4 Ways to Bring in More Sales Leads to Your B2B Business

By Katy Crouch

If you run a B2B business, you know generating new leads is vital for driving sales, but finding those leads can be a challenge. Here are four ways to increase the number of leads for your sales team to follow up on:

1. Build Trust With ISO Certification

Many large businesses use their ISO 9001 certification to show that their business is managed responsibly, and this can be a great trust signal when attracting new business. But did you know that small businesses and even startups can benefit from gaining ISO certification too?

Attaining 9001 certification is the ideal way for small companies–that may not have the history or testimonials yet–to evidence their commitment to delivering quality services or products. According to British television presenter Nick Hewer, "If you have that nailed to the door it says ‘you’re ok’ and that is a powerful marketing message."

As a result of gaining ISO 9001 certification you will build your credibility as a reputable business, and what's more, it is a great trust signal for your website when you use your certification seal. Putting a quality management system in place can also provide a direct benefit to your sales, as it shows that your company is as efficient and well-run as any other with the same certification.

2. Low Prices Don't Always Lead to Improved Sales

Yes, you read that right. Setting prices very low will not improve sales, but rather reduce your brand's strength, especially when selling B2B.

For many B2B buyers a higher price means a perceived higher quality. If prices are set too low, buyers will question why the price is low, and even doubt the level of quality of a service or product in comparison to a competitor.

Beyond this, by pricing too low you are at risk of commoditizing your business with customers buying based on your low pricing strategy alone. Creating pricing strategies that are informed by insights requires a cross-disciplinary approach between finance and marketing.

Rules of thumb such as charging a percentage above the cost do not take into consideration what customers are thinking, or what they are willing to pay. Whereas strategies such as decoy pricing take into account the perception of the customer. Decoy pricing involves offering additional product options to subconsciously tell customers which option is the best value.

Pricing can drive sales which lead to future sales–if customers are willing to buy at a high price, it's generally because they better understand the benefits of your business and the quality you offer. This in turn encourages customer loyalty and can lead to your business being a part of the customer's future ventures, including game-changers and innovative projects which can be great case studies for your company.

3. Turn Your Blog Into a Lead-Gen Machine

Increasing your digital presence by blogging not only increases your visibility in a search engine results page (SERP), but can position you as a thought leader in your industry and even capture leads.

Blogging is a great way to capture leads, and by tweaking your blog page design to include a form fill, you can capture the information of your visitors. Using lead bait such as offers in return for signing up to a mailing list is a great way of gaining a database of potential customers you can market to again.

For B2B businesses, another option is having white papers or ebooks emailed to blog readers in return for their details. Bear in mind:

• Include calls to action in your blog to encourage people to fill in the form.
• Keep the form as simple and convenient as possible, so that visitors are not put off filling it in.
• Include a sign up line or opt out tick box as a way of ensuring visitors know their information will be used for follow-up marketing.

In terms of content, your blog should be customer focused. This may sound obvious, but don't simply reel off reasons why your service or product is great, but instead feature your product as a solution to a customer pain point. A great place to start is taking a look at inquiries you've had, or FAQs.

4. A/B Test Your Landing Pages

An important part of lead generation is monitoring what works best. Your audience is fragmented and leads can come in from a range of different sources. By tracking the consumer journey you can learn what works best and grow sales as a result.

A/B testing is comparing two versions of a landing page to establish which performs better. When split testing in this way, it is important to monitor key information such as number of visitors and conversion rate.

Top tips for A/B testing include adjusting your calls to action (CTAs), and testing both the copy (e.g., ''shop here,'' ''sign up now,'' or ''get started'') as well as the appearance or positioning on a page.

You can also A/B test the way you present your pricing options. This links back to decoy pricing which we mentioned before. The Goldilocks pricing strategy is what is known as the compromise effect. It's a way of presenting three options or products with no clear best choice, and consumers likely to settle on the "middle" option.

A further worthwhile way of split testing your landing pages is with variations of copy lengths. Is your audience more likely to convert after reading all there is to know on a long page of text, or do they, in fact, convert better on a short page of summary text?

Wrapping Up

By ensuring your potential customers trust your business to be of high quality, and your pricing strategy reflects this, then you are well-equipped to drive more sales. By split testing your landing pages you can do more of what works, and by making small changes to include a form alongside your blog can see your leads and conversions improve.