Like you, I’m frequently bombarded by online ads and self-promoting emails from companies trying to convince me to buy their products. The drumbeat of self-promotion is incessant. And like you, I ignore the vast majority since they’re not relevant to my current business needs. In B2B marketing and sales, we frequently look at the seller’s perspective, considering sales stages, the funnel, conversion metrics, and more. Certainly this is critical to a business since the sales funnel efficiency has a significant impact on revenue. Much has been written about getting more inquiries, the B2B sales funnel and the buyer’s funnel. In fact, I recently wrote a post about how to use Marketing to shrink the B2B Sales cycle. There’s much a company can do to optimize and shrink its effective sales cycle. The B2B Buyer’s Perspective But let’s look at the sales funnel from a slightly different perspective — from the buyer’s vantage point. In the B2B marketplace, the buyer has increasing control over the sales process. And buyers are using that control to manage the entire engagement on their terms. Given this, more buyers are hesitating to engage with sales until they’re ready or have a need to engage. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, nearly 93% of B2B buyers would rather buy online than from a salesperson. But we know they will engage if we can help address their needs. Get a Higher Percentage of Sales Ready Leads through Better Education, Not Better Sales Messaging It can be harder to come up with good topics that appeal to your buyers. The sales team is a great source, as they frequently hear needs and objections from prospects. Other good sources for ideas can be test marketing with PPC, search analysis, and trade publications.

1. 1
B2B Marketing
Christopher Ryan
info@fusionmarketingpartners.com
Attracting More B2B
Buyers by Focusing
on Their Interests

2. Online Ad Bombardment
Like you, I’m
frequently
bombarded by
online ads and
self-promoting
emails from
companies trying
to convince me
to buy their
products.

3. Incessant Self-Promotion
The drumbeat of self-promotion is incessant. And
like you, I ignore the vast majority since they’re not
relevant to my current business needs.

4. Seller’s Perspective
In B2B marketing and sales, we frequently
look at the seller’s perspective, considering
sales stages, the funnel, conversion
metrics, and more.
Certainly this is critical to a business since the
sales funnel efficiency has a significant impact
on revenue.

5. A Different Perspective
Much has been written about getting more inquiries, the
B2B sales funnel and the buyer’s funnel.
In fact, I recently wrote a post about how to use Marketing
to shrink the B2B Sales cycle. There’s much a company
can do to optimize and shrink its effective sales cycle.
But let’s look at the sales funnel from a slightly different
perspective — from the buyer’s vantage point.

6. The B2B Buyer’s Perspective
In the B2B marketplace, the buyer has increasing
control over the sales process.
And buyers are
using that
control to
manage the
entire
engagement on
their terms.

7. Hesitation to Engage
Given this, more buyers are hesitating to engage
with sales until they’re ready or have a need to
engage.
As I mentioned in an earlier
blog post, nearly 93% of B2B
buyers would rather buy online
than from a salesperson. But
we know they will engage if we
can help address their needs.
93%

8. Education, Not Sales Messaging
Get a Higher Percentage of Sales Ready Leads
through Better Education, Not Better Sales
Messaging

9. Marketplace Receptivity
It can be harder to come up with good topics that appeal to
your buyers. The sales team is a great source, as they
frequently hear needs and objections from prospects. Other
good sources for ideas can be test marketing with PPC,
search analysis, and trade publications. Here are some
example questions:
 Why are your buyers looking at your products?
 What problems are they looking to solve?
 What will motivate your buyers to engage with the sales
group?

10. Marketplace Receptivity
Business buyers are looking for answers
to these types of questions before they’re
ready to engage in the sales process.
By focusing on the buyer’s perspective, you
attract, nurture and engage more prospects
through educational messaging instead of sales
messaging.

11. Marketplace Receptivity
We continually see this supported with higher
email click through rates, better landing page
conversions ratios, and most importantly, more
sales qualified leads.
For example…

12. An Example – The Buyer’s Perspective Wins
Here’s an example of the change based on our
experience. We (FusionMarketingPartners) worked
with a client that was frequently emailing to their
large house list.
Led by the VP of Sales, the focus of their emails
was self-centered: their solution, why buy from us,
why we are so great, etc.

13. An Example – The Buyer’s Perspective Wins
As a result, their emails were getting a low
percentage of views and almost no click- throughs.
In fact, they were performing well below ratios for
their industry — an average open rate of 16.8% and
average click-through rate of 2%.

14. An Example…
By changing to an educational theme narrowly
focused on their target market’s pain points, we
saw a significant increase in email engagement.

15. An Example…
In this example, the numbers improved
dramatically as people were much more interested
in topics they cared about.
This is just one example; using this type of
messaging strategy, we’ve seen email open rates
as high as a 50% and click-through rates as high
as 33%.

16. Focus on the Buyer
This focus on the buyer’s needs and perspective is
especially critical at the top of the sales funnel.
Even if a new inquiry isn’t ready now, informational
offers continue to be an effective method of
nurturing and reengaging prospects.

17. Help them Help You
Every situation is different, but by switching to a
problem solving and educational style of
messaging, prospects are more likely to engage
with your company.
When you focus on their point of view, you’re more
likely to move prospects through the top of the
funnel and deeply into the sales process.

18. Learn More
Visit our website for more
insight about B2B
marketing and sales and a
look at my new eBook
The Essential Guide to
Building Your Lead-to-
Revenue (L2R) Machine

19. About Fusion Marketing Partners
Christopher Ryan, CEO
We Do This:
Brand building/messaging
Website optimization
Content creation
Lead generation
You Get This:
Much greater levels of awareness
Higher quantities of qualified leads
Ability to generate faster revenue
Lots more information at:
http://FusionMarketingPartners.com/
http://Greatb2BMarketing.com (blog)
info@fusionmarketingpartners.com
719-357-6280