B2B Sales Process: Your Ultimate Guide to the Stages & How to Optimize Them

Of course, in business to business sales, that type of situation is as likely to happen as Antarctica becoming the next global holiday hotspot. 

Selling your products or services to other businesses takes a more tailored, patient approach. Only by developing and implementing a robust B2B sales process can you give businesses a personalized journey while optimizing your sales team resources.

What is a B2B sales process?

A B2B sales process is a series of steps a business adheres to when selling its products and services. A sales process works as a roadmap for sales professionals to follow when engaging with potential customers. In B2B, stages include prospecting, discovery, needs assessment, objection handling, and closing.

You design a B2B sales process to fit the nature of your business and the unique needs of your customers. Each stage works toward building a relationship with the prospect and securing a sale. The primary aim is to maximize win rates and shorten buying cycles. 

Differences between B2B and B2C

A B2B sales strategy is different from a B2C one for many reasons. First off, you’re selling to an entire organization versus one individual at a time. 

Other differences between B2B and B2C sales include:

• Complex decision-making process: There can be many stakeholders and gatekeepers involved in a B2B sales process. These range from managers to vice presidents to C-suite executives. Each stakeholder may have different priorities and concerns, which can slow down the process. For example, accounting software might need to be approved by finance, IT, and leadership before a deal can be closed.

• External input: Larger organizations may hire outside help, such as professional buyers or procurement specialists. They’re responsible for guiding the business in finding the best solution. 

• Longer sales cycles: The B2B model often requires several months to complete the sales cycle. 6sense’s 2024 B2B Buyer Experience Report found that the average B2B buying cycle for companies lasts 11.5 months. Customers may require several meetings. Stages like objection handling and negotiation can cause major delays.

• Greater focus on relationships: B2B prospects need to be nurtured over time. Sales development representatives need a deep understanding of every lead and how to solve its problems. Businesses are much more risk-averse than general consumers. Trust and credibility are key, as businesses are more likely to engage with vendors they perceive to be reliable partners.

• Bigger deals: B2B customer acquisition represents higher overall value. Contracts may last for years. In other words, volume is much lower than B2C, but the average revenue per order is much higher. B2B customers offer a more lucrative customer lifetime value (CLV).

Why create a B2B sales process?

With B2B sales, there’s more at stake than selling to individual consumers. Every missed opportunity represents hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands in lost revenue. 

You’re seeking big fish in a vast ocean that aren’t necessarily looking to take a bite. Even when businesses are thinking of making a purchase, they’re cautious and in no hurry. 

A B2B sales process steers sales development representatives (SDRs) in the right direction and keeps them on course. By following well-planned workflows, you can spend more time on the best prospects.

Let’s examine some of the many benefits of an effective sales process:

Effective onboarding and training

A roadmap is essential for bringing new sales team members up to speed as quickly as possible. Defined stages help SDRs and business development representatives (BDRs) focus on lead generation, qualification, and relationship building. 

Consistency and forecasting

A sales process ensures your B2B customers get the same attention from your team and go through the same calculated steps. This helps you have greater predictability when projecting sales. You can make forecasts based on which stage each prospect is currently on. 

Streamlined B2B sales

A roadmap speeds up decision-making and sales planning. Salespeople have defined criteria that make it easy to know when to hand off a prospect to the next team. For example, lead scoring may indicate that it’s time to involve account executives (AEs).

Enhanced customer experience (CX)

Business customers value their time as much as anyone else. They expect a seamless process with responsive sales reps. Decision-makers want digestible information. They want efficient interactions that get your unique selling proposition (USP) across concisely. 

Dividing the B2B sales journey into a sequence of steps facilitates timely and tailored touchpoints. 

For example, discovery and needs assessment focus on identifying pain points. Later, your team comes back to the customer with a proposal and solution. Keeping these activities separate creates a better CX that suits the B2B buying cycle.

Increased efficiency

An established sales workflow removes the guesswork from the process. Every team member knows their responsibilities and where they can make the most impact. A designed pipeline also ensures reps spend the most time nurturing high-value, high-fit prospects.  

