There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has permanently changed the way we do business, including how we sell enterprise technology. With employees working from home, licenses for on-premise enterprise software are being replaced by software-as-a-service (SaaS) subscriptions. Cloud solutions have been with us for some time, and adoption has accelerated thanks to the pandemic.

Cloud services have become the foundation of enterprise computing. Migrating enterprise resources to the cloud gives corporations more agility and cuts costs. To add a new enterprise application or more data storage, you simply add more cloud capacity. If you are selling enterprise services, then you must include cloud services and cloud service providers in your sales strategy.

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.

Reps who specialize in SMB sales are a special breed. They need to understand the unique needs and restrictions of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). They also need to serve as more than SMB sales reps—they need to be sales consultants, helping SMB business owners make strategic buying decisions and get the most from their enterprise investment.

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we work has changed forever, including for sales reps. Where once we would gather in team meetings to set strategy and review objectives, we now gather online using Zoom, Google Meet, or other collaboration tools. Where sales reps used to spend time visiting customers, they now work with customers remotely. Even trade shows and conferences are now virtual (or will frequently have a virtual option for guests). For sales reps, this presents a new challenge: maintaining sales productivity while working from home.

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The temptation for any B2B sales team is to hunt for whales. If you can land that one big deal, you get a big payoff. But while you are spending all that time and energy hunting whales, dozens of smaller fish may slip past you. Too often, the focus on enterprise deals eclipses the profit potential from SMB sales. SMBs deals can be easier to land, and they can have greater lasting value.

The overall success of any sales and marketing initiative ultimately hinges on customer success. It’s one thing to complete a sale or close a contract, but the ultimate goal is to ensure that the customer receives maximum value from the sale or engagement. Turning a sale into a successful engagement means happy customers, which translates into additional sales to those customers and reduced customer churn.