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B2B Sales Best Practices

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In our last post we examined a few B2B marketing best practices, basic strategies and activities that have earned a reputation for dependably producing successful outcomes; marketing strategies and activities augmented by AI-powered technology have proven to be especially effective. Marketing best practices are routinely followed by those who are considered leading marketers—a savvy and practical lot who avoid the miscalculations of strategies that are, unfortunately, associated with marketing laggards. Marketing leaders know that strategies and activities grounded in best practices are capable of not only producing your organization’s personal best year-end revenue and profit, but also generate business momentum that can propel you into a very happy 2026.

Now that we’ve taken a dive into marketing and learned what’s likely to inspire prospects to ask that you schedule a sales conversation, we can next examine what can be said to represent B2B sales best practices, in particular as they apply to Freelance professionals and small business owners. As always, the goal is to produce healthy revenue and profit results and avoid being seduced by strategies that make sense for, perhaps, an enterprise national or multinational corporation but are probably unattainable for smaller entities. In our continually evolving B2B marketplace, it’s necessary to recognize when to follow traditional B2B basic business practices and when (and which) of the dizzying array of new technologies are capable of facilitating your revenue and other business goals.

Navigating the complexity of B2B purchase decision-making 

B2B sales cycles are typically much longer than their B2C counterparts. The purchasing approval process often requires input from influential stakeholders and it is standard for multiple decision-makers to be involved. Complicated negotiations may be needed to reach agreement on pricing, payment terms and logistics before a sale can be approved. As a result, it is common to meet not just with the project team leader, but with a decision committee when you are invited into a sales conversation.

So—let’s figure out how to survive the lion’s den and earn a chance to rack up as much sales revenue as possible before the 2025 finish line. As usual, the best sales techniques follow a “work smart and keep it simple” philosophy. An effective sales process focuses on more than a financial transaction—the necessity of relationship building, the customer experience and also repeat business and referrals that grow the client list remind you that your sales strategies and skills are building blocks of long-term business growth and are integral to future-proofing your organization. The five steps detailed below are sure to help you improve your sales performance:

  1. Whenever possible, schedule face2face sales meetings to facilitate relationship building opportunities. Teleconferences are useful and very convenient but when possible, especially for the first meeting, find a time and place that will enable all participants to attend in person. Furthermore, it will also benefit you to schedule a face2face meeting at what you anticipate will be the meeting during which you expect to clinch the sale. Facilitating good communication and encouraging transparency and collaboration are easier to achieve in face2face interactions and make it easier to both encourage the sale and plant the seeds of a good client relationship.
  2. In-person meetings provide a forum for you and the decision team to get to get comfortable enough to share relevant information and build trust. The intimacy of in-person interactions are the fastest way to learn what really motivated the prospect’s team to seek out and evaluate your company’s solution. It’s much easier to bring this type of info to the surface when all players are in a room together. Face2face meetings encourage the development of communication and trust whose depth will surpass a merely transactional agenda. Like marketing leaders, sales leaders want to add to their roster clients who are willing to bring repeat business and make referrals to your company. BTW, you can also make referrals for your clients, an action that is certain to strengthen your business relationships.
  3. Sales meetings are typically the setting in which you receive previously undisclosed info that reveals why your prospect is willing to resolve a certain pain point by seeking a solution (that you hope to provide). The prospect’s team might divulge false starts, frustrations and failures that were the outcomes of other solutions. You can move the discovery forward by developing a list of open-ended questions that may encourage decision team members to talk, so that you can actively listen and take notes. Obtaining a clear understanding of client motives, goals, past experiences and concerns will allow you to personalize a solution that addresses what matters to the prospect.
  4. Prospective clients in most cases are concerned with maximizing value for the spend. Therefore, you are advised to focus on the dependable benefits of your solution’s outcomes and results, rather than reciting a list of features that are associated with the service or product.
  5. It is often said that half of life is about showing up; the other half is about the right kind of follow-up. If you’re waiting anxiously for an answer that concerns the proceedings of a recent sales conversation, by all means reach out and make contact. Your job is to add value to the communication and not bring pressure. Good meeting notes will help you to diplomatically present information that addresses client needs and priorities and moves the sale toward a successful conclusion. Maybe you can send a case study that was not previously discussed, or there is an add-on or upgrade that is not costly in terms of time and/or money for you to provide, but will bring value to the client and make your solution more attractive?

Sales skills are critical for B2B sector Freelancers and SMB owners. Those who sell are the revenue engine, making periodic professional sales skills training a must-do. If you’re the company’s one-person sales team, you’ll be much more successful when you sharpen your ability to persuasively and clearly articulate your product or service value proposition/unique sales proposition, refine your responses to prospect questions and objections so that you instill confidence—and close deals in a way that builds client relationships. Keep in mind that utilizing sales best practices tactics alone will not ensure success in the hypercompetitive B2B sector. Producing sales revenue and profit that achieves your targets will also require that you stay abreast of the evolving expectations of your clients and prospects and updated on industry developments and trends.

  1. Instituting an efficient sales system is essential for B2B sector Freelancers and SMBs. A CRM (customer relationship management) system that helps you to monitor leads, sales offers being considered and prospective client interactions should be a part of your sales system. You should establish an inbound sales pipeline that helps you visualize your sales process and identify areas where you can improve. Refer to your marketing buyer persona and use that profile as a snapshot of the client(s) you’re selling to, so that you can tailor and personalize your sales process to fit their needs and expectations. 
  2. Freelance consultants and SMBs operating in the B2B sector must develop a sales strategy.  Your sales strategy will guide you to identify reasonable and attainable sales revenue goals and identify potentially useful sales distribution strategies. Might facilitating website online ordering of certain of your products or services be attractive to your clients and persuade them to do more business with you? Your sales strategy will also guide you to identify principle competitors and learn how to persuasively articulate your unique sales proposition.
  3. Make your sales pitch simple and easy for the client to envision how your solution can be incorporated into the workflow and operate in the real world. Provide information about how your solution can meet the prospect’s specific needs—that is, benefits and outcomes— rather than the ins and outs of service or product features.
  4. Recognize and introduce opportunities to up-sell to premium level service or cross-sell add-on services or accessories. If your service or product line does not currently feature options to “trade-up” or ‘add-on,” consider how you can include such options. For example, designing an “economy” level service may attract interested prospects who are on a budget but are motivated to become buyers. On the other hand, those who have more expansive needs and a budget to match may be ideal candidates for up-selling to premium service/product options, or add-ons.
  5. In 2025-2026, the payment options you offer to prospects can be presented as a competitive advantage. As fintech expands what’s possible, know that buyer expectations are shifting toward flexible, personalized payment terms. Furthermore, cybersecurity and other risk-mitigating considerations are at top of mind. Confirm that your current payment options meet buyer expectations of payment transaction security and give yourself another pathway to encouraging sales and developing good business relationships.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Rido/Dreamstime

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Curb Customer Churn

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Does your business exist in a one-off world? Once you’ve had the pleasure of bringing in a new customer, completed the transaction and received payment, what’s the likelihood of that customer doing business with you again? Acquiring new customers are a feather in your cap and your reason for being but as Dad told me, when it comes to money it’s not what you make, it’s what you keep. That bit of wisdom refers not only to business and living expenses: it also refers to your ability to keep customers coming back.

