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As B2B publishers and salespeople, when are the right times to give thanks?

On Thursday, November 28? Yes.

On the day a great deal closes? Yes.

When our teams are performing on target? Yes.

When sales are taking place as part of a defined process? Yes.

When we are recognized by owners or investors? Yes.

When our salespeople recruit others to join our teams? Yes.

When key success factors have been defined and exceeded? Yes.

When we have hit our quarterly and annual targets? Yes.

All yes.

But the greatest cause for thanksgiving in our industry is the delight of our customers. Everything above comes back to the customer.

When our conference rooms and exhibit halls are full, when our site licenses are renewed, when advertisers don’t have to ask for another media kit – at times like these, our clients are evidencing our real success, and these are the best times to celebrate.

We live in a time of evasion.

Whatever your politics, Presidential candidates are deflecting your questions.

A question to Kamala Harris at a CNN Town Hall:

“If you could accomplish only one major policy goal that required Congressional action, what would it be and why?”

Harris: “Well, there’s not just one.  I have to be honest with you… There’s a lot of work that needs to happen.”

A question to Donald Trump on Joe Rogan’s podcast:

“Give me proof that the 2020 election was stolen.”

Trump: “We’ll do it another time.”

Good salespeople are artists when it comes to answering questions, and evasion is at their disposal. Publishers understand, and they can guide these responses.

A prospect asks, “how much does it cost to sponsor a webinar?”

The evasive answer: “it depends on a number of factors.”

The direct answer: “$13,000.” Even better: “Typically $13,000. Can I ask you some questions and give you a more specific quote?”

The buyer, like the voter, appreciates the direct answer. Publishers should guide salespeople to answer questions directly. Evasion likely leads to fewer sales.

As publishers and sales executives, we naturally welcome high value deals in any form. Still, there are instances in which an initial opportunity should be declined and reframed.

In advertising – your potential client’s brand conflicts with yours. Its marketing department requests a media kit, and calls to express interest in display ads or newsletter ads. A sponsored email should make more sense. The advertiser would provide the html for the email, leaving your company name less noticeable in the footer.

In events – a group registers to attend your event rather than pay to exhibit. They would pitch conference attendees on the exhibit floor, detracting from booth traffic. Attendee lists should be reviewed to prevent this from happening. Registrants such as these can become prospects for higher-priced sponsorship sales.

In content – subscribers to your paid newsletter work for a competitor. Your data, content or sources can be lifted and used elsewhere. At a time when paid content is challenged everywhere by free information, a close inspection of subscriber files makes sense, if even by email suffix. With some conversation, cross-marketing arrangements could follow with competitors reading your content.

Warren Buffett compares a company’s competitive advantage to a moat surrounding its business. On occasion, repositioning high value sales can help B2B publishers widen these moats, increasing revenues in turn.

Salespeople working as employees for B2B publishers typically receive 2/3 of their compensation from base salary and 1/3 from commissions.

Balances differ publisher to publisher. Commission rates can be impacted by what’s being sold, the salesperson’s quota, expectations set by other salespeople, the salesperson’s record, and other factors.

After a salesperson hits quota, commissions typically increase in tiers. If a salesperson has a quota of $500,000, the commission rate could be 20 percent up to quota, ramping up to 30 percent of sales afterwards.

Commission rates are much lower for salespeople who are renewing existing clients rather than finding new logos. Many publishers bifurcate these roles, with salespeople hunting for new business only.

The balance between base pay and commission shifts when publishers use contract salespeople, in part because doing so requires no payment of benefits or overhead.

Salespeople working on contract are frequently asked to sell on commission only. These arrangements are rarely successful for either the publisher or the salesperson.

I sat in on a sales call recently that was led by a veteran salesperson of a B2B publishing company. I have been selling in this industry for ten years, and this was one of the most impressive and effective calls that I have seen.

He controlled the meeting with a near lack of personality.

Like a courtroom attorney, he asked penetrating questions and shifted his line of questioning based on the responses he received. He showed no emotion. He understood, summarized, and then framed the prospect’s responses in terms of his company’s services. He closed.

No joking, no sports talk, no ebullience – only business.

