SMB Sales Guide: An Introduction to SMB Sales Strategy
SMB sales, though often overlooked by many sales professionals used to working with enterprise-level buyers, can be extremely valuable.
By selling to small and medium-sized businesses, companies can form some significant relationships with growing brands, and strengthen their overall positioning in the industry. SMBs can also allow for faster sales cycles, as fewer people need to agree on a purchase for it to be completed.
What is SMB Sales? What Does SMB Stand for in Sales?
SMB stands for small to medium-sized business, a type of customer B2B brands can sell to.
The term “SMB sales” usually refers to the sales strategies used for selling to small and medium-sized businesses. SMB customers have long been overlooked by a lot of business leaders, due to the fact they often come with a much smaller payday than their larger alternatives. However, companies can still profit significantly from SMB sales.
A small business customer is usually a company with fewer than 100 employees. Alternatively, a medium-sized business in the SMB landscape will usually employ between 100 and 999 people. Many small businesses are often local businesses and startups, with different needs, expectations, and pain points than large companies.
Selling a small business customer a solution or service will often require a specific strategy, very different to selling to a large customer.
SMB Sales Meaning: The Benefits of SMB Customers
Small business sales and SMB sales can often be a lot more valuable than most people realize. Many B2B brands set their sights on closing larger enterprise brands because it allows for a bigger payday. However, bigger companies often come with larger sales cycles and more challenges.
Creating a sales strategy that focuses on selling to smaller businesses, either instead of, or alongside larger businesses, can help you to earn more money in the long term. Additionally, it can also assist with building relationships which give you a more consistent income long-term.
Some of the main benefits of SMB sales include:
- Less red tape and shorter sales cycles: It’s usually much easier to get in touch with key decision-makers and make sales in an SMB sale. Around 74% of SMB business owners research and purchase new products themselves.
- Lots of opportunities: There are over 29 million SMB companies in the US alone, representing around 99.7% of all US companies. This means there are plenty of opportunities to find small companies you can sell to.
- Long-term potential: Small businesses don’t always stay small. What starts off as an SMB sales strategy may eventually lead to a relationship with a multi-million dollar brand in the long term. If you can get your foot in the door early, you can access some significant opportunities for major profit.
How is SMB Selling Different?
SMB sales can be a very different beast to enterprise or large business sales. Companies should keep in mind that the strategy they use to sell to SMBs may be different from the one they use for enterprise customers, as SMB sales often include:
- Shorter sales cycles: SMB sales have shorter sales cycles because there isn’t as much bureaucracy involved when closing a contract. It’s best to prepare for faster sales.
- Simple communication: The smaller the business, the easier it will be to instantly communicate with top-level decision-makers, so you may not need to work as hard to find your way to the top of the business ladder.
- Faster lead generation: Because there are more small businesses out there than large ones, the pool of leads you can access is enormous. This means it’s important to prepare for a rapid increase in your number of leads.
- Ongoing relationships: Most SMBs will have the potential to grow into much larger companies. With that in mind, make sure you have a strategy in place for preserving and building your relationships with small brands.
SMB Sales Tips: Quick Tips for SMB Sales
As mentioned above, SMB sales can be a complex thing to get your head around when you’re used to selling to larger companies. The more time you spend in this market, the more you’ll learn about your small business customers and the strategies you may need to use to improve your chances of long-term success and bigger conversions.
Here are some quick tips to get you on the right track.
1. Qualify Correctly
Start by making sure you qualify your leads correctly. With so many SMB leads available, it’s important to make sure you’re reaching out to the right people. You don’t want to connect with an SMB with no funding or interest in your business, for instance.
Take your time getting to know what kind of small business and mid-sized company customers you’re looking for, and ensure you’re investing your budget in the right opportunities.
2. Get to Know Your Customer
Once you’ve developed a strategy for qualifying your leads, it’s important to get to know your target audience on a deeper level, so you can build a rapport in the sales cycle. Learning what kind of factors drive your customer’s purchasing decisions, and what their pain points might be will help you to create sales strategies that have a direct impact on your audience.
Remember, building a relationship and a rapport with your audience from an early stage is important for SMBs, because it can ensure your buyer wants to continue interacting with you and your company in the long term.
3. Keep the pitch simple
Small companies are often new startups who are just getting started in an industry or brands with limited funding and experience. With that in mind, it’s important not to throw too much jargon and industry terminology at them straight away.
Keep your pitch as simple as possible, without talking down to your audience. Simply convert the words and terms you would usually use to pitch to a large company into something you know anyone will be able to understand. Focus on making it clear to your customer how you’re going to benefit their business and help them grow.
4. Alleviate concerns
Finally, it’s worth remembering that your SMB companies are likely to have less budget to throw around than a large company. This means you need to convince them that you’re worth their hard-earned money. Providing free demos of products, or incentives that make your SMB feel like they’re getting a fantastic deal is a great way to alleviate concerns.
You can also give your SMB buyers peace of mind by showing them proof of previously happy clients in the form of case studies and testimonials.
Create Your SMB sales strategy
SMB sales can have a powerful impact on your bottom line, and give you new opportunities for long-term growth. Make sure you’re taking advantage of the SMB market with the right SMB sales strategy for your business.
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