Cluytens describes changes in the B2B buying process which demand a higher level of responsiveness from sales and marketing teams to anticipate and satisfy buyers’ needs and view the buying process from their perspective. The “hard sell” is no longer effective: buyers have more options than ever before, and they now expect collaboration and high-level insight and advice from B2B sellers.

How do you sell in such a challenging market?

It often comes down to messaging. As marketing strategy experts, we repeatedly emphasize the importance of effective content marketing with our clients and readers, including the importance of establishing thought leadership through online content and personalizing content for successful ABM programs. The first step in meeting the high demands of your target B2B buyer is developing informative, high-quality content that demonstrates your expertise and proves your value.

It’s all about providing the right information at the right time to support buyers in a collaborative and educational manner.

As Cluytens puts it, “The sooner sellers face the truth and change the way they sell, the sooner they will start to keep up.”

Read more insights from Cluytens.