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12 effective B2B sales strategies and lead generation techniques

Utilizing B2B sales strategies can help businesses to achieve their goals. Learn more about successful strategies to increase leads from &Open today.

Louise Donnery8 min2023-09-20

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Sales lead wearing a piece of branded merchandise.

In the fast-paced world of B2B sales, success requires a well-thought-out strategy. One B2B sales strategy gaining momentum is corporate gifting, where companies promote their brand and build relationships through marketing gifts.

In this blog post, we will explore five B2B sales approaches that work and seven methods to generate leads effectively. We'll take a closer look at how giving gifts in business can greatly impact your company.
What is corporate gifting? Corporate gifting means giving presents to your coworkers, staff, clients, and possible customers. It helps you make friends and build relationships.

Benefits of corporate gifting in B2B sales

Before we start talking about the bigger B2B sales strategies, let's pause for a moment to see why it's a good idea to invest in corporate gifting.  Consider these eye-opening statistics from companies that engage in employee gifting and customer appreciation gifts:

  • Companies gifting with &Open have witnessed a remarkable +30% increase in retention rates.
  • For every +2% increase in employee happiness, there's a corresponding +1% increase in revenue.
  • An impressive 92% of gift recipients have shared positive feedback for their &Open gift experience through our happiness checks.
  • Companies who gifted noticed improved Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Scores (NPS) among customers who received a gift.
  • Perhaps most notably, companies gifting their customers noted a remarkable 19% customer return rate within 90 days after gifting.

Corporate gifting is a powerful tool for enhancing B2B sales.

A collage showing the &Open gifting platform. An impressive 92% of gift recipients have shared positive feedback for their &Open gift experience through our happiness checks.

Strategies to boost B2B sales

Let's explore a broader range of strategies to boost your B2B sales game.

1. Corporate gifting

Corporate gifting goes beyond mere gestures of goodwill. This can be a smart move to make your client relationships stronger, keep them coming back, and make people more loyal to your brand. &Open's gifting platform allows for a personalized touch in gifting. You can handpick and customize gifts aligned with your team members' unique tastes and preferences. Our fully branded gifting experience ensures your brand stays top-of-mind from the initial outreach to gift redemption.

2. Targeted marketing

In the world of B2B sales, one size does not fit all. Targeted marketing is an important part of B2B sales strategies because it ensures that your promotional efforts are focused on companies or businesses with the best conversion potential.

By identifying and understanding the unique needs, preferences, and pain points of specific target audience segments, companies can tailor their marketing messages and offerings accordingly, fostering mutually beneficial relationships. Effective targeted marketing promotes efficient resource allocation, reduces expenditure on less responsive prospects, and boosts overall sales performance, making it an indispensable element in the success of B2B organizations.

Creating personalized interactions and a robust content strategy can significantly improve your lead-generation strategies and efforts.

3. Relationship building

Building strong relationships is the cornerstone of B2B sales. Relationship building is pivotal in B2B sales strategies, fostering trust, mutual respect, and long-term commitment between businesses.

This process involves deeply understanding a client's business needs, offering tailored solutions, providing reliable after-sales service, and maintaining consistent communication.

A strong and well-maintained relationship bolsters repeat business and can lead to valuable referrals. In essence, relationship building is the foundation for successful and sustainable B2B sales strategies. That is why a well-chosen gift, sent at just the right time, can be so impactful.

4. Sales team training

Sales team training is of immense importance in developing successful B2B sales strategies, as it directly impacts the competence and performance of the team responsible for driving revenue.

By investing in quality training, companies ensure that their sales personnel stay adept in product knowledge, market trends, and effective prospecting techniques. Equipped with the right skills and expertise, trained sales teams are better positioned to build relationships, overcome objections, and negotiate deals successfully. In short, sales team training is crucial in maximizing the potential of B2B sales strategies and driving business growth.

5. Data-driven approach

Data is your secret weapon in B2B sales. Leverage analytics to gain insights into your sales performance. Identify what's working and what's not, and adapt your strategies accordingly. Data-driven decisions can lead to more effective sales approaches.

Integrating a gifting function into your CRM system provides enhanced tracking of consumer behavior and desires, empowering your organization to dispatch customized, impactful corporate gifts. This promotes customer loyalty and encourages repeat business.

Integrated gifting platforms provide valuable data about gift preferences, delivery times, and response rates. Businesses can leverage this data to refine their gifting strategies, reduce waste, and improve return on investment. The insights gleaned can inform future decisions, ensuring gifting efforts contribute to overall business growth.

A collage showing the &Open gifting platform and how it can be used to the send target, data driven impactful gifts to build strong relationships

B2B lead generation techniques

B2B lead generation is a crucial strategy in modern business that focuses on attracting and converting other businesses into potential customers or clients. It is paramount for the survival and growth of a business, as it drives traffic towards the B2B company's product or service and sets the stage for nurturing these leads into long-term partnerships.

With a strategic approach that involves engaging content, effective networking, and meticulous follow-ups, effective B2B lead generation strategies can become the fuel that accelerates your business toward success.

Here are some effective B2B lead generation techniques that can help your business grow:

A. Content marketing

One of the most successful strategies to get B2B leads is to have a quality content marketing strategy. By creating informative and engaging content, businesses can establish themselves as thought leaders, attract a potential lead, and drive website traffic.

Some of the top-performing content for B2B sales is:

  • Blogs.
  • Videos.
  • Infographics.
  • Case Studies.
  • eBooks.
  • White papers.
  • Checklists.
  • Interviews.

B. Account-based marketing (ABM)

Account-based marketing is a highly targeted approach used to attract high-value clients. This technique involves creating personalized B2B marketing campaigns that target specific accounts and decision-makers to generate leads.

Here is how you create an account-based B2B marketing strategy.

  • Identify targets.
  • Understand your targets.
  • Define and personalize your content marketing.
  • Choose relevant distribution channels. (social media, email marketing, etc.)
  • Offer solutions to your target's specific pain points.
  • Measure and mold. It is essential to constantly optimize your ABM approach.
  • Automate processes, through the use of things like a CRM.

C. Email marketing

Email marketing is a cost-effective way to generate leads and nurture relationships with the potential customer. By sending personalized and informative emails, businesses can establish themselves as thought leaders, build brand awareness, and drive website traffic.

D. LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a powerful tool for B2B sales lead generation. It provides organizations with access to a large network of potential leads, enabling them to target decision-makers and interact with the potential customer.

E. Google Ads

Google Ads is a powerful tool for generating B2B leads. It allows businesses to target specific keywords and phrases related to their industry, attracting a potential lead and driving traffic to their website.

F. Outbound lead generation

Outbound lead generation involves reaching out to potential leads directly. When used appropriately, this strategy may be quite useful in assisting businesses in generating excellent leads and establishing relationships with potential clients.

Try things like:

  • Emails.
  • Phone calls.
  • LinkedIn messages.
  • Content syndication.
  • Social media.
  • Referral marketing.

G. Inbound marketing

Inbound marketing is a technique that involves attracting potential customers through valuable content and search engine optimization (SEO). By creating informative and engaging content, businesses can attract a potential lead and generate a high-quality lead.

Follow these tips for successful inbound marketing:

  • Create an engaging content marketing strategy, with a segmented audience.
  • Analyse and optimize your SEO performance.
  • Optimize your website's technical SEO.
  • Be active on social media.
  • Engage the use of chatbots on your website for instant B2B customer engagement.

How to incorporate corporate gifting in B2B sales strategies

Including gift-giving in B2B sales can be a smart way to make your customer relationship stronger and create goodwill with potential clients. Furthermore, picking gifts that show you've put thought into them and that match the recipient's business or interests is really important. Making it personal is the key.

Also, timing matters; consider sending gifts after a successful meeting or customer milestone. Be transparent about your intentions, emphasizing that the gift is a token of appreciation. When done right, corporate gifting can enhance rapport, making it a valuable tool in the world of B2B sales.

The power of gifting

B2B sales strategies and lead generation techniques are multifaceted, encompassing targeted marketing, relationship building, and sales team training. While each component plays a critical role in driving B2B sales success and growth, integrating corporate gifting into the mix adds value and complements these efforts.

Giving meaningful and individualized gifts can make business relationships stronger, improve loyalty from B2B customers, and even lead to more referrals. This becomes a strong tool for getting new leads and making more sales. In the end, when you put all these different methods together and use corporate gifting effectively, it can help your B2B sales grow successfully.

Ready to harness the power of gifting? Book a demo.

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