Nobody ever said enterprise sales was easy. Enterprise tech sales is one of the toughest types of sales jobs, no matter whether you are engaging in enterprise software sales, hardware sales, or cloud services. Another industry term for enterprise sales is complex selling because there are so many variables.

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One universal truth of enterprise sales is that deals take time to close. Enterprise applications tend to be business-critical, with a lot riding on the success of the deployment. As a result, there are lots of stakeholders, each with unique criteria and success factors. There also tend to be extensive discussions about compatibility, integration, customization, and value, making sure the solution will more than pay for itself.

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There is a lot about enterprise sales that has changed, especially since the pandemic. Buyers have come to prefer the digital sales process, and more B2B sales are being handled remotely. According to McKinsey, between 70 percent¹ and 80 percent of B2B decision makers prefer self-service or remote sales transactions. 

When validating sales prospects, you want to make sure that pursuing a potential prospect will yield profits. To determine the potential returns from any new lead, you must start by calculating the customer acquisition cost (CAC). 

Every customer journey starts with your sales team. Stop. Please ask yourself if you are liking the results. Are you accurately defining success for this team? How does your definition translate to the larger enterprise clients’ sales experience?

No sales rep succeeds on their own. Successful sales performance is the result of many factors. You need the right leads, the right sales pitch, the right conversion tools, the right customer service, and more. Sales success is the result of solid sales enablement, which is why successful companies are more focused on developing a frictionless, integrated sales process.

When it comes to selling B2B technology, landing an enterprise deal is like grabbing the brass ring. Enterprise sales generate more revenue with larger and higher-value contracts. Enterprise sales also lead to longer engagements, which means ongoing revenue and more opportunity to cross-sell and upsell.

Selling complex technology requires special skills and technical expertise, but knowing how to sell the technology doesn’t mean you have to know how to build it. However, when you engage in consultative selling, the prospect is looking for sophisticated, custom solutions to complex problems. That’s why selling technical solutions requires sales engineers (SEs).

If you are in sales (or a movie buff), you have undoubtedly heard the phrase “ABC, always be closing,” from Glengarry Glen Ross. That may be a good motivational mantra for selling real estate, but it’s less effective in B2B sales. When dealing with lead qualification for B2B technology, selling it makes more sense to think of ABC as “always be consulting.”