Most define sales cycles as being the time between making the first touch point with the prospective client and closing the deal — and the larger the sale, the longer the sales cycle. Many sales teams in technology industries, especially those in B2B sales, experience longer than normal selling time. While numerous reasons contribute to the increased time to close and there are different variables in each sale, several tips and tricks can help you shorten the cycle and make it slightly more predictable.
Generally, shortening the time it takes to close a deal without negatively impacting the relationship with a potential customer is critical. A shorter sales period will allow a team to make more meaningful connections, develop relationships with key decision makers, ultimately make the sale easier, and create the opportunity to make more deals.
Prismview understands the importance of this, and we are committed to helping channel partners shorten their sales time as well. Below are some tips and tricks to help you navigate the often long sales cycles when it comes to large-scale LED display projects and why Prismview is the ideal partner.
Ask investigative questions
The first step in a sales cycle is identifying a potential project, deal or customer. Do your homework and ask the right questions from the very beginning.
“Ask good and investigative questions and figure out what is driving the decision,” said Brett Unzicker, EVP of sales for Prismview. “For example, is it timeline-driven? Does your customer need a new LED board in time for the start of football season? Is it budget-driven? Is there an allocated budget that is ear-marked for upgrades to existing equipment? Or is it process-driven? Are there specific internal or external processes of an organization that are driving the decision?”
Asking investigative questions from the start will help you determine how to best approach a specific project and will help you better understand the buying and purchase decisions. “First thought I have is, let’s better understand how our customers buy and align our sales cycle with their buying cycle so that our sales teams see tangible returns in their efforts. When we aren’t aligned the sales cycle feels very long,” offers Mike Kitts of the Golden State Warriors.
Additionally, understand the needs and timeline of each prospect. Once you know a customer has an event, specific roll-out date in mind or a hard deadline, you can use this information to help shorten the cycle as well.
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Build relationships
With long sales cycles, the relationship with prospective customers will become one of the most important aspects of the sale and ultimately end decision. It cannot be overstated how vital an authentic connection can be when selling large projects and costly solutions. Build valuable relationships with your customers that extend beyond sales. Check in with the project manager or director of marketing for the project you are working on often, and be a resource for your client even after the sale is completed. Listen to what the customer is saying, learn their pain points and then offer a solution to the problem. Don’t sell them just a product; sell a solution. Whether that be your product or connections to another potential solution. Building and establishing a relationship with a prospect can take a bit of time upfront, but it will pay off in the end.
Create trust and credibility
Once you build a relationship and enough trust with current or prospective clients, they will be more likely to open up about the problem they are trying to solve. Individuals are more likely to be transparent if they know they can trust you. Establish yourself as an industry thought leader.
“Provide value to people before they need something from you,” said Unzicker. Develop a substantial LinkedIn presence and reach out to clients, manufacturers and prospective customers often. But don’t just sell. Engage with individuals and share meaningful content, even if it is an article or post not directly related to the product you are trying to sell. Become a trusted source on the digital signage industry and provide your clients helpful information. Educate them on different ways they can use their LED display and show them how they can use the sign for communication or building their brand. Building trust and credibility will help you stand out and create lasting impressions.
Bridging the gap
Partner with industry-leading companies to help develop a lasting partnership that will ultimately reduce the selling time in the B2B large-scale LED display market. Prismview goes beyond the board to provide a relationship and complete solution for your customers. By partnering with Prismview and Samsung, you’ll receive access to industry experts who understand how to shorten long sales cycles and help develop a plan that gets the right people involved to make the right decision.
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