We have a stereotype of salespeople who are sycophantically trying to connect with their prospects. I’d suggest that efforts like these quickly become obvious to prospects and counterproductive to publishers.

Personality in high value sales by B2B publishers is overrated. Too much personality suggests too much need. Too much objectivity is preferable to prospects and publishers alike.

A sales axiom: “no” doesn’t mean “no,” it means “not now.”

This plays out every day for B2B publishers, who can need between eight and 15 touches to close a high value sale.

This figure seems reasonable for a single sale. But what happens when a salespeople are working pipelines of 100 prospects? Can they reasonably manage 800 total touches? 1,500?

We persist by

Prioritizing: work the accounts that best match buyer personnas and drop unlikely buyers out of the pipeline

Staggering:  space out the about the number of prospects entering a sales sequence at the same time

Sequencing: define timeframes for steps in the sales sequence and end sequences sensibly

Contracting: shorten the sales cycle by challenging buyer behavior and overcoming objections earlier in the sales process

Restarting: let six months pass, understand prior objections, and begin the sales process again

Closing: nothing shortens the sales cycle like a signed agreement.

Thoughtful follow-up may be the most challenging and the most important part of the sales process. Persistence is fundamental to high value sales for B2B publishers, and these strategies can help to manage it.

Your salespeople send email to their prospects. Are these prospects obliged to return the email? Of course not.

Your salespeople leave voice messages for their prospects. Are these prospects obliged to return the calls? Of course not.

Your salespeople execute sales sequences perfectly, guided by the content and schedule laid out in your CRM. Are the prospects obliged to engage? Of course not.

But, let’s say, your salespeople do connect with a prospect, who expresses some interest in your content, data, sponsorships, or advertising.

Is the prospect obliged to take a second or third call? No.

Is the prospect obliged to describe why they aren’t taking a second or third call? No.

But, let’s say, your salespeople have successfully discussed needs, interests, and objections with their prospects. Proposals result.

Is the prospect obliged to acknowledge receipt of the proposal? Even now, no.

Is the prospect obliged to respond substantively to the proposal in any way? Even now, no.

Your services have an outstanding return on investment. You can prove it.

Even so, and even when your salespeople have done everything right, all obligations in high value sales for B2B publishers rest with you.

Your prospects may be professional and courteous, but they have no obligations throughout the sales process.

I sent this email to a publisher last week.

I’m no expert in the aaa industry. I have read through your media kit, though, and I think a call would be productive if you are looking for some sales support. Can I interest you in a Zoom meeting during the week after Labor Day? If you let me know a time that works best for you, I’ll send an invite. 

I would take that email back if I could. Grounding sales efforts in knowledge of prospect’s business is always useful. Keeping the email brief increases the chances that it will be read and responded to.

Still, I would now write this email to

I see that your bbb conference is taking place in March, and that you’ve already sold sponsorships to ccc and ddd. Would you add a senior salesperson on contract for more of these sponsorship sales?

In fewer words, I would have described my knowledge of the prospect and my own value proposition better.

Our website says

Sales campaigns involving conference sponsorships, site licenses and group training rely less on email marketing, and they need different approaches. We have our own approaches that supplement the sales efforts that our clients already have in place, increasing their revenues while saving time, effort, and expenses – guaranteed.

Email marketing suits B2B publishers perfectly for lower balance sales. Sales intelligence software, CRMs, social media, sales sequences, and cold calling can be effective for lower balance accounts. Business Development Representatives can also be effective in finding interest from long lists of prospects. We use more traditional selling techniques to identify new leads, secure video conferences, present agreements, and close sales. We do this as an extension of a client’s sales team, adding to existing sales efforts with a different approach.

This is certainly not brief enough to capture attention in a sales email or LinkedIn message. We have too much to read as it is.

My prospect responded much more briefly and much more effectively to my initial email.

Paul – Thank you for your note. We have an internal sales force and do not use agents in the US, though we appreciate your interest.

This wasn’t the news I wanted to hear, but my prospect’s brevity was brilliant. I know exactly where his company stands. His response was direct and polite.

In these ways, brevity for the buyer and the seller is especially useful in the B2B publishing industry. We strive to use words judiciously in sales, as we do in editorial, marketing, and other contexts as well.