The expected percentage of repeat customers is different for every business, but it’s widely known that customer loyalty, demonstrated by repeat business, is a success factor and customer churn, also known as customer attrition and refers to the rate that customers disappear from your business, ought to be limited. Nurturing customer loyalty that translates into repeat business and adds to the long-term value of your customers is a much better use of your resources than constantly chasing new customers—even though attracting new customers is an eternal business necessity. See below a sample of customer retention statistics sorted by industry. How does your customer list look in comparison?

Top Customer Retention Stats in 2025 (source: Exploding Topics September 12, 2025)

  • Media services customer retention rate (84%).
  • Professional services customer retention rate (84%)
  • Tech/IT services customer retention rate 81%
  • IT/software services customer retention rate 77%
  • Consumer services customer retention rate 67%
  • Hospitality/travel/restaurant customer retention rate 55%.
  • Facebook 24-month user retention rate 69.6%
  • LinkedIn 24-month user retention rate 59% (estimate–LinkedIn does not release this metric)
  • Instagram 24-month user retention rate 39.1%
  • Pinterest 24-month user retention rate 37.5%
  • Snapchat 24-month user retention rate 30.2%
  • Twitter/ X 24-month user retention rate 22.9%
  • Customers who have a positive experience spend 140% more than those who have a bad experience.
  • Email is the top delivery method used to contact customers and encourage retention (89%)
  • 75% is the average customer retention rate across all industries
  • 60% of customers believe that good customer service is essential to promote customer retention.

Owners and leaders of what is probably the majority of commercial enterprises are inclined to believe the prevailing opinion that claims it costs the average business entity 5x more to bring in a new customer than it costs to keep an existing customer. In fact, research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company found that increasing customer retention rates by just 5% can increase profit anywhere from 25% to as much as 95%. The standard advice about customer retention appears to be still valid, but thought leaders now warn that hyper-prioritizing customer retention introduces the risk of losing focus on what really matters—connecting with customers and delivering value. Freelancers and business leaders must understand which customers are worthy of receiving resources intended to recruit their business and which are worthy of resources intended to keep their business. In that way, finding a balance between the two apparently opposed, but nevertheless important, customer segments can be achieved.

When considering how much to spend to either acquire or retain customers, it’s essential to consider the customer’s lifetime value (CLV), the long-term revenue potential of a customer. When discussing business decisions about attracting new customers and keeping existing customers, University of Pennsylvania/ Wharton Business School Marketing Professor Peter Fader told Forbes Magazine Senior Contributor Blake Morgan, “Here’s my take on that old belief: who cares? Decisions about customer acquisition, retention and development shouldn’t be driven by cost considerations—they should be based on future value.”

Still, getting ghosted by customers is not to be disingenuously explained away. You need to know what motivated now former customers to stop doing business with you. Then you must fix the problem(s). Unfulfilled expectations are known to result in high churn rates as customers jump ship and either take up with a competitor or do without. You can calculate your company’s churn rate by dividing the number of customers you worked with during a specific time period by the number of customers you worked with at the start of that time period. Quarterly, semi-annual, or annual churn calculations will give useful insights to Freelance professionals and other business owners.

Common causes of customer churn

  • Difficult user experience: if some aspect of using the product or service is frustrating, customers are likely to use the product/service less often and they’ll be unlikely to recommend it to friends.
  • Unsatisfying customer experience: if customers do not feel welcome, or if the process of doing business is disorganized and appears unprofessional, it leaves a bad impression. Furthermore, many customers expect a personalized experience and would like your company to periodically introduce new features or upgrades to your product or service that add functionality, luxury, or other distinction that heightens the experience. If this expectation is unfulfilled, some customers will leave.
  • Competitor intervention: every business has competitors, but it is important to discover why customers think the grass is greener somewhere else. Are those customers a bad fit for your business, or was your offering a poor product/market fit for them all along? Alternatively, might some customers be more price-sensitive of late and feel compelled to explore lower-priced solutions? Or, is there something you are doing—or not doing? Once you figure out the cause of the ghosting, you can decide who is worth working to keep and who can be let go.
  • Incomplete onboarding: it is beneficial to teach buyers how to appropriately utilize the product or service that’s been purchased and coaching them on the optimal use of the service or product purchased is especially urgent when the customer has paid several hundred to several thousand dollars. An onboarding process that provides adequate user education will also address customer expectations of personalization and counteract difficult user experiences and, in most cases, head off an unsatisfactory customer experience.

Minimize customer churn

There will always be customers who leave your company to take up with another and the reasons for that are varied—needs evolve, budgets shrink, competitors appear. Nevertheless, directing your focus to customer priorities and expectations to shape your delivery of positive experiences will minimize customer churn and maximize customer satisfaction and retention. In short, make it rewarding to do business with your organization. It has been shown (see above) that the impact of a satisfying and memorable customer experience is enormous— customers spend 140% more if their past experience with a business is positive compared to those customers who encounter a negative experience. Top companies know how important customer experience is in maintaining high retention. The marketing pros at Hubspot suggest a short list of practices that will limit customer churn.

  • Invite customer feedback by creating a short survey to send to customers you’ve worked with over the past four or five years. It’s important to know what customers perceive as your company’s strengths and weaknesses and get insight into how their needs and expectations have evolved. Besides, you might even provide incentive for a lapsed client to return!
  • Provide excellent customer service, from onboading to after-sale support. Define a user roadmap, especially for new customers.
  • Create a welcoming and supportive customer experience. Community building is a powerful engagement strategy that keeps customers talking about your brand. Use social media to create a community for customers and use it to generate loyalty that creates referrals and repeat business.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © SCMP Pictures. Shoppers riding the escalators in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island (2015).

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Client Onboarding Best Practices

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It’s official—the contract is signed and you have a new client! You’re super-excited about commencing work on an interesting project. It’s game on and time to put your best foot forward. As you stand at the threshold of this new opportunity, are you thinking about how you might create a 5-star first impression of yourself and your company? Consider this—you can devise a unique protocol for new (or returning) clients that when implemented will showcase the professionalism of your organization and also officially welcome clients and make them feel confident and even more pleased with the decision to hire you.

Developing a standard procedure that welcomes new clients to your company and inaugurates the working relationship is a practice tailor-made to cast your company in a favorable light. You are already familiar with the ritual of clients asking you to provide certain information when a working relationship begins, in particular your Social Security or Employer Identification Number, mailing address or bank account and routing numbers. Launching your new client protocol will enable you to reciprocate with a process that communicates the competence and sophistication of your business practices. Implementing your new client welcoming strategy will distinguish your organization from competitors and also create conditions for a working relationship that will likely to meet or exceed client expectations.

