How Your Website Can Be Your Strongest B2B Sales Tool

The nature of B2B buying is changing. The traditional 1-to-1 sales relationship with a single decision-maker is dying, and decisions are increasingly made by a committee of stakeholders, each with their own unique needs. Add to that the fact that decision-makers in businesses are increasingly digitally savvy and prefer to do the majority of the research undirected.

According to McKinsey:

1. 77% of B2B purchasers said they would not speak to a salesperson until they had done their own research
2. 93% of B2B buyers begin the buying journey with an online search
3. At least 47% of buyers view three to five pieces of the company’s content before talking with sales
4. 9/10 buyers say online content has a moderate to major effect on purchase decisions
5. 80% of business decision-makers prefer to get company information from a series of articles versus an ad

The reality: Your web presence is increasingly responsible for carrying the weight of not just marketing, but often sales teams as well. Your digital presence should speak to each individual in the buying process, equip them with the information they need and leave them with the impression that your business offers the right solution for them. There are three must-haves if your website is going to do the heavy lifting required to bring in customers:

1. Cater to a savvy audience

B2B buyers are savvy digital users. They perform their own self-directed research and may be frustrated by websites that push them down a lead funnel before they’re ready. So, what should you do? Make sure your website gets out of the way and lets your audience perform their own research. This means information should be readily available and organized logically, content should be searchable and easy to consume, and your audience should be equipped to sell you into their organization.

2. Align with your sales team

This change doesn’t just affect your marketing team. Talk to your sales leaders! Use their insights to develop content and experience that cultivate relationships over a longer sales cycle, bringing potential customers from the earliest stages of their research all the way through to a sale. Those sales leaders may not get to directly contact your audience until a purchase decision. This means you need to align with your sales team to make sure content on your site can do some of the heavy lifting of sales.

 3. Listen to your potential customers

If you listen closely, your audience will tell you what they want, and when they’re ready to work with you. A website strategy is only as strong as its measurement strategy. Pay attention to when, where, and how your audience is engaging with you, where they are coming from, and at what stage they want to speak with someone. Repeat visitors are often overlooked in website measurement but pay attention to how many times users are coming back to your site before you can ask to connect with them directly.

Your website shouldn’t be fighting your audience, nor should it be fighting you and your sales team. If you think your website might not be working for you anymore, reach out to Standing Partnership to schedule a website audit at inquiries@standingpartnership.com.