Salespeople should have equal responsibility for prospecting and closing high value sales for B2B publishers, whatever their level of seniority.

Those who differentiate these roles should consider

–   Giving experienced salespeople ambitious targets for finding new clients

–   Providing lower commissions for renewals and account management

–   Encouraging less experienced salespeople to close the deals they source, with guidance as necessary.

When handoffs take place inside the sales funnel, expect to see

Risk for a single deal 

For every high value sales opportunity for B2B publishers, the close begins as soon as a salesperson interacts with a prospect for the first time. The value proposition and pricing information described on the first call should point directly to the close. Mixed messaging over time can kill a deal. All salespeople should be closing the deals they find, whatever their level of seniority.

Risk for top line growth

More experienced salespeople are likely to rely on renewals after they have built a book of business. Even if commission percentages are lower for renewals, the senior salesperson is likely to do less prospecting, resulting in less top line growth. More experienced salespeople can increase their compensation with higher commission rates on new clients, and publishers of course benefit in turn.

Risk for the team

Less experienced salespeople asked to hand off deals are likely to quit, becoming more experienced salespeople at other companies. Publishers should strive to retain less experienced salespeople, commissioning them well and allowing them to work deals from lead to close.

Closing is fun. Prospecting can be laborious. “Let the seasoned salespeople be in the driver’s seat and let the less experienced salesperson be along for the ride” — publishers should question this argument, expecting similar work from salespeople throughout the sales cycle.

A sales maxim:

The best response is “yes.”

The second best response is “no.”

The worst response is “maybe later.”

In our industry, the best response, of course, is still “yes.” We push or at least nudge our prospects towards the close at all times. Alec Baldwin’s “always be closing” still echoes 30 years later after Glengarry Glen Ross was released in 1992.

I think “no” and “not now” are conflated for B2B publishers, however.

Unlike many other industries, we can stay top of mind with our prospects over time. Reminders of our high value services can arrive in the Inboxes of our prospects every day.

This places more responsibility on salespeople in the B2B publishing industry. Over time, we can use our content to understand the interests of our prospects efficiently, even as the sales cycle extends.

Our feet stay in the door with content behind us.

“No” and “maybe later” can become “yes” in turn.

There are many forms of trust in high value sales for B2B publishers. You may already be thinking of some that are not in this blog. Let me describe three that are top of mind.

Trust Between Salespeople and Buyers

This is the most obvious form of trust in high value sales for B2B publishers. Buyers must understand what’s specifically being sold, and it’s up to salespeople to establish trust that leads to this understanding. Without it, prospects are unlikely to buy; worse yet, they are likely to be angry after sales have closed.

Trust Between Publishers and Salespeople

This form of trust is straightforward. Publishers must educate salespeople on every detail of the service being sold. Salespeople should trust that they are representing publishers entirely. Compensation should have absolute clarity. In these ways and others, trust between the publisher and the salesperson must be complete.

Trust in Salespeople Individually

I think this is the most important form of trust in high value sales for B2B publishers, and perhaps one that is least discussed.

Salespeople must trust in themselves to understand the content being sold – and know it cold. Especially when the publisher’s content is highly technical, the expertise of the editorial team may not have fully transferred to the sales team. Salespeople must trust themselves to close this gap in order to close sales.

Salespeople must also trust in themselves as they approach high-level decision makers at prospect companies. They must trust in their optimism and good-natured professionalism as purchase decisions take more time. This trust applies not only to specific opportunities, but also to their pipelines as a whole.

This is a complex topic. Let’s discuss.

Commission-based sales arrangements can be attractive for B2B publishing companies seeking low-cost and low-risk sales muscle as well as contract salespeople in search of generous commissions.

For both, there is a vetting process in which the publisher determines the true effectiveness of the salesperson, and the salesperson assesses the true salability of what the publisher is promoting.

This introductory period goes a long way to establishing a long-term successful partnership.

Approaches vary and most are intuitive. We’ve built a model that compares approaches to this introductory period and suggests how these engagements can be structured.

ARRANGEMENT #1: STRAIGHT COMMISSION

Engagements based on straight commission are likely unattractive to contract salespeople because they are required to absorb upfront expenses before value propositions and sales commissions are realized. This is particularly the case for opportunity costs associated with the unpaid engagement, when time can be spent working for other clients. The publisher has little to change to test the salesperson’s effectiveness, so the commitment by both parties to a long-term partnership can be ambiguous.

This is an example of one scenario in which Arrangement #1 takes shape. (Feel free to reply to his email to see the model that created this graph.)

We see that the salesperson assumes negative net monthly income until a three-month sales cycle ends. Much of this loss is due to opportunity costs. While the publisher can consider this a test of the salesperson’s commitment to the project, the salesperson can consider this period unnecessarily ambiguous and expensive.

ARRANGEMENT #2: TRADITIONAL DRAW

An engagement that is based on a traditional monthly draw tips the value of the introductory period in the salesperson’s favor. These arrangements require publishers to front at least part of the monthly expenses of contract salespeople until sales are realized and commissions are paid.

Once commissions materialize, the monthly draw is deducted only from commissions that the salesperson earns each month. (Feel free to reply to his email also to see the model that created this graph.)

Here, the expense and the risk is more squarely on the publisher for the first three months. During this period, publishers are investing in the contract salesperson who may or may not be effective. Cash has been given, and the publisher may no longer receive value for having made this investment.

ARRANGEMENT #3: CUMULATIVE DRAW

An engagement based on a cumulative draw strikes a balance between the interests of the publisher and those of the salesperson. With this arrangement, the publisher continues to cover the salesperson’s opportunity costs while the sales cycle is proceeding, until sales materialize, and until commissions are paid. At that point, the salesperson’s commissions repay the cumulative draw that the publisher has paid to date. Afterwards, the engagement changes to straight commission. (Feel free to reply to this email also to see the model that created this graph.)

Here the publisher continues to front the salesperson’s opportunity costs during the outset of the engagement. When salespeople prove effective, however, their investment is returned immediately, and as the engagement transitions to a commission-only arrangement, the initial interests of both parties are being met.

A STARTING POINT

Six months after an engagement begins, the B2B publisher and the contract salesperson should have identical motivations. High value sales create meaningful revenues for the publisher and meaningful commissions for the salesperson.

Getting to that point can be the challenge.

The cumulative draw allows the contract salesperson to cover opportunity costs while allowing the publisher to receive compensation for all draw payments as soon as possible. This is an attractive arrangement that allows these engagements to begin on the same footing.

Voicemail is one of the greatest challenges — and opportunities —  for B2B publisher sales. Here is a solution.

“Hey John, it’s Paul Legrady with Paul Legrady LLC. I saw that you are ____. If you can give me a call back when you get this, my number is 240-308-3292.”

This seems simple and straightforward. Let’s break it down.

(1) Hey (2) John, it’s (3) Paul Legrady with (4) Paul Legrady LLC. I saw that you are (5) (6) ____.  If (7) you can (8) give me a call back (9) when you get this, my number is (10) 240-308-3292 (11).

(1) Implies familiarity

(2) First name has a more informal tone

(3) Caller’s full name expresses legitimacy of call

(4) Caller’s company name signals purposefulness of call

(5) Plainly expresses knowledge of prospect’s potential need

(6) Does not pitch solution to prospect’s potential need – this is not appropriate for voicemail

(7) “If” is not too pushy

(8) This is a straightforward ask

(9) Politely expresses urgency

(10) Does not repeat number on voicemail. It will show on Caller ID or cell phone anyway.

(11) Does not say “thank you.” There is no need to be overpolite for listening to a voicemail.

The entire voicemail takes 15 seconds from start to finish.

Many salespeople will simply hang up the phone if a prospect doesn’t pick up the phone.

Failing to leave a voicemail is a waste of time. If salespeople in the B2B publishing industry are calling appropriately, they will have researched the individual and the company they are calling– spending five to ten minutes preparing for a call in case their prospect picks up. This work will likely be in vain when the caller does not pick up and the salesperson chooses not to leave a voicemail.

Failing to leave a voicemail can compromise the brand of the company that is calling. An overly cheerful voice message from a rambling salesperson will almost always be left in vain, even proving counterproductive because it annoys the recipient. Ironically, these voicemails compromise the brands they were intended to promote.

Express familiarity. Understand need. Keep it brief. This increases the likelihood that voicemails will be returned, and sales opportunities will increase in turn.

When engaging a contract salesperson like me, a publisher will typically brand the salesperson as an extension of their salesforce.

I receive an email address using the publisher’s email suffix and an email signature that presents me to its prospects as part of its brand.

With this approach, when I call a prospect of my client, I begin the conversation by saying, “I’m Paul Legrady, and I’m calling on behalf of Client.” This is accurate and directly reflects my client’s brand.

I’ve also used an approach that is based on my own company’s brand.

By email or the phone, I approach a client’s prospects by saying “I’m Paul Legrady, and I represent Client.” This is reflected in my own company’s email suffix and in my own email signature.

The impression of third-party representation can change the conversation from the perspective of my clients’ prospects.

Which branding makes most sense? It depends on the campaign, and it’s up to the publisher.

In 2003, I found myself in a large room of businesswomen discussing B2B sales and marketing.

Let me explain why I was the only man in the room in another blog. The event was much more memorable for another reason.

Robyn Sachs, pillar of the DC marketing community, asked “what is the most important part of a campaign: the product, the message or the list?”

She pointed to me, and I answered, “the list.”

“That’s right,” she said.

I’ve thought about Robyn’s question and my answer many times in my nine years selling for B2B publishers.

Perhaps more than any other industry, we use different kinds of lists for different purposes.

We collect contact information from our website visitors and engage them in email marketing.

We have lists of customers who buy individual subscriptions and upsell them to events using more email marketing.

Publishers always want these lists to be longer – for good reason. For many B2B publishers, email marketing leads to most of their topline sales.

Counterintuitively, we want the lists for our live sales efforts  to be smaller – much smaller. To best sell higher priced services to our audiences, we must be much more discrete.

Tens or hundreds of thousands of email subscribers, for example, must be whittled down to a list of hundreds of prospects for more concentrated sales sequences. This number of course varies with the company’s size and number of salespeople.

This contraction can be based on a subscriber’s 

–  Longevity: the longer the relationship, the greater the chance of an upsell

–  Activity: the greater the number of opens or clicks, the greater the demonstrated need

–  Audience size: the greater the number of individual subscribers in a single company, the greater the chances of bundled sales

• Pulling these levers should lead B2B publishers to more topline growth.
  
• 
  

As Robyn taught me more than 20 years ago, lists matter most. B2B publishers are likely to have extraordinarily long email lists. For many reasons, the larger, the better. For sales purposes, however, short lists should also add meaningfully to top line.

I’ve read that a sales prospect needs to be contacted 10 times before they will make a purchase decision. For B2B publishers, especially those selling conference sponsorships and site licenses, this number is antiquated, inaccurate, and potentially counterproductive.

Here are a few reasons why.

First, the publisher’s email marketing to free lists will typically include sales prospects for higher priced services. This will create brand awareness before a salesperson gets involved with the sale, decreasing the number of chances that salespeople have to qualify and close.

Second, specialty B2B publishers serve niche industries. Sales prospects are likely to know which competitors have exhibited at prior conferences, or which of their industry peers have site licenses with a publication.

Third, the buyer will have already researched an opportunity online or downloaded a media kit before they are approached about an opportunity or express interest in a service.  

For these reasons and more, the B2B publisher’s salesperson enters the conversation late in the game, and, for better or worse, they have fewer opportunities to qualify the sale, field objections, and close the deal.

Ten touches? Unlikely. Maybe three.

Where does this best take place?

We used to sell best in a prospect’s office. Today, salespeople of B2B publishers best qualify their prospects on video conferences. Without Zoom, Teams or Google Meet, deals are unlikely to progress past the lead qualification stage. If the call goes well, proposals and agreements follow.

Regardless, the sales sequence for B2B publishers gets truncated near the end of the sales cycle. This requires salespeople to show their quality quickly and convincingly on video conferences, and in the proposals and agreements that are presented afterwards.