Are your customers professionals? Opt for a B2B CRM!

There is sometimes a tendency to lump all CRM tools together. After all, they all have the same purpose: to improve customer relations. And yet, within the large family of customer relationship management solutions, there are specific features... features that are all the more relevant if you operate in the B2B sector.

And with good reason: you don't sell to a professional in the same way as to an individual. Long sales cycle, numerous exchanges with the prospect, higher contract value... your processes and software need to take these particularities into account. In other words, you need a B2B CRM.

But what are the challenges for business-to-business? Which CRM functionality is more useful for a B2B CRM than a B2C CRM? How do you choose the perfect tool for you?

We tell you everything.

See all software Customer relationship management

A brief definition of B2B CRM

Generally speaking, CRM, or customer relationship management, refers to strategies and processes designed to develop and improve customer relationship management.

But as well as the various CRM techniques, this acronym also refers to the software used to carry out these operations.

The reason why this article deals specifically with B2B CRM is that the actions to be taken differ depending on whether you are dealing with professionals or private individuals. The world of business to business has its own specific challenges.

Let's take a look at them.

The challenges of B2B CRM

A smaller number of customers

The purpose of a B2B CRM differs from that of a B2C CRM largely because sales staff have to deal with a smaller volume of customers. In this context, there is no mass management of leads, prospects and customers.

However, fewer customers mean more value. In fact, when you do business with professional customers, the value of the contracts at stake is often higher.

A more personalised relationship

Since the sums your prospects are prepared to pay are more substantial, and at the same time their superiors often hold them to account, they expect a lot from you in terms of relationships:

• relevant advice
• optimal support,
• availability and active listening by the sales person, etc.

As a result, even if the value of a B2B CRM lies, among other things, in the automation of processes, this degree of automation will not be as high as if you were selling to private individuals. For example, it is common practice to contact your prospects by telephone, whereas B2B allows you to send them mass emails.

☝️ While business-to-business activities lead to a personalised customer relationship, they also lead to a personalised offer (in terms of the nature of the offer, the prices charged, etc.). For example, when a large, strategic customer is involved, the sales force will be more inclined to compromise, with the aim of encouraging the customer to sign a contract.

A more complex customer database

In B2B, the contact structure is more complex: in the final analysis, you are dealing with an entire company. This generally means that there are several contacts for the same account, organised according to their responsibilities and roles. This means that the final decision-maker may not be the person you spoke to at the start of the sales funnel.

Your CRM needs to take these characteristics into account by offering a configuration of B2B customer files that incorporates all the components of a company.

Long sales processes and cycles

A large number of people are involved in the decision-making process. What's more, organisations tend to compare several suppliers before making their choice. As a result, the sales cycle gets longer, and sales teams devote more time and energy to it.

☝️ In B2B, a lead's position in the various stages of the sales process has a major impact on the sales rep's strategy and the way in which he or she is approached.

What is the purpose of a B2B CRM? 7 benefits!

Automate processes

As we've seen, B2B salespeople need to focus on relationships. That's where their real added value lies. As a result, they sometimes spend hours on the phone with their customers.

To free up the bandwidth needed for these many exchanges, a good CRM also automates a number of time-consuming tasks, such as data entry and invoicing.

Access to exhaustive, high-quality customer data

To base your sales operations on concrete elements and ensure their success, you need to rely on data. It is partly thanks to this that you can develop the right sales pitch to convince prospects who are sometimes over-solicited.

Thanks to CRM solutions, you can centralise customer information and history in a single space, and structure it so that you can make the most of it.

And given that, in B2B, you need to go even deeper into the relationship aspect, your software must allow you to go into a great deal of detail (for example, informing you of the prospect's favourite topics of conversation, how they prefer their coffee to be served, etc.).

Easily identify sales opportunities

Detecting sales opportunities at a glance... every salesperson's dream!

With a B2B CRM, you can see in real time where a prospect is in the sales pipeline, and track their progress through the various stages of the sale, from making contact to signing a contract.

In short, you can identify what efforts need to be made for whom, and when.

Aligning sales and marketing

Marketing and sales teams need to move hand-in-hand in the right direction, to achieve company objectives and get the best return on investment from their actions.

CRM software supports collaboration and information sharing between these two departments. This involves, first and foremost, the centralisation and accessibility of data mentioned above. But some software packages also incorporate tools and functions that encourage conversation and exchange (chat, document management, etc.).

Precise performance monitoring

With a BtoB CRM, you can generate dashboards and other reports from all the data collected in just a few clicks.

As a result, sales teams (and marketing teams too!) can easily understand their performance in real time, so they can focus their strategy as effectively as possible. There's no question of moving forward blindly!

Take advantage of the AI boom!

Today, the introduction of artificial intelligence into CRM software is a major asset for sales professionals. The result: greater efficiency and more informed decision-making.

While we've already talked about automation and database segmentation, the new technologies also support a more proactive approach, by predicting the future behaviour of your customers and prospects. All that remains is for you to adopt the most personalised approach.

Get a better return on your investment

Finer management of your database, sales pipeline, precise performance monitoring... all in all, a B2B CRM guarantees a better return on investment for your actions.

You can manage your time more effectively and measure the effort you need to allocate to a given customer according to their degree of maturity, their value, etc. A truly strategic tool!

The 15+ features you need to know about

The 4 key features

Contact management

As you will have realised, contact management is essential in B2B.

More multi-dimensional than in B2C, this functionality includes the management of accounts, each of which includes several contacts (with their own functions and responsibilities) with whom you can communicate depending on the situation.

At the same time, contact records provide a high level of information about the target company: the more you know, the better:

• nature of the business
• organisation chart
• main competitors
• sales trends, etc.

Calendar management

A good B2B CRM supports the day-to-day activities of sales staff, in particular :

• managing their appointments
• identifying what needs to be done for a particular customer, and when (reminders, follow-up, etc.).

All this is made possible by an automatic reminder system.

The sales pipeline

A sales pipeline also assists sales teams in their day-to-day activities.

It shows where your leads are in the conversion funnel, from contact to sale.

Reporting

Finally, generating reports in real time is essential if you want to monitor the performance of your sales team as well as that of your marketing department.

Other important functions

Many B2B CRM software packages offer other features to help you become more efficient. These include, for example

• lead tracking to obtain information about your prospect,
• lead scoring, so you can focus on high-potential visitors,
• the creation of personalised quotes and sales proposals,
• collaborative tools (document management, chat, etc.),
• marketing and marketing automation functionalities (sending SMS and email, setting up triggers, etc.),
• electronic signature and online payment to speed up payments,
• calendars shared with the entire sales team,
• integration of your product and/or service catalogue,
• sales history,
• a mobile application for field sales staff,
• integration with your other software (your ERP, your company telephony tool, etc.),
• a customer area so that your customers can access their accounts and documents,
• partner management and a partner portal, etc.

How do you choose your B2B CRM?

What criteria should you use?

The first question to ask yourself is: what functions do I need? As we have seen, B2B CRMs sometimes have a wide range of functions. You won't need to use them all.

So ask yourself how your department works, what your working environment is like, and what your target customer journey is like, in order to refine your requirements.

A few points to clarify:

• What are your objectives?
• What tools are already deployed in your organisation?
• How are your sales department and sales processes structured?

Of course, there are other criteria to consider:

• Is the proposed B2B CRM easy to use and quick to learn? Will there need to be training sessions for your teams?
• How will it be hosted? SaaS or On Premise?
• Can the tool be easily integrated into your information system and working environment?
• Does its price suit your budget? Does it guarantee a good return on investment?
• Is the solution scalable? Will it be able to support your company's growth?
• Is it secure? Is the data stored in a French or European data centre?
• Is customer support responsive? Are you properly supported by the publisher during the software deployment phase?

Which are the best B2B CRM tools?

It's time to choose your B2B software so you can manage your customer relations with a master's hand!

Take Sellsy's CRM suite, for example. Aimed at small businesses and SMEs, it supports sales staff by optimally monitoring their prospecting activities and sales pipeline. Fine-tuned contact management, tracking and scoring, automation... all the key features expected of a good B2B CRM are present. What's more, the software is easy to use and you'll benefit from dedicated support from the Sellsy teams to help you get to grips with the tool quickly and make the most of its full potential.

☝️ Note that the CRM family is a large one! There are many platforms available on the market. But if you follow the advice above, you'll be sure to choose the one best suited to your company's profile.

See all software Customer relationship management

To sum up

As a powerful solution, B2B CRM needs to take account of the specific characteristics of business-to-business. The stakes are not the same, particularly as the number of prospects to be tracked is smaller. At the same time, the sales involved generate more value.

As a result, specific functionalities are required, with the aim of managing these contacts more finely, offering them the personalised relationship they demand and moving intelligently through a longer sales cycle. All with software that automates time-consuming tasks as far as possible, so that sales teams can spend their time on higher value-added operations.

Fortunately, there are many solutions that address these needs. As part of a CRM project, it's up to you to determine your requirements carefully to find the perfect tool, and reap all its benefits!