Understanding Sales Velocity: A Crash Course for B2B Companies

Understanding Sales Velocity: A Crash Course for B2B Companies

When it comes right down to selling, B2B companies know only one basic law, which states that higher lead traffic is somewhat correlated to higher sales. Apparently, this mindset has become so prevalent in the B2B industry that it has become nauseating, to say the least.

Related: What To Do When Speed And Quality Collide In Lead Generation?

With that said, we assume that most B2B companies are more interested in increasing lead traffic through their lead generation efforts. Added to this is the fact that most companies today desire to swell up their lead volumes through such methods as buying marketing databases from list providers and setting up automated marketing systems for this end. Not much has been said about keeping up with the demands of one’s target audience.

At the end of the day, however, both marketers and sales reps will realize that it’s not just volume that defines success. As much as we want to point out the fact that sales opportunities are essential to the bottom line, we still need to understand that it’s actually winnability that drives a growth in the long run.

Fortunately, a lot of B2B marketers have realized that they need to go beyond the number of sales opportunities to generate in favor of even more crucial factors. HubSpot, at least, has pointed out that 71 percent of B2B enterprises are more focused on closing as many deals as possible. Still, we won’t know for sure if these companies really do emphasize other essential metrics like they said.

For Donal Daly of Altify, not much attention has been placed on increasing the chances at winning sales deals. This is due to the fact that most companies – in both the B2B and B2C spectrum – are more concerned about the number of sales opportunities than they are about reducing the sales cycle and the success rate for each encountered deal.

Daly is able to address this issue by introducing the concept of the sales velocity.

If you hate math, throw out the crank fifth grader in you and hear Daly out. Your sales velocity shows how much sales you will be able to achieve, granting that you reduce sales cycle and increase your win rate and deal size. To get your sales velocity (V), you need to multiply your number of sales opportunities (A) with your win rate (B) and deal size (C); then, divide the product by the length of the sales cycle (D) and you will have a number to work with.

To put it in practice, assuming A, B, and C are set at 10 percent, while D has been reduced to 10 percent as well. You will then have 47 percent as your sales velocity, showing just how easily it is for your product or service to be purchased by an interested client.

It’s really that simple. But what’s more interesting is the fact that you can reduce the