How B2B scale-up marketers turn leads into sales: sell a vision of the future.

There's a big difference between attracting interest and accumulating leads, versus making sales. I've seen the void between interest and income swallow B2B scale-ups, and I'm often asked by clients how best to bridge the breach. The question they pose is 'how do we make our product easier to sell?'.

It makes sense that they'd ask this; from their point of view they're seeking more sales, in less time, at higher value. But a sell-centric approach is the first mistake they're making. The question successful B2B marketeers ask is 'how do we make our product easier to buy?'. A buy-centric, rather than sell-centric, them-centric, rather than us-centric, approach is what will build the sturdiest bridge between interest and income.

So why does this strategy work? Buyers aren't interested in you, and how great your company is, and why they should let you sell to them. Buyers are interested in what you can do for them: how are you going to get them their bonus, make them look good in front of their boss, and get them their next career promotion? Think about your client wants and repackage them as your sell. Sell them what they want to buy: a vision of their successful future.

How do you construct a 'buy-centric' strategy? Prime your meetings with clients beforehand. Ask what their KPIs are, ask what their objectives are. Avoid turning up with a generic demo; offer a relevant, tailored presentation travelling from the things they want to achieve, to how they can achieve them (through you), to how they can buy. Keep everything they want to know and everything they need to know together in one place: you. Break away from the unoriginal sells of your rivals: sell your clients the right story, the story of them, rather than the story of you.

Facts and stats are not emotionally engaging; sell a vision your clients want to buy and they'll trust you to be the ones to make it real. Your own facts and figures will thank you: frustrating dead-end interest and unfinished contracts will turn into sturdy partnerships and successful sales.