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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We live in an age of specialization, and that applies to technology sales as well. There was a time not long ago when an enterprise sales rep was responsible for the end-to-end sales process. They would have to develop leads through cold calling, handle lead qualification, and nurture leads until they could close the deal. Those days are gone.

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.

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.”

Ensuring customer success is at the heart of consultative selling isn’t just fluff. When you are selling technology, selling the product alone isn’t enough. You must sell a solution for a problem that your technology can solve. That means much deeper customer engagement that delivers an immediate return and more ROI over time. That’s why leading companies invest in customer success.

Understandably, 2020 has been a unique year for many sales reps. Many businesses have delayed or canceled investments in products and services until the COVID-19 pandemic is over and they can more accurately plan for the future, others have seen a surge in demand and require quick action and product education. In both scenarios,, the business-to-business (B2B) market is growing increasingly competitive. 

I love playing softball. It’s a game we can play long into our later years, but it still requires skill and precision. The key to a big softball win? Lots of small hits. I’m amazed that when you play a game where it’s single hit after single hit, all of a sudden you look at the scoreboard and it’s 9-0 after one inning! Rarely do you hit homeruns in softball, it’s playing the smaller hits. That’s kind of like playing the SMB market -- smaller hits, but when you add them all up, you get a massive end-result. Small ball in business (SMB) is a winner, but it takes skill and precision.