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Building Out Your B2B Sales and Marketing Funnel

by | |Sales Tips and Tricks

Building a b2b sales and marketing funnel is a key part of visualizing the sales process from start to finish. Sales funnels help you keep track of where prospects are in their sales journey, making it easier to implement the next steps in the buying process.

B2B sales funnels tend to be longer than B2C funnels since they cater to a group (i.e. a corporation instead of an individual). Building a B2B sales funnel involves understanding your customers’ needs and pain points, and implementing marketing strategies to guide them towards closing the deal. Here’s our guide on how to create an effective B2B sales funnel for your business.

The Four Stages of a Successful B2B Sales and Marketing Funnel

In general the B2B sales funnel can be broken into four distinct parts. Envision the funnel as a conical shape, with prospects entering at the wide end and gradually filtering down to the narrow end.

Awareness

The sales funnel starts with the “awareness” stage. At this point, your prospects are searching for solutions to their problems and become aware your brand. The awareness stage is when you need to capture your prospects’ attention or pique their interest. Understanding your ideal customer profile is a valuable tool when crafting marketing strategies to increase product awareness. Think about who you’re targeting and tailor your content to appeal to your audience. Make sure you have a strong homepage on your website with easily accessible subscription options and links to social media.

Marketing Strategies:

The awareness stage centers on attracting your ideal customer. At this point, marketing should be all about how your product is uniquely suited to provide solutions. Marketing techniques for this phase include:

  • Improving your SEO
  • Publishing blogs on your website.
  • Promoting your product via social media.
  • Utilizing Chatbots to answer common questions.

Interest

The interest stage is when consumers start researching your product in earnest. Your prospect is now actively considering your product and seeking further information. You need to demonstrate what makes your company unique over the competition and to nurture your leads by providing resources like FAQs.

Marketing Strategies:

Marketing during the interest stage is about engaging more personally with your prospects. Demonstrate that your company is invested in customer satisfaction and dedicated to help customers find solutions. Tactics for this phase include:

  • Email campaigns.
  • Informational videos.
  • Social media content.

Evaluation

Now that your prospect has learned more about your company, they’re starting to narrow down options as they approach their final decision. Evaluation is the stage where customers want a more hands-on experience trying your products. This is an optimal time to offer demonstrations, samples, and webinars so your prospects have an opportunity to experience your product first-hand.

Marketing Strategies:

Keep customers engaged and excited about your product. Marketing at this stage should be about connection and opportunity. Successful marketing tactics include:

  • Live product demonstrations.
  • Phone calls.
  • Purchase incentives.

Action

The final stage of the sales funnel occurs when the customer closes the deal with your company. Now that you’ve landed the deal, you need to maintain your relationship with the customer on an ongoing basis. Nurturing current customers is a vital part of maintaining a healthy business practice. You want your customer to feel satisfied with their experience and continue to support your company in the future. This is why providing customers with ongoing information and incentives is an important element of the sales process.

Marketing Strategies:

Focus on facilitating continued customer satisfaction. Offer customers the opportunity to provide feedback or gain rewards for consistently utilizing your product or service. Marketing strategies during the final stage of the sales funnel include:

  • Reward program incentives.
  • Ongoing customer service support.
  • Opportunities for customers to provide feedback.

Getting the Most from Your B2B Sales and Marketing Funnel

Understanding the intricacies of the customer process will help you craft a sustainable and effective marketing campaign. Your sales funnel provides a useful outline to ensure your marketing plan is consistent and effective.

Building a sales and marketing strategy takes skill and knowledge about your company’s sales cycle. To improve your marketing strategy, consider working with an outsourced sales development company like Acquirent. At Acquirent our team of talented sales professionals works with companies of all sizes to find actionable solutions and streamline their sales process. From developing an effective sales funnel to providing sales enablement technology, Acquirent will help your business implement strategies to reach your highest potential.