Right out of the gate, you’ll show clients that they are in good hands, that you’ve got this. It is imperative that Freelancers who operate in the B2B sector present to clients an environment of pleasant and welcoming efficiency that validates the decision to do business with your organization as it walks both parties toward the launch of project work. Demonstrating that dependability and attention to detail are inherent in your organization (i.e., your brand) as you prepare to start project work makes a powerful statement. Clients will recognize that you are capable of managing all aspects of the project and the working relationship, from successful completion of the assignment, to providing excellent customer service assistance, such as making adjustments to address individual client needs or after-sale support and training.

This welcoming process that forward-thinking organization leaders present to clients is called onboarding. Onboarding can be described as a road map that guides new clients through a standardized mutual introduction that’s conducted in advance of starting the project work. Onboarding may also include an after-sale product or service walk-through to ensure clients understand how to optimally use the product or service purchased and review how to bring about the expected solutions. The primary purpose of onboarding is to anticipate and address the most frequent client questions and eliminate miscommunication that may lead to frustration or disappointment with the purchase. A personalized and seamlessly executed onboarding process makes clients feel supported, confident and ready to derive value from the fulfillment of the project work or use of the product or service purchased. Good onboarding makes good business.

Onboarding is credited with increasing client lifetime revenue value—the total revenue you can expect to generate from doing business with a customer during the business relationship. A well-designed and implemented onboarding process enhances client satisfaction and is thought to increase client loyalty, stimulate repeat business and referrals and minimize client churn. Effective onboarding is recognized as a competitive advantage that accesses significant benefits (see below). See also suggestions of potentially useful elements of a B2B onboarding process.

  • Establish a positive and productive working relationship with clients
  • Step One for building the foundation of a successful customer retention strategy
  • Showcase your competence, professionalism and efficiency
  • Enhance your company brand

Schedule a videoconference call or face2face meeting

Within one business day of signing the project contract, schedule a videoconference or face2face meeting with the client’s project leader. This will be your first onboarding gesture, a standard business etiquette courtesy that enables you to meet the client’s project contact (who may not be the person who signed the contract on behalf of the client’s company) and express how pleased and excited you are to work with him/her. Once the pleasantries have taken place, you and the client contact can discuss how to initiate the project work or, if the client purchased a product, e.g., a software service, you will facilitate a tutorial (after-sale support) to ensure that the client will be comfortable using the product.

Because onboarding exists to give the working relationship a smooth and efficient start that is inclined to culminate in favorable results, you’ll want to immediately confirm your access to whatever resources will be integral to efficiently and successfully performing the work. As well, make certain that you clarify the role and responsibilities and availability of your client contact. Confirmation of the project timeline, project milestones and payments linked to achieving the milestones is also best done during the initial meeting with your client contact. Another agenda item is to ask the client contact to describe what a successfully completed project will look like. The answer will confirm what you must deliver to meet or exceed client expectations. Take notes to ensure that you fully understand all metrics the client will use to define success.

After reviewing the important points made, send an email to your client contact to memorialize everyone’s understanding and complete the onboarding process. Your client will be certain to appreciate your attention to his/her needs. Make it obvious that your goal is to produce excellent work that positions the client to look good to the higher-ups at his/ her company. As a final client onboarding gesture, assemble a few branded swag items if you have any, e.g., pens, note pads, tote bags, water bottles and the like, and ship them to your client’s office.

B2B Onboarding Software

To make your onboarding process smoother, there are effective and affordable digital tools that you might want to research. The tools can function as a Freelancer’s onboarding assistants that save you time, keep things organized and achieve the important goal of making clients feel supported every step of the working relationship. Here are B2B onboarding software options to research.

  • Sending welcome emails, scheduling meetings and assigning tasks can be done automatically.
  • You’ll always know where the client is during the onboarding journey and if they need extra help.
  • Receive feedback data on how clients are engaging with your onboarding process, so you can identify sticking points and improve your process over time.

Happy 4th of July and thanks for reading,

Kim

Photograph: © International Churchill Society. Cunard Line’s RMS Queen Mary made her maiden ocean voyage in May 1936, sailing from Southampton, England and docking in New York City.

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Make Marketing Messages Memorable

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What is effective marketing in the 21st century? Communication technology has gone through so many game-changing upgrades—radio! television! Watson the IBM supercomputer!—but the essence of human beings hasn’t really changed over the centuries. The basics of buying and selling resources that we value, whether they are integral to survival or ego-boosting bling, are still governed by a group of fairly standard actions that comprise what’s known as the buyer’s journey. Circumstances and other factors that spark buyer interest and may lead to a sale haven’t changed much in about 8,000 years of civilization as we know it. I think it’s safe to say that buying and selling, and the marketing strategies designed to influence the process, are at their core about the same today as marketing was in Shakespeare’s England (early 1600s) or during the reign of the pharaohs.

Successful marketing campaigns have as their foundation good storytelling and the story must be distributed to potential buyers of the product or service. Marketing stories must appeal to prospective buyers and be accessible on media outlets (channels) that target prospective buyers follow and trust. Beyond those qualifiers, it’s incumbent upon sellers to create and distribute marketing content with a message that persuades potential buyers to stop, look and engage. Sellers need a marketing message that tweaks curiosity or strikes a familiar chord with those who experience it. How can you ensure that your marketing messages will consistently deliver? Read on to learn a few actions that will optimize the power of your marketing messages.

How are prospects meeting their needs now?

As usual, it makes sense to begin at the beginning. Before you can create trust inspiring, right-on-time marketing messages, it’s necessary to know what your customers are doing now — who or what are you competing against? You cannot make a battle plan until you know your opponent and the strengths, weaknesses and perceived value that’s made customers buy (until you arrived to shake things up)?

BTW, more often than you’d guess, your competition is neither a rival Freelancer nor a traditional business entity; your competitor could be inertia, AKA doing nothing. The status quo could be your client’s hiding place and coaxing him/her into the fresh air and sunshine of problem-solving could be a difficult endeavor. “Kicking the can” may have powerful defenders on your sale’s decision-making committee and one or more of them could have budget influence that can be weaponized and used to shut down spending or any move toward progress.

So, if one or two of the prospect’s decision-making committee members are comfortable with what’s being done now, you must demonstrate why deflecting what could be considered a reasonable problem-solving action, or doing the same dance with the same partner, is less effective and in the end more costly than bringing in your solution. To do that, you’ll need a marketing message that is powerful and persuasive. To figure out how to shape the narrative you need, start by exploring these issues:

  • Examine and analyze lost sales. When you lose a sale, diplomatically attempt to discover who your prospect decided to buy from, if possible. Perhaps even more important is to ask the prospect directly or ask someone who can speak for him/her, what shortcoming(s) motivated the decision to select another vendor. You must learn how you dropped the ball in order to fix the problem. Once you’ve identified lapses and/or weaknesses, you’ll decide on the most efficient corrective actions.
  • Examine and analyze successful sales. When the prospect hires you and becomes your client, discreetly inquire about their decision process. It’s seldom easy to learn the identities of competitors on your now-client’s shortlist but is a definitive way to confirm your competition. Equally valuable intel is learning which factors or characteristics of yours motivated decision-makers to bring you on board. What is it about you and your organization or skill set that makes you stand out?
  • Get input from your best customers. If your product or service didn’t exist, what would your customers do instead? Their answers will reveal the real-world alternative solutions you’re up against. To get started on building your case, consider these tactics:

Describe your value proposition, as your buyers define it

Once you have a good understanding of your typical competitors, identified weaknesses you must address and strengths that distinguish you and instill confidence in prospects, incorporate your findings in your marketing messages. Your story will be best served when you think beyond predictable product or service features; standing out in today’s hyper-competitive marketplace requires more than a recitation of product or service features and benefits. Put yourself in the prospect’s shoes and envision what s/he must achieve and what it takes to do so and use those insights to predict which of your product or service features and benefits to showcase. Develop a marketing message that will “paint a picture” that enables your prospect to “see” how your solution helps them to achieve their goals or please their customers. Adopt a “what’s in it for them” mindset as you customize your marketing message with a story that goes beyond generalities:

  • Superior customer experience (e.g., fast and uncomplicated new customer onboarding or the availability of end-user training and/or other post-sale support.
  • Expertise in a specific market or problem area.
  • Flexibility or customization that others lack.
  • A track record of success with companies similar to your target customers.

Edit marketing message talking points

Make it easy for prospects to remember (and also value) features and benefits by paring down your list and building your message on three or four powerful and persuasive talking points, so that you’ll avoid overwhelming prospects with too much information that is bound to get lost in the shuffle. A short list of strong value points makes a bigger impact than a long list of features. These 3-4 marketing message talking points become your core value proposition for you to use in all of your marketing materials. Choose your list of customized, high value talking points guided by these suggestions:

  • Relevance: Which benefits speak most directly to your audience’s most urgent goal or problem?
  • Uniqueness: Which of your strengths is most difficult for competitors to copy or claim?
  • Defensibility: How does your marketing message communicate a story that demonstrates in a clear and persuasive narrative that your solution and company are the best option for the client?

Customize messages for market segments

Your carefully selected and vetted marketing message should quickly resonate with your customers and prospects, literally “speak” to your audience so that its members can recognize the information they care about most. Adjust your core message based on who you’re talking to and where they are in the buying journey. Be sensitive to the need of different information or incentives that are useful to prospect as they progress through the buyer’s journey. Prospects who are establishing a familiarity with your company and its solutions are not the same as prospects who are in the process of making a final determination between two or three potential vendors. Supporting information should align with the questions a typical prospect has when progressing through the buyer’s journey.

  • Decision-makers: Emphasize high-level results, like return on investment for users of your product or service, or overall cost savings.
  • End-users: Focus on ease of use and practical features.
  • Awareness stage: Talk about common problems and introduce your solution.
  • Decision stage: Show clear proof and highlight what makes you stand out.

Message at every touchpoint

A messaging hierarchy helps you stay consistent across all channels — from your website homepage to sales meetings. It starts with your core value points, then moves into supporting messages and ends with evidence. Structure it like this:

  1. Value proposition talking points: The top 3-4 benefits you chose to highlight (above).
  2. Supporting messages: Additional advantages or benefits that reinforce why you core value proposition makes a (positive) difference for the prospect.
  3. Case studies: Real life experience helps a prospect understand how your service or product performs in the real world. Present performance metrics, share a case study or other stories that document and illustrate how you (and your team) provide solutions that solves problems, achieves goals and delivers on promises made.
  4. Technology: Demonstrate to your prospect that you are a capable and prepared professional who is comfortable with commonly used tech solutions by using an online calendar platform (such as Calendly) to schedule and confirm your sales meetings, as you reduce the incidence of missed appointments or cancellations—frustrating time wasters. Doing so demonstrates not only your knowledge and proficiency of useful technology, but also signals to prospects your intention to deliver a seamless and pleasant end-to-end customer experience.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: ©National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) 1972. Eugene Cernan, commander of the Apollo 17 mission and the last astronaut to walk on the moon, holds an American flag during his mission in December 1972. 

 

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Time Is On Your Side

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Last year (and maybe the year before as well), did it seem like it took forever for prospects to negotiate the buyer’s journey and finally make a purchase and become your client? Rest assured, it may have felt like a nightmare, but it wasn’t a dream. Responses of more than 18,000 B2B buyers who participated in Forrester’s 2023 Global B2B Buyers’ Journey Survey, and who were also Forrester clients, confirm that B2B buyers globally have become mostly both risk averse and price sensitive as they contend with economic uncertainty. Approximately one third of B2B buyers in North America and Europe, and more than a quarter of their counterparts in Asia Pacific, reported that they are significantly influenced by price when making purchasing decisions. Additionally, the buying process has become more complex than ever and purchasing delays are now common.

Leaning into caution seems to have begun in 2022 in the B2B sector, when inflation weighed heavily on everyone’s mind, causing buyers to carefully evaluate purchases and avoid what could be considered over-paying. The practice is still trending and its influence is documented in Forrester’s global B2B buying survey. Another notable survey finding was the role of purchase-focused decision-making committees, that include “product experts” who have a growing influence on B2B buying.

Amy Hayes, vice president and research director at Forrester, a world-renowned business research and advisory firm based in Cambridge, MA and author of the survey, summed up the trend in a candid comment, “Due to budget constraints and continued economic uncertainty, buying decisions are getting delayed.” Not only are buyer journeys lasting longer, but more people are on the bus and purchasing decision-making committees have grown larger and increasingly risk-averse. Purchasing criteria are subjected to increased scrutiny and due diligence rituals have become more detailed. Needless to say, the New Normal protocols are doing Freelance consultants no favors. So now what?

As you keep in mind that an elephant is a mouse designed by a committee, our mission today is to devise a strategy that can help you to successfully navigate this potential impasse. To enhance the prospect’s confidence in your product or service and also help expedite decision-making, it could be advisable for B2B sellers to showcase their offerings’ return on investment throughout the buyer’s journey. Moreover, identifying an attribute of your product or service that can be convincingly described as uniquely useful to prospects may enable you to pacify decision committee naysayers, who would otherwise be delighted to shoot down your sales proposal if they think it will make themselves look shrewd and in control. Not only that, the attribute you showcase may do a great job of setting you apart from competitors.

Let’s look at the bright side—those decision-making committee members can green-light your sale if you attach a value they can’t resist to your service or product. To win their confidence, you’ll need to wrap your product or service in a bullet-proof business virtue for which you can create a compelling narrative. Oh, and although B2B purchasing-focused decision-making committees have been shown to be price-sensitive, be aware that you cannot compete on price because that is a race to the bottom and you can only lose.

A comprehensive and convincing accounting of the strengths of your service or product is likely to be helpful and perhaps best summed up by the Google algorithm EEAT—experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trustworthiness—and could be the best recipe to win the consensus you’ll need. A good case study or two can demonstrate the ROI your service or product delivers to clients; a link to a webinar or podcast in which you are prominently featured can further demonstrate your expertise, showcase your thought leader status and convey your authenticity.

The Forrester survey also shows that in addition to spending conservatively, respondents made known the high value they place on an invaluable resource—time—and that this attribute can influence the outcome of buying decisions. This could be your silver bullet—how can you present time as a resource that your service or product brings to clients? Do that successfully and you will have discovered the secret sauce that helps you win more sales.

“How important is saving time to you and your team?”

Like marketing automation Software as a Service solutions enable businesses to devote less effort to routine tasks, B2B services or products that are developed with operational efficiency, user-friendly implementation and time reduction in mind deliver benefits that clients and prospects recognize and respond to. C-suite executives are keenly aware that increasing available time can, for example, allow the resource to be devoted to vital business functions such as business strategy assessment and development, innovation, scaling or expanding operations and/or examining the impact of the company’s customer experience or after-sale training and support. Enabling your clients’ success will, among other things, allow them to more efficiently respond and deliver value to their customers. You can position your clients to save their customers time and and also drive their satisfaction, loyalty, repeat business and referrals. When you make it known to prospects the potential of your product or service to increase the valuable resource that is time you may want to discuss:

  • Clearly communicate how your service or product aligns with the client’s perception of time. C-suite execs understand the importance of time and its value when choosing to implement a product or service, but they may not share that concern with members of the purchasing decision-making committee—that responsibility may be up to you, the seller. When discussing the performance and benefits of your service or product, be certain that time-saving capabilities are always considered.
  • Show that your product is easy to implement, install, learn and operate. Today’s companies compete on the basis of their ability to work in agile ways, innovate quickly and adopt new approaches in response to changing marketplace conditions. A product or service that enhances those capabilities by saving time is a unique benefit and valuable selling point that should be on the table when speaking with decision-making committee members.
  • Reduce time spent on execution, increase time for other tasks. Consider every internal process, task and workflow that your service or product will simplify, streamline, automate, or accelerate and how those attributes and capabilities work to increase time that can be spent on other imperatives. If possible, bring in experts and give everyone involved in the purchasing decision a seat at the table.

While research has shown that B2B buyers are responding to economic uncertainty by becoming both cautious and price sensitive in many instances, clients are often willing to pay a premium for services or products that they can implement quickly and easily, so they can more quickly move the team on to the next project. Time is a resource that can add significant value to a service or product, allowing you to anticipate client needs and drive profitability.

When products and services consider time reduction on behalf of clients, your solution can therefore function as a partner that helps them receive the rare gift time that can be applied to building a better business innovation, providing seamless customer experiences and optimizing client relationships. Enabling your clients’ success allows them to respond to and deliver value to their customers faster, potentially by saving their customers’ time and driving satisfaction and loyalty. Time is always money and it is useful to present it as a selling point for you to leverage.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Shutterstockimagebank

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“Why Should We Hire You?” Your Answer Impacts Client Acquisition

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As you’ve figured out by now, an interview with a prospect who you hope will become your next client, is a sales pitch. In this scenario you, Freelancer friend, are both the product and the service. When you are being considered for a Freelance consulting assignment (or if you are an employee searching for a new job), the mission is to sell yourself—your brand—to the decision-maker(s) by demonstrating you are best in class. IQ/hard skills as evidenced by your education, professional expertise and experience and EQ/soft skills demonstrated by your work ethic, communication ability, teamwork skills and values when viewed together can predict with a high degree of confidence that project deliverables will be produced on time and within budget and, as well, contribute to a positive team experience that encourages productivity and camaraderie.

When hiring managers interview candidates to discuss project specs, a common tactic is to ask “Why should we hire you?” The question is quite helpful for decision-makers; they listen as the candidate basically sells him/herself and reveals who s/he really is. The insights that decision-maker(s) receive is known to promote selection of the right candidate. Prominent information that “Why should we hire you?” brings out includes:

  • Does the candidate grasp the importance of the project to the organization?
  • How might the candidate’s understanding of the relevance of his/her work contribute to realization of the project mission?
  • Which competencies and characteristics make the candidate stand out?
  • Might the candidate’s values and work habits be a good cultural fit with the project leader and team members with whom s/he will interact?
  • Does the candidate display enthusiasm and passion for the project and mission?

“Why should we hire you?” is usually one of the last interview questions asked, which means you can use your answer to sum up why you are the ideal candidate. Moreover, you can use what decision-maker(s) have said during the interview to your advantage. To that end, pay attention to competencies and qualities seemed to be especially important to the decision-maker(s) and as you reply to the big question, link your skills and experience to what matters to them. What do you say if “Why should we hire you?” is asked early in the interview? HR specialists recommend that you deflect and ask for more information about the role and include their language and priorities while describing your expertise, experience, work ethic and other factors that the decision-maker prioritizes.

Prepare for the question before the interview

Freelance consultants know that you are much more than a hired gun who operates with a narrow, “just the facts” mindset. It will be wise to obtain a big picture view of the project and gain an understanding of how the company will benefit from and utilize the project deliverables. Also search or inquire while in the interview the company’s history with this or or similar projects? The more you know, the more persuasive your answers and the more impressive you look to decision-maker(s).

Your best source for info that references the importance of the project and its mission to the company is certain to be the project specs. Give the document another read and pay attention to must-have and preferred professional skills and experience, as well as the expected project deliverables and/or outcomes. Item Two of your search could be “About Us” on the company website and Item Three might be the organization’s most recent annual report.

You will be much more authoritative and persuasive when you learn how company leaders visualize and measure achievement of their project mission. Don’t shy away from using their words to describe your own skills and values—chances are, they’ll love to hear it! Read on to learn how to compose a winning answer to a powerful, and common, interview question: “Why should we hire you?”

Elevator Pitch

A good elevator pitch is so useful. You can drop it in here and let it be the opening statement of your response to the Big Question. Remember that you get to sum up your qualifications and overall suitability and explain why you deserve to win this coveted assignment. Presenting your elevator pitch as the intro to your response sets the stage for a succinct and powerful statement that details your qualifications and experience and defends your ability to successfully produce the project deliverables.

Review and rehearse your pitch to ensure that your message will effectively reinforce your candidacy. Your pitch should be a 30-45-second well-articulated story that gives a brief introduction and overview of you and your work that tells decision-makers you can be trusted to deliver results and make them look good.

Competencies and success stories

When answering the question, link the project’s purpose, goals and desired outcomes to your ability to guide the project to a successful conclusion, as a key component of the strategy to distinguish yourself from other candidates. Lead with your most recent and relevant work to showcase your successes with previous projects that echo the aims of this project. Briefly share specific examples that illustrate why you should be hired. Rehearse your answers to ensure that your narrative is clear, concise and compelling. You’ll likely include some combination of the factors stated below.

  • Expertise. Educational degrees, professional certifications and work experience are proof of expertise. Providing examples of successfully working on similar projects will assure decision-makers that you are a competent and trustworthy candidate who can be expected to successfully produce the deliverables and/or desired outcomes (and make them look good).
  • Unique skills. Highlight relevant competencies and professional and/or volunteer experiences that make you uniquely qualified for the assignment and set you apart from other candidates. Some of your special skills do not need to be strictly job-related—maybe you have a pilot’s license, speak a foreign language fairly well, or sing in a choral group? The decision-makers may appreciate nearly any unique advantage that showcases you as an exceptional candidate.
  • Accomplishments. Communicate your appreciation for business imperatives and give the decision-makers yet another vote of confidence for your candidacy. If, for example, you include in your “Why should we hire you?” response that when you worked on a particular project you showed the client that it will be possible to reduce operating costs by 10%, or your work resulted in a 20% improvement in customer satisfaction ratings. If this was the case, share the good news in your reply.

Your vision of success

Recognize that “Why should we hire you?” is a gift that allows you to help decision-maker(s) visualize you in the role. For sure, it’s worth your while to envision yourself successfully performing in the assignment, so that you can create a powerful narrative that describes how you will bring about that success. Include in your vision narrative a description that is more than a recitation of your skills and education. Paint a verbal picture as well by describing examples of you working with their team, contributing to and supporting the purpose, goals, mission and/or bottom line associated with the project.

Your answer is short and sharp

As with all interview questions, deliver organized and concise replies and especially so when responding to this decisive question. Your answer must be easy to follow — not rambling— and presented logically. HR specialists suggest that point out three benefits associated with hiring you and conclude by emphasizing your genuine interest in the role and the company. Furthermore, convey your confidence by modulating your voice and body language in a way that communicates your command of the necessary skills and leadership ability. Speak slowly and clearly and use a friendly, yet professional, tone of voice and mannerisms as you discuss your unique suitability for the project.

Show Enthusiasm

Do not neglect to demonstrate your enthusiasm for working on the assignment. First off, the decision-maker(s) want to see it and second, it’s how you feel. You want this project, whether you’re motivated by the billable hours you’ll receive, the opportunity to work with a prestigious client, or access to an assignment that adds luster to your portfolio.

However you communicate your enthusiasm, make it memorable and personal. If you position this job as your dream job (assuming it is), the decision-maker will recognize and appreciate your enthusiasm (and energy) to take on the role and meet or exceed performance expectations.

Be Humble

A small dose of humility could be music to the ears of decision-maker(s), after listening to candidates tell them about how wonderful they are! When your answers are matter-of-fact and not obviously bragging, you come off as authentic and that’s a quality decision-maker(s) can appreciate.

Happy Holidays and thanks for reading!

Kim

Image: © fizkes/iStock

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Rip Off the Band-Aid: Why Prospects Refuse to Be Customers

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You’ll never preside over a thriving business enterprise, be it large, small, or somewhere in-between, unless you consistently recruit new customers—as you simultaneously encourage repeat business, that is! Maintaining a healthy customer list is a balancing act that requires constant attention. When creating marketing strategies and campaigns for your entity, I think it’s safe to say you create content expected to interest current and prospective customers who have at least a back-burner need for your service or product categories.

But as you brainstorm potential marketing messages to fuel your next inbound or outbound marketing campaign, your thoughts could eventually land on a cohort of elusive and reluctant prospects—- noncustomers, who buy little or nothing from either you or your competitors. Who are those outliers lurking at the fringes of your marketplace, you may wonder? Admittedly, Freelancers and owners of small or medium size businesses will (correctly) assume that it’s a smarter bet to direct your time and money to prospects who’ve shown a need for products and services offered in your marketplace. Nevertheless, you may not be able to ignore the silent awareness of noncustomers who may have a latent, unacknowledged need for what you sell. Could they exist in sufficient numbers and hold revenue potential to constitute a niche market for you? Maybe.

The answers you seek can most efficiently be revealed with comprehensive market research, data-driven and available in software like Qualtrics and other SaaS companies to get trustworthy customer intel that helps you make informed decisions. Once you’ve discovered the identities of your noncustomers, guided by the industries they occupy, you can then verify the business case for how your services and/or products could be worthwhile for them.

As you research your noncustomers, you may quickly see that they’re not all alike and that each subgroup has idiosyncratic biases, doubts, concerns, even misperceptions that explain why they’re noncustomers. Research may reveal that for some of them, the decision to decline to buy from either you or your competitors could make sense. That said, your noncustomers, while perhaps operating in different industries and maintaining different perspectives, might share certain similarities—goals, challenges, or concerns, for example, that could give them something to talk about if they all show up at the same holiday party. Subject to an analysis of relevant data that’s interpreted well, you may be able to build on what your noncustomers have in common and discover a potential niche market that you might convert into a few good customers.

Noncustomers categories

The challenge of noncustomers was researched by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, who sought to help companies more effectively understand and, where possible, convert the untapped demand of these inaccessible prospects and in so doing create the genuine demand for a company’s products and services that they named blue ocean. Kim and Mauborgne are professors of business strategy at INSEAD (Institut Europeen d’Administration des Affaires) and coauthors of Blue Ocean Strategy (2005), the book and the marketing theory. The developed an analytic framework used to study the phenomenon of noncustomers and they sorted the cohort into three tiers.

  • First Tier: Soon-to-be

First Tier noncustomers are on the fringe of your market and waiting for an opportunity to leave your industry. They’re not precisely noncustomers; when they must, they’ll buy certain products or services offered by companies in your category but know that they have no love for any company operating in your industry.

What drives First Tier noncustomers? They may be dissatisfied with the available products or services in your industry and hoping for a solution that better satisfies their needs.

  • Second Tier: Refuseniks

Second Tier noncustomers make a conscious choice against your market and deliberately decline to buy your industry’s product or service offerings. These noncustomers have seen the available solutions that might fulfill their needs but have decided against them.

What drives Second Tier Noncustomers? They may find the available products or services unaffordable or somehow inappropriate for their needs.

  • Third Tier: Unexplored

Third Tier noncustomers are psychologically farthest away from your marketplace. These noncustomers have never considered products or services sold in your industry to be an option and so they’ve made no purchases. It’s assumed that the needs of third tier noncustomers are addressed by another industry.

What drives Third Tier Noncustomers? They never viewed your industry’s products or services as a viable option and therefore never considered exploring what you sell.

Marketing messages for noncustomers

Prospects who erect barriers and refuse to be considered are not easy to overcome, as you know. Kim and Mauburgne recommend that those looking to appeal to noncustomers to first, search for similarities that link your various noncustomer subgroups and second, focus on low hanging fruit. In other words, figure out which noncustomer groups you can expect to most easily, quickly and inexpensively communicate with and then create strategies and campaigns to win them over, if that is possible. Spotlighting benefits they stand to receive when using your products or services may be persuasive.

Identifying those similarities shared by your different noncustomers will be a good job for your data analytics software. Once you’ve figured out the landscape, you can then decide which problem or priority to address. After that, you create a marketing message you expect will resonate with your chosen cohort and distribute through channels they can be expected to trust and follow.

  • Neuromarketing: emotional appeal

Some behavioral experts believe that 95% of customers’ buying decisions are made subconsciously and this strategy seems to me like a potentially successful one for reeling in noncustomers. It’s entirely possible that even your toughest B2B customers aren’t using as much logic as they’d like you to believe when they evaluate (or ignore) the possibility of buying your product or service. Moreover, the biggest urge that’s attached to unconscious decision making is emotion. What all this means is if you effectively appeal to your noncustomers’ feelings, you’ll have a better chance of influencing their buying decisions.

