The B2B Sales Process: How Buyers Make A Final Decision

The sales process in the B2B industry generally goes through three stages before a prospective buyer will be able to make a final decision to buy a company's products. The sales process starts with an awareness campaign, followed by a consideration phase, and concludes with the final-decision process. While you may have mastered the first two stages in your B2B company’s sales process, understanding how buyers make a final decision can be a challenge.

It can be frustrating when you've gone through the first two stages (which can take days or weeks of time), only to lose that potential buyer to your competitors at the eleventh hour. The final and most important stage needs more astute marketing tactics to capture these buyers, and the way forward is through unique and engaging content.

In the digital age, if you don't demonstrate what makes your B2B company stand apart, you run the risk of getting lost in the noise from competitors. As in all business, the competition in the B2B industry is fierce. Businesses that fail to define themselves are, often times, overshadowed by the competitors who do.

Ultimately, your marketing content should offer customers clear proof that your products are the answer to their most pressing business problems.

CONTENT THAT COMPARES YOUR PRODUCTS TO OTHERS

In the B2B world, you need definitive data as evidence of how your products are different from others. If you’re sitting there thinking that your products aren't different, then it’s time to do some research into not only the specifics of your own products, but those of your competitors, as well. No content marketing should ever be done without knowing what your competitors offer and what makes your product better.

Find out how they produce the things they sell, what materials they use, and what features their products have. Even one slight improvement to your product could be enough to persuade a customer to buy from you instead of the competitor.

In some cases, improvements can be made to the product materials you use. While many companies use sustainable materials in their production processes, you may have more innovative ways of doing this, while keeping prices down.

CASE STUDIES AS PROOF OF HOW YOU SOLVE PROBLEMS BETTER

There is nothing more definitive than case studies taken from outside sources. This could even include recent studies from the media that include your products. Either way, you need to incorporate these studies into your marketing content. Blogs are a particularly good place to highlight specific case studies, because you can focus on describing the issues your products solve.

Even if your products are not directly involved in the case studies, you can still prove the worth of your company. Perhaps your competitors use a material that scientific studies show could cause an illness or other health danger. This can be an important content strategy if you can prove that your company is aware of the scientific data and manufactures your products with the safety of the users in mind.

FREE TRIALS

If you happen to have products that are used online (like online software), allowing buyers to use them for a free trial period is a great way to demonstrate what your product does. SaaS free trials are standard now, and they include just enough of the basic features to entice users to buy a full subscription.

While it's more difficult to do this with physical products, it's not out of the question. If you have a brick-and-mortar location where buyers can visit, you could rent out products for trial periods for physical proof of how well they work.

VIDEO DEMONSTRATIONS

Demonstrating your product on video is the next best thing to physical use, especially since you can hire someone to make your products look easy to use. Some buyers may not fully understand how to get the most out of an item until they see a skilled person demonstrate it the right way.

These videos can be easily embedded on social media, your company website, or even Instagram for effective 15-second demos.