Combining B2B sales tools with your process means you can automate tasks. Eliminate bottlenecks, such as appointment scheduling and document signing. 

Long-term relationships

Each stage in your sales process is working toward closing B2B deals and long-term relationships. From the customer’s perspective, it’s a funnel that gains momentum as they progress toward conversion. For sales teams, it’s a well-planned road to winning deals, with each step building on what came before it.

Stages like discovery and objection handling show you’re willing to truly understand and meet client needs.

Alignment across teams

Sure, it’s a sales framework that guides your SDRs, executives, and closers. However, that same roadmap is also informative for marketing, customer support, and other teams. It gives them a reference when designing touchpoints, ensuring a consistent CX. 

For example, support agents can access client history through your customer relationship management (CRM) platform. They can reference this during a support interaction. It gives them access to details such as needs, objections, and potential revenue lost if the problem isn’t resolved satisfactorily.

The main B2B sales process steps

Every B2B customer journey needs to be tailored to their specific needs, expectations, and timelines. You want to create a smooth, personalized process that demonstrates the value of your product. You design meetings to understand and solve unique pain points.

Build distinct sales touchpoints within the following B2B sales funnel stages:

1. Lead generation and prospecting

Lead generation is where everything starts. It’s the meat and potatoes of marketers and SDRs. The lead gen stage is where reps prospect, casting a wide net in search of potential customers. Prospectors need to know where and what to look for when hunting for leads.

The first part of this step doesn’t involve any leads at all. Instead, sales team members must do their due diligence—research. What kind of research? SDRs must get up to speed with the market and industry trends. They need to know who the industry leaders are and the general expectations of your target audience. 

During this process, you develop ideal customer profiles (ICPs). These define the characteristics you look for in companies that are most likely to benefit from your offerings. An ICP contains firmographic details, such as company size and location. It also lists other distinctions, such as pain points, goals, use cases, and challenges.

With these profiles in hand, the team is ready to identify and organize potential leads. This sets the stage for deeper engagement in the discovery and lead enrichment phase. Here’s the place where creativity meets strategy. Leveraging tools like LinkedIn and CRM systems enables you to track and manage leads efficiently.

Some types of lead generation include:

• Cold calling

• Social media prospecting

• Networking and events

• Marketing channels, such as email and content

• Referrals

• Organic web traffic

• Paid ad campaigns and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising

• Account-based marketing (ABM).

2. Discovery and lead enrichment

Okay, great, you’ve put in the work to identify some interesting prospects. What do you do now? 

You need to learn more details about each possible lead you identify. Who do you need to contact about your product or service? What’s the decision-making process at the company, and who are the gatekeepers?

You can start answering questions by focusing on spaces such as the company website and its social media pages. You can also gather information from industry reports, news sites, and online databases. 

Discovery also works both ways. Did you know that 96% of customers research products before engaging with a sales representative? 

Using Leadfeeder from Dealfront, you can quickly find out crucial identifying details and uncover hidden customers effortlessly! Turn page views into warm leads by discovering anonymous site visitors. Streamline the process of connecting with those who are a good fit for your products and are, therefore, most likely to buy.

After exhausting external resources, it’s time for a sales discovery call or meeting. Schedule a time that suits the prospect. Prepare to gather detailed information about business objectives, pain points, and other factors. 

Use this interaction to enrich leads with comprehensive data. It will help you assess clients' needs and whether they’re a good fit for your offerings.

During the call, ask open-ended questions to encourage dialogue. These types of questions reveal deeper insights into client challenges and goals. Come to the meeting armed with research, and pay close attention to and record each response. 

Some examples of questions for the discovery phase include:

• What are your goals or priorities for this quarter?

• What product are you currently using, and what makes you happy or unhappy about it?

• What challenges does your business currently have?

• How soon are you looking to implement a new solution?

• What’s the buying process at your company, and who’s involved in signing off on each step?

3. Qualification

Qualification is when SDRs and BDRs determine a lead’s fit and readiness to buy. Combining all the information you’ve gathered up to this point, you can paint a clear picture of the prospect's potential. 

