Maximizing Money in B2B Sales: The Essential Guide to Boosting Your Earnings

Maximizing Earnings in B2B Sales: Beyond Friends' Success Stories

Many people who want to make more money try their hand at B2B sales. Often, the person has a friend or a neighbor who is doing well and making more money, and they believe that if that person is succeeding, they will too. For sure, some of these people succeed, but many more fail to make the money they expected by taking on a new role.

The single variable when it comes to making money in B2B sales is not how your commission plan works, even though some are better than others. Nor is it what you sell, even if you sell something that is a commodity, as many salespeople make money selling commodities. Your territory may be filled with your dream clients or prospective clients that aren't as large as you might want them to be, and it may have little to do with your ability to earn more money in B2B sales.

It's not your sales manager, it's not your company, it's not your competition. You can leave your current sales job and walk across the street without making any more money than you were in your previous sales role. None of these variables will have the same impact as the one thing you must have to make money in B2B sales.

Key Factor in B2B Sales Success: It's Not What You Think

The single variable that determines how much money you make is your sales effectiveness. Let me explain. If you don't win a deal, you make nothing; your commission provides no commission. It doesn't matter if you call on small clients or large clients, you will not deposit a commission check in your bank account without winning the client. You may sell something with enormous demand or a commodity, but without winning, it doesn't matter what you sell.

Those who try sales believe they are taking a job. Unfortunately, B2B is a craft, making it unlike other roles the person has had in the past. Few roles in business begin by being told no when asking for a meeting. People who are sensitive and easily frustrated tend to wash out quickly, lacking the growth mindset necessary to hear enough negative responses that they are desensitized to the word no.

It isn't uncommon for a person to quit due to their inability to book a first meeting. The person wasn't prepared for what they believe was rejection when the prospective client rejected the value proposition for the meeting. If you can't or won't book meetings, your commission is a goose egg.

Overcoming the First Hurdle in B2B Sales: Booking That Initial Meeting

Those who learn to acquire a first meeting and sit across the table from their contact will now need to create value for their prospective client. If your client is meeting with you, it is almost certain your competitor has already had a meeting or will follow you with a meeting later. You might believe that you are trying to win the client's business, but what you don't know is how effective you are when compared to your competitors.

Your buyers hope that one of the salespeople pursuing their business has the business acumen, an understanding of their company and their industry. These buyers are often disappointed by the discovery approach and the lack of value creation that would help the contact and their teams understand how best to go about making the changes that will ensure they produce the strategic outcomes. See Eat Their Lunch: Winning Customers Away from Your Competition.

Creating Value in B2B Sales: Essential for Making Money

In the third decade of the 21st century, sales leaders believe that B2B is a numbers game, with each additional opportunity increasing their ability to hit their goals. Let us describe this sales approach as the Lottery strategy, with these leaders believing that every additional opportunity moves them closer to success.

Avoiding the Lottery Strategy in B2B Sales for Better Commissions

Unless you can win the deals you create with your dream clients, there is no reason to create the opportunity. You only need more opportunities when you can win at a high enough number that it makes sense to put the effort into creating more opportunities.

What sales leaders need to know is that this approach not only fails to generate the net new revenue they need, but it also causes your sales force to lose the commissions that only accrue to the salesperson when they win. If the strategy is to lose many deals to win one, this will prevent success in goal attainment and commissions.

The Ultimate Sales Metric: Understanding Your Win Rate

Once I asked a sales manager to tell me each of her 10 salespeople's win rates. Without opening her laptop, she listed the win rates from highest to lowest. She explained that the tenth salesperson has a 10 percent win rate because it was his second week. All the other salespeople on her team had win rates greater than 50 percent.

Your win rate is the only metric you need to assess your sales effectiveness. A high win percentage means you are highly effective. The lower the win number, the less effective you are.

Sales leaders who include the coverage in their pipeline are distorting their win rates, as many of the opportunities are only being included so the sales leader can pretend they have enough deals to achieve their goals.

Boosting Your B2B Sales Effectiveness: Strategies for Higher Win Rates

Your priority in B2B sales, for those who want to make more money, is to become so effective in the sales conversation that you win at a percentage high enough that you are going to stack up the deals that will have you stacking up the dollars.

Leaving this article, assess your win rate, and if you are under 50 percent, build a plan to increase your sales effectiveness through training, development, and coaching. Also, if you are able, ask to go on calls with salespeople who are already highly effective.