How to Attract B2B Clients in 2023: A Goodtal Guide

Being a B2B entrepreneur is no easy feat. They work tirelessly to grow their business and face many challenges in their journey. 

One such is reaching out to their target audience and convincing them to purchase the product or service, which is one of the most difficult things to do, since digital marketing is no joke. 

So, in this blog, we will share some tips for B2B entrepreneurs like you regarding how to tackle and overcome the above challenges. 

It will help you get more B2B clients while simultaneously boosting the growth rate and revenue of your business. 

Let's get started.    

The AIDA Model and How to Implement It With Practical Examples

AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Brands use this model to understand customers' cognitive stages during the buying process. It can be for a product or service. Here is a live example in the form of email:

The AIDA model can help Jonathan identify how and when to communicate during each stage, as customers will be using different platforms, engaging in various touchpoints, and need diverse information throughout the stages from countless sources. 

Here are a few questions that B2B entrepreneurs must ask themselves at different stages:

1. Attention: "How can we raise awareness among customers regarding our services or products?" "What will be our outreach strategy?" “How can we develop a campaign strategy for brand awareness" "Which tools or platforms do we use?" "What should our core message be?" 
2. Interest: "How can we gain the customer’s attention? " "What will be our content strategy?" "Do we have a social proof to back up our reputation?" "How do we make this information available and where?" It can be a website, customer ratings, videos, etc.  
3. Desire: "What makes our service or product desirable and unique?" "How do we interact to forge an emotional connection?" "Online chat?" "Immediate response to Twitter feed?" "Share tips and advice?" 
4. Action: "What are the calls to actions and where do we place them?" "Is it easy for consumers to connect and would they be able to find it?" Decide your marketing platform and how to engage across emails, websites, landing pages, inbound phone calls, etc. 

Here is another live example. 

Let’s say that a science-fiction author wants to sell more books. She has three series in total. 

The challenge is to stand out to readers as we live in a world where thousands of books get published daily.  

Using the AIDA model: 

1. “Hey, reader, I heard you are a big fan of this sci-fi genre, right? (attention) 
2. “Excellent, this series is the perfect form of that genre ever written. Here are the ten reasons why”. (Interest) 
3. “Guess what? The first book is free, so you don't even have to invest anything but your time to try it”. (Desire) 
4. “So, go ahead and give it a download”. (Action) 

That first book becomes a piece of marketing itself. The action at the end is to purchase the next book in the series.  

So, this continues, and the price for each subsequent book increases. Once the reader has finished the entire series, they are given the option to continue with their buying journey by trying out the others. 

The lifetime value of an ideal customer, then, is upwards of a hundred bucks. The potential lifetime sales could be in the thousands for just one customer if the author adds merchandise and supplemental media to the mix.  

With the help of AIDA, B2B entrepreneurs can stand out from their competitors. 

This model can help them convince potential customers to purchase their product or service.

Recommended Reading: Busting the Top 8 Digital Marketing Myths 

What Makes a Good B2B Salesman?

The role of a B2B salesman is to find opportunities by cold-calling, emailing companies, and arranging a demo with their lead salesmen.

But, getting someone to listen to you is one of the most challenging parts of B2B. Having a circle of influence and referrals is an excellent place to start. 

Begin by striking up a conversation with an employee of the company where you want to sell your product. Listen to what their opinion is and whether your product will be a good fit for their business or not. 

Getting their reference will allow you to set your foot in the door. 

You can then get in touch with higher-ups who have full decision-making authority.  

The circle of influence can be a bit tricky. Instead of trying to sell to your friends and family, convince them to refer you to the right person in their company. 

They will be at least willing to hear you out due to the recommendation.  

Establish a structure for your appointments. Your clients will appreciate it because they will feel you value their time. The first appointment should be a discovery meeting. 

Here you will lay out your intentions right from the start. Say something like this:

"What I would like to do in this first appointment is to understand your company's position. During our conversation, I will ask a series of questions that will allow me to prepare a company profile. We use this information to identify those that will benefit the most from our services. Hopefully, by the end, we can conclude."

You can then proceed with the questions. But only focus on that, and don't rush to provide solutions. Be patient, as it is not the right time to sell. Listen to everything they have to say and note it all down in front of them. It will make your clients appreciate that you are listening to them intently, thus assigning more value to your services. 

Remember, you should approach like a consultant and not a salesman. 

Do not offer the whole apple! You should only give them a taste of how you can help them. If you explain everything on the phone, there will be nothing left to share when you meet them in person. Since they already have the best solution, why would they schedule a demo with you?

Identify one thing that you could help with and focus only on that.

It's called laying bait. Say something like: 

"Well, we improved your position in this one segment of the meeting. But there are more areas that we can help you with through our services. Let's set up a follow-up meeting next week to address all your areas of need and have a more in-depth conversation regarding how to move forward."  

That's how you reel them in. Objections should only arise once you reach the end, and since they don't have all the pieces, there would be no scope for objection. 

Once you have completed the demo and if they have raised any objections, you can isolate and deflect like this: 

Client Objection: I like what you have here. But your product/service feels too expensive for me.

Isolate: I understand your position. Would it be safe to say that the only thing holding you back is the cost of our services/products?  

Client answer: Yes, it's too expensive for me right now. 

Feel/Felt/Found:I understand how you feel. Another XYZ company, too, felt the same way when we assisted them about 12 months ago. Our recruitment services are a known cost. The unknown cost you may need to assess is the recruitment cost, man-hours dedicated to training, advertising for hire, background checks, HR hours, and many others that are not currently crossing my mind. The XYZ company, too, felt that our services, although costly, helped them save money every year.    

Don't you feel that having a known cost is more straightforward to plan than multiple unknown ones that arise when hiring new associates? You may feel it is too costly, but it will establish more clarity to your recruitment efforts, saving expense in the long run. 

Then you sit quietly and don't say a single word. If the client offers more objections, start over again: 

1. Isolate the objection 
2. Feel-felt-found 
3. Wouldn't you agree?
4. Silence 

By adopting this approach, you can convince potential clients to book a demo, close deals, bring more customers, revenue, and growth for your B2B startup. Coupled with the AIDA model, you will definitely register a consistent profit.

Recommended Reading: Killer Mistakes That Can Ruin Your Digital Marketing Campaign

For Further Reading 

Check out GoodFirms' research on top tips from B2B experts. Aspiring entrepreneurs will find a treasure trove of knowledge, aiding them immensely on their journey toward building a successful B2B startup.