What criteria help qualify a lead to be moved onto AEs, negotiators, and closers? It somewhat depends on your industry, niche, target audience, and offering. However, standard qualification criteria may include:

• Budget: Does the client have the financial resources to buy your product or service?

• Authority: Does your contact have the power to make or influence buying decisions? If not, are they able to connect you to the right people at the company?

• Need: Are the client’s stated pain points and challenges solvable by one of your offerings? If not, are there potential applications or use cases you’ve identified?

• Timing: What timeline is the client looking at to procure and implement a new solution? Are they likely to buy within the next three months or much further down the road?

The above bullet points are based on the budget, authority, need, and timeline (BANT) framework. Other qualification templates to consider include:

• Metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria, decision process, identify pain, and champion (MEDDIC) 

• Challenges, authority, money, prioritization (CHAMP) 

• Goals, plans, challenges, timeline, budget, authority, consequences, and implications (GPCTBA/C&I) 

Each framework has a distinct approach. Choose an approach that best fits your sales strategy.

On their own, these frameworks are only the criteria you determine to be relevant. How do you assess whether a prospect is cold, lukewarm, or hot? Lead scoring helps you create a quantifiable score for each lead.

You have two basic approaches: Interest-based and intent-based lead scoring. The former prioritizes by interest in a product or service, while the latter gives more weight to prospects with the intent to buy soon. 

With Leadfeeder by Dealfront, you can gather amazing insights to fit either lead-scoring strategy. Our platform acquires contact info, syncs with your CRM, and leverages intent data. Use 50+ behavioral and firmographic filters to hone in on your ideal customers.

4. Pitching and outreach

Once you’ve qualified and scored your leads, it's time to pitch your solution. 

In B2B sales, proposals often revolve around solution-based selling, where the focus is on the client’s specific needs. You pitch a tailored solution to address pain points and challenges.

Alternatively, you might consider account-based selling (ABS), which emphasizes customization for high-value targets. Regardless of the strategy you choose, it’s crucial to ensure each presentation is as relevant as possible to the potential client.

Effective pitching begins with personalized outreach. When reaching out to schedule a sales meeting, directly address the prospect's pain points. Summarize how your product or service can simplify their operations. Creating a sense of urgency can help you secure an appointment.

The pitch itself should be clear and concise. Decision-makers often have schedules packed like a tin of sardines. It’s important to respect their time and get to the point quickly.

Use a pitch deck or presentation template to stay organized and focused. Visuals such as charts, graphs, and images can enhance your pitch. They emphasize key points and encourage participant attention.

The meeting presenter should be well-prepared with comprehensive demographic and technographic client information. This ensures pitches are authentic and not formulaic or reliant on rote memorization.

5. Objection handling

Once a presentation ends, the lead will likely have several questions. This is where you’re so close yet so far from the finish line! A sales team’s ability to handle objections can make or break a deal. 

What kind of objections will you encounter? With enough experience, you’ll likely encounter just about anything. However, some common sales objections to manage include:

• Budget constraints: There may be concerns about initial and ongoing costs for products and services. They may bring up the need to first re-allocate funds from other business areas. This is perhaps the most common objection. A 2024 Gartner report found that 77% of B2B buyers are concerned about increasing costs related to inflation alone.

• Lack of need: They fail to see an immediate need for the solution you’ve proposed.

• Integration issues: They’re contemplating whether your product will fit with their existing tools and systems.  

• Timing: The prospect states that they aren’t in a rush to buy or that right now isn’t the time for them to make a purchase.

• Trust: They have doubts about the credibility or reliability of your brand or its products and services.

• Competitor issues: There may be contracts, discounts, and other priorities of an existing business relationship that can make it difficult to switch to your brand.

Closers and negotiators are well-prepared to handle objections during a pitch. You can use cheat sheets, roleplays, and other tactics to smooth out objection handling. However, there’s no substitute for experience. The more objections you encounter and attempts you make to resolve them, the better you’ll get.

6. Closing

Now’s the time when sales professionals feel most alive. Success is only a stone’s throw away. You also can’t start counting your chickens before they hatch. Instill urgency and reemphasize that your product is the best fit for the customer.

Be prepared to do a last bit of negotiation before a customer is ready to hit that metaphorical “buy now” button. If they haven’t gotten involved yet, it’s time to hand off a sales lead to your closers. These specialists are adept at finalizing deals, securing commitments, and getting contracts signed.

Closing negotiators are experts at discussing prices and terms. They’re a gravitational force that pulls your deal down to earth. You’ll also need to go over any final steps. These may be gaining additional signatures or setting up an ongoing payment. 

Using an app for document management with e-signatures can significantly speed up the closing process. It can prevent you from losing a sale to second thoughts from a buyer or decision-maker.

7. Nurturing the relationship

Remember, a B2B sales strategy is all about building and strengthening relationships. Top-performing companies continue nurturing relationships to increase customer loyalty and retention. Upselling and cross-selling can also further increase the customer lifetime value (CLV).

After closing, the responsibility to nurture customer relationships shifts to other client-facing roles. Some of these include:

• Customer success managers (CSMs): They ensure clients achieve their desired goals with your product or service.

• Support teams: They provide technical support for troubleshooting to assist customers with resolving issues.

• Account managers: They maintain and grow the B2B client relationship. These team members look for post-sale opportunities, such as adding an additional feature or service to the account.

• Marketers: They personalize marketing channels, such as email, for relevant, tailored content that increases customer engagement. 

Sales reps can also take part in further relationship building by following up. A follow-up call or email is a great opportunity to gain feedback about the sales process. You can also find out if a product is meeting client expectations.

B2B sales process examples

Now that you have a better understanding of the overall process, let's examine a practical B2B sales process example for each stage:

B2B sales process best practices

The B2B sales process contains a complex, connected series of steps. When built and implemented effectively, it aligns your sales and marketing team. The objective is to increase revenue through relationship-building.

With several B2B sales process stages, though, there are many opportunities to get things wrong. You also have multiple team members involved at various stages. Each brings their own strengths and weaknesses. 

How can you ensure you're getting the most out of your sales strategy? Follow the best practices of course:

• Set SMART sales goals: Before developing a process, define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound objectives to guide your strategy. 

• Know your customers: Don’t start selling anything until you’ve identified one or more ICPs to align marketing and sales. Go a step further with comprehensive buyer personas. These fictional personas represent the decision-makers of your ideal customers.

• Leverage data and analytics: Use third-party solutions and databases to leverage firmographic data. Tools such as Leadfeeder by Dealfront provide website visitor analytics that connect you with ideal customers. 

• Train and educate: Sales team members need to be set up for success. Curate tailored training for each role and stage of the sales process.

• Monitor, analyze, and adjust: Use sales enablement and analytics tools to keep track of performance. Identify bottlenecks and reps that need retraining or upskilling to improve conversion rates.

• Align marketing messages: Personalize B2B campaigns for your ICP companies with solutions like Target by Dealfront.

• Use automation: Implement automation tools to streamline repetitive tasks, such as lead nurturing, follow-ups, and data entry. Automating your sales funnel increases efficiency and empowers your reps to nurture leads.

Optimize each stage of your B2B sales process with Dealfront’s help

Optimizing your B2B sales process is an ongoing endeavor. You need time to test out pitches, outreach, and other tactics. Every interaction should help inform and improve your approach. While this sounds like it may take a while to create a well-oiled sales machine, there are shortcuts you can take. 

Dealfront solutions can streamline activities like prospecting, lead generation, and discovery. Most decision-makers are already researching solutions before turning up on your radar.

Using our software, you can identify who’s already visiting your website—no more anonymous visitors! We identify companies based on IP addresses and process buyer intent data in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

Your prospecting team is fed warm, interested leads. These leads are already partially qualified and are more likely to buy than leads generated from other channels. 

Find out why Dealfront is trusted by over 10,000 companies today. Sign up for a free trial now and see for yourself!