Research also shows that marketing campaigns that have purely emotional content perform twice as well when compared to content that only uses logic. Furthermore, for some unexplainable reason, content that includes both emotion and logic doesn’t connect as well as exclusively emotional marketing content, whether the content features positive or negative emotions. Emphasize emotions in your marketing content when reaching out to customers or noncustomers by including storytelling, humor, music, or other behaviors that resonate with their emotions. Instead of focusing solely on product features or benefits, create emotional content that strives to encourage a personal connection with your viewers.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Getty Images/Ingram Publishing (2014)

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Six Strategies to Spark Sales

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As every Freelancer and business owner eventually learns, an occasional sales revenue slump is not unusual. The precipitating factor can be anything from the potential for federal legislation that if passed would impact your industry, fluctuations in your local economy, or maybe even a social media meme that’s sweeping the country. Beyond the expected seasonal variations, sales revenue can wax and wane for mysterious reasons, making it a necessity to have financial reserves available to allow your company to continue operating as usual.

What this observation reveals is this—being successful in business means being resourceful. The best way to survive revenue peaks and troughs is to devise a remedy that revs up revenue and creates robust cash-flow that positions your company to thrive. Taking action to stimulate sales is always good business. For inspiration, please see here insights from a survey of the 14,000 member companies of the National Association of Manufacturers conducted by the Chicago, IL based global risk management, tax and consulting firm RSM McGladrey. Identified in the survey are strategies that you’ll recognize as low-hanging fruit selling opportunities that have excellent potential to generate revenue now and into the 4th quarter.

1. Increase market penetration

More than 60% of survey respondents considered it smart to focus on what their business does well—selling to current markets. Expanding penetration into your market segments is considered a wise revenue-generating strategy, since competitive advantages and all necessary systems are in place—relationships are favorable and communication protocols are familiar; you know how to facilitate the sale and know how the client wants products or services to be delivered; client pain points and priorities have been documented; and, most of all, you’ve earned client trust.

Pave your path to success by becoming more diligent and systematic about marketing outreach strategies, tactics and follow-up. Email marketing, social media posts, newsletter and blog articles and telephone calls are among the activities that effectively transmit personalized messages known to stimulate sales and expand market penetration.

2. New extension to your line

Consider extending your product or service line to include an inventive complementary addition that will enhance the desirability of the solutions clients buy from you now. This strategy is linked to your ability to leverage customer knowledge and relationships in a way that reveals seldom expressed frustrations or aspirations when using your category of products or services. When you make time to talk with clients and understand what matters most to them, you will eventually learn how your organization can more effectively provide solutions that solve problems, achieve goals, eliminate glitches and deliver an exemplary client experience as you do. Do this and your company will become more indispensable to their operations and more orders will flow to you.


3. New add-on or upgrade

More than 40% of respondents believed that providing add-on or upgrade options to the products and/ or services sold would likely be embraced by enough clients to become an efficient and effective growth strategy. Certain of your clients may feel that a more comprehensive version of your basic product or service brings an advantage that they consider to be worthwhile and they’d be willing to pay more to have it. Inviting clients to “trade up” can sometimes rather easily produce a revenue stream for your business. Best of all, you may be able to create the enhanced version of your product or service for a modest cost and sell to clients at a premium.

4. New distribution channels

Identifying new sales channels could make doing business with your outfit more appealing to certain client segments and result in an increase in sales revenue. Additional sales distribution channels will expand the availability and visibility of your products and/or services and encourage more sales. The additional revenue can soften the effects of whatever erratic purchasing patterns that might occur throughout the year and help stabilize cash-flow.

If you haven’t done so already, enable clients to purchase some or all of your products or services directly from your website and social media accounts. Depending on your product line, explore the possibility of placing selected items on consignment in retail outlets that fit your brand. You might also evaluate the feasibility of opening a pop-up store.

5. New service

Whether your company sells B2B or B2C, you may be able to develop a new service that both aligns with your current products and/or services and solves a problem by providing a solution that your market segment finds desirable. When a product or service line comprehensively addresses what clients have in mind, sales growth will result. Presenting more reasons for clients to do business with your company builds brand loyalty and value along with sales revenue and that can include repeat business and referrals, too. What practical and appealing new service do your clients hope you can offer?

6. Price to tempt

What creative pricing offer might intrigue your clients and persuade them to do business now instead of later? While it is preferable to sell on value and quality, limited time loss leader pricing tactics do little harm to gross sales and have been known to stimulate purchases of higher profit margin items in your product and service lines—exactly the outcome you’re looking for!

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star.  Business is brisk at Bouchard Gardens on opening day of the Downtown Farmer’s Market in Windsor, Ontario (Canada) on Saturday, May 30, 2015.

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Bidding Tactics: Let Prospective Clients See Your Best

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An invitation to submit a proposal for an upcoming project is always a big deal. You’re excited and want so much for your bid to be accepted but even if you don’t make it this time, the opportunity to be a serious contender for a contract is always a vote of confidence. The bidding process itself is your opportunity to shine. At every facet of your proposal package, you have a chance to make a favorable impression. Step by step, you can give your prospect reasons to say yes to you!

You win the prize by telling the story of your company in a way that communicates your expertise and dependability. Your strategy is to first anticipate the questions that project decision-makers can be expected to have about a candidate and second, provide information that is likely to make the decision-makers feel confident that your organization is right for the role. In sum, you want to package and present your company in a way that radiates credibility.

First, you must decide whether or not you will submit a proposal for the assignment. It is important that you understand the company and the project before immersing yourself in developing a proposal. A reading of the project specifications will confirm if the assignment is a fit for your organization. A tour of the company website will familiarize you with the company’s products, services, mission and values and indicate whether you’ll be comfortable working closely with this company.

It’s also advisable to ask your contact at the organization to share with you the primary goals of the project, so you’ll gain a perspective of what the project means to company leaders. Finally, ask your company contact to share with you the metrics that will be used to measure project success. These insights will help you to decide whether or not to submit your proposal.

If you decide that this is a go, you want to give the decision-makers for the project every reason to select your proposal. Below are documents and other information to include in your proposal package that answer nearly every question about your entity, products and/or services and as it communicates your Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness and advances a narrative designed to please the project decision-makers (and also the Google algorithm).

Capability Statement

Capability Statements are used to evaluate and weed out contract applicants, so submitting one that’s eye-catching and presents your company’s strengths can be the difference between winning and losing an assignment. Furthermore, a Capability Statement can help you to identify and describe your core competencies and unique value proposition.

Succinctly introduce yourself and your company’s products and/or services and tell the project decision-makers your story—exactly what your organization can do for them and why your organization is the best option. Your story must clearly demonstrate that you (and your team, if applicable) are capable and prepared to produce the deliverables on time and within budget, happy to provide excellent customer service and a pleasantly memorable customer experience.  Below are attachments that can accompany your Capability Statement and enhance its impact.

  • Bio
    A personal introduction to you, your (usually one page) bio will provide a concise overview of your most relevant educational and professional qualifications and accomplishments.
  • Client List
    If you have prestigious, high-profile clients in particular, list them (unless there is an expectation of client confidentiality). If you have very few clients, add jobs and your employers, projects and volunteer work, focusing on assignments and posts that relate to the project you would be hired for.
  • Portfolio
    Include relevant and persuasive samples of your work, to demonstrate that you are qualified and can be expected to excel in the role. 
  • Testimonials
    Ask those with whom you’ve worked closely, whether clients or those who have supervised you. Three to five recommendations is ideal.
  • Workflow
    This section shows clients you have a process, a system for writing and working on projects. It tells clients you’re a professional and gives them clear expectations. Most important, as they read it, they begin imagining what it will be like to work with you.
  • Schedule of Estimated Investment
    AKA, your pricing. Prospective clients will be interested in the scope of products and/or services that your company offers and the range of your fee schedule.

Once you’re hired (and you will be hired because you are the best candidate!) you can take a few steps to streamline and enhance your on-the-job performance:

  • Task Prioritization Begin by identifying your most critical tasks and deadlines. To-do list tools, project management apps (e.g., Asana or Trello), or time management techniques like the Eisenhower Matrix can help you prioritize effectively.
  • Project Calendar develop a project calendar to visualize deadlines and milestones for your your project. This helps you allocate time appropriately. For example: A Freelance digital marketer can create a calendar to manage social media campaigns for the client, ensuring posts are scheduled strategically and are uploaded according to plan.
  • Time Management Time management is the engine of successful Freelancing. Learn to allocate your time wisely and pace yourself to ensure that you maintain the energy, concentration and creativity that are the foundation of your professional expertise.
  • Time-Tracking Tools Utilize time-tracking apps (e.g., Clockify or My Hours) to monitor how you spend your work hours. This also helps identify areas where you might be losing productivity.
  • Communication Maintain timely and clear communication with your clients. Keep the project point person informed about your workload, progress, achievement of milestones and any potential delays or obstacles.

Regularly Update Your Portfolio Periodically refresh the content of your online profile with updates that display the most current examples of your best work and simultaneously demonstrate the demand for your products and/or services. Writers will provide links to recently published articles and those who’ve worked on a big project or worked with a prestige client will document the experience to verify your professional expertise and the power of your brand.

When to Say No Avoid taking on too many projects simultaneously and overextending yourself. Politely decline offers that you can’t accommodate without compromising the quality of your work. Effective management of your Freelance assignments is essential for sustaining success and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. By prioritizing tasks, managing time efficiently, staying consistent and handling multiple projects strategically, you can thrive in the Freelance sector.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Shutterstock Asianmaninterview.jpg

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Lemons into Lemonade: When the Prospect Says No

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Unless you’re selling iPhones and iPads or another hot product, you know that sales is a tough business (I speak from lived experience). It’s a fact that prospects usually decline to buy. According to 2024 data compiled by researchers at Hubspot, the inbound marketing company based in Cambridge, MA, the average B2B sale has a success rate of 29%. https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/sales-statistics

Selling is a complex and intimate form of communication, a skill that’s impacted by luck (good or bad), timing, money, relationships, serendipitous trends and the needs or wants of prospective customers. Is it possible to crack the 29% close rate? Maybe if you’re an especially gifted talker and luck is on your side. For the rest of us, though, a lost sale means trying to get past disappointment as you pick up the pieces and move on.

When you think about it, you may agree that the best outcome of a sales presentation is to get an honest answer from your prospect. The worse possible outcome is when the prospect ghosts you, gives you the silent treatment. According to research by Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna, co-founders of DCM Insights, a B2B sales training company, and co-authors of The Jolt Effect: How High Performers Overcome Customer Indecision (2022), 40% – 60% of B2B sales are lost to no decision—ghosting by another name. Yes is always the favorite answer but even no feels better than being ghosted.

If selling is integral to your business, you’ll do well to focus on just getting an answer from your prospect, even if it’s not the one you hope for. In the competitive terrain of B2B sales, the pressure to extract yes from prospects can lead to frustration and stress. But those whose livelihood depends on successful sales—Freelancers, business owners and sales reps working for a company they don’t own—cannot continually chase down prospects, especially when it’s obvious they’ve slipped away. That’s a losing strategy, both time-wasting and corrosive to self-esteem.

There is a sliver of bright side, however, because when the prospect says no, it doesn’t always mean that you leave the scene empty-handed. The less experienced or confident salesperson will automatically assume that no means never. That could be true, but those who’ve been around the block a couple of times know that a prospect who declines to buy today might mean, “let’s talk at another time.” Those who sell should be aware that a third option can exist beyond the yes/ no paradigm.

The often neglected third option can lead prospects to revisit, reassess and sometimes redo a rejected sales decision. If you enable the process, you and your prospect together can access the third option and expand the meaning of a successful sale. It’s good sales strategy and respects the power you’ve earned as a professional who creates value.

So, when preparing for the next sales meeting, why not adjust expectations of potential outcomes and re-frame your definition of a “lost” sale? Like describing whether your glass is half-empty or half-full, allow yourself to reclassify no and redefine it as another type of opportunity—kind of like turning lemons into lemonade. Many prospective customers are not completely forthcoming when discussing a potential sale. As noted by Dixon and McKenna (above), roughly half of B2B sales are lost because no decision is made.

That all-too-common lapse should be the biggest motivation for those who sell for a living to ask probing questions when meeting with prospects. You need to tease out any unspoken agenda items and get the cards on the table. You set the stage for a candid discussion during sales meetings by showing that you care: listen well, take notes and repeat key phrases to confirm what needs to be resolved, achieved and/or avoided. Do that and you’ll earn trust and make it comfortable for the prospect to tell you what’s up, instead of ghosting you because s/he can’t figure out how to talk about things.

Yes, no, next steps

To encourage yes (and discourage a future no), make sure you and the prospect establish and agree on whatever next steps will continue the positive momentum of your conversation and facilitate ongoing engagement. In other words, do what you can to keep the prospect talking and keep alive the possibility of a sale, even if the timing will be later rather than sooner. Make the lemonade.

For best results, propose a specific time-frame for follow-up actions that lead to the next conversation. The follow-up will be an action plan that functions to promote the chances of converting the prospect into a yes in the future. Still, remember that your reassessment of a win should mean that you focus on getting a well-considered answer. If the answer is based on a thorough evaluation of your proposal by the prospect’s decision team, then call it a win, whether s/he says yes or no. Ghosting is what you want to avoid. Here are rewards you’ll get when you re-frame the meaning of successful selling:

  • Yes: Always the favorite answer. Your talking points and proposal convinced the prospect.
  • No: An unequivocal no does not always represent failure, as it tells you to move forward and pursue potentially more promising leads. The earlier in the sales process that no arrives the better it is for you. Then, you can redirect your time and energy on opportunities that may get you to yes.
  • Next steps: This option is based on specific follow-up actions and a scheduled time to meet with your prospect. Next steps is a win because it confirms potential interest and outlines a roadmap to a possible “yes.” The key to next steps is a specific follow-up time-frame.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Image: © Getty images. Children Selling Lemonade, 1945