Companies face intense pressure to close and clinch as many deals as possible, and sales costs can increase during a recession without delivering much profit. During a period of recession, instead, sales leaders need to coach their sales teams frequently and equip them with good software tools. Organizations should invest in retaining their best salespeople and in minimizing customer attrition.
Top strategies for B2B marketers and sales people to follow during a recession
“As a B2B marketer, do I need to change strategies during a recession? Can you eke out an opportunity during the recession to grow and flourish? Do I need to work harder during the recession to discover ways to do more with less investment and effort?” Many such queries are asked on the subject. Here is a definitive guide to managing sales and your business during a slow-down. Read on!
1. Focus on the house list:
During the recession, naturally, you won’t have money to splash out lavishly on grabbing and acquiring new customers. Instead, spend more time marketing to people who have already bought from you and know you. Nurturing campaigns, curating new content to deliver to prospects you have at the moment, and cleaning and boosting your marketing lead database with advanced profiling are some of the actions you can consider to get the most out of your existing customer relationships.
2. Create & optimize landing pages:
You can’t just rely on Google AdWords, sponsorships, email campaigns, or banners to maximize the return on your campaigns. You need a dedicated landing page to turn a click into a potential customer. A properly curated landing page can double your conversions in less time than sending clicks to the website’s homepage. Moreover, testing the pages can increase conversions by about 48%. A recession may be the best time to optimize a landing page and focus on other basics. It keeps promising opportunities in store for businesses and helps them make the most out of their investment and efforts.
3. Align marketing & sales:
Nowadays, customers initiate their buying process before purchasing by interacting with online and marketing channels. Thus, companies must integrate sales and marketing channels to build a unified revenue pipeline. This step is even more crucial in times of recession.
4. Appeal to the anxious buyer:
A recession means you will encounter risk-averse buyers, increasing people’s tendency to consider the safest solutions. It doesn’t trouble big companies much but is a serious issue for smaller entities. They need to do a lot to build trust and reassure people. So this would imply that the company would have to include expert opinions, reviews, customer references, and other validations as a part of the marketing campaigns.
Read More: SalesTechStar Interview with Alexandre de Vigan, CEO, Nfinite
Worthwhile B2B SaaS Marketing and Sales Tips To Help You Scale Fast
Follow these surefire tips and strategies to see your company growing and thriving like never before. Dig in!
1. Deliver a free trial of the product:
Nothing can help gain users’ interest faster than offering them a free trial of the product/ service you offer. So, if you don’t yet have a free trial on your platform, it’s time to do it. Providing users with a free trial for some time presents your brand as a reliable and solid brand in customers’ eyes.
2. Include customer testimonial videos:
Positive video testimonials can greatly impact your business. You can ask a few of your customers to record a brief video where they explain their adoration for the product and why they chose to buy from you. This powerful marketing message can be repurposed in diverse channels like Youtube ads, website content, Facebook retargeting, and so on.
3. Curate content that compares your product to your competition:
You would want that the customers looking for a product you offer should buy from you instead of your closest competitor. Post articles that compare your products to your competitors on your website blog. By doing so, you can mildly pick out your competitor’s flaws and elaborate on how you have got a better solution.
4. Get highlighted on industry-specific podcasts:
B2B SaaS marketing constantly evolves like crazy. Thus, it is becoming more important than ever before that every prospect of yours has many touches and interactions with your company. Rarely does one click triggers a demo request, let alone a service/ product purchase. Identify the best podcasting channels and use them as a marketing tool. Do not associate yourself with a dumb quality podcast, as it will degrade your business’s reputation.
Read More: 4 Strategies to Increase Video Messaging During the Sales Process
Even if there’s no recession, we are still bogged down in tough economic times, which directly implies a low tendency to cut back marketing and sales spending. Nonetheless, studies reveal that slow-down creates big opportunities to fuel your growth faster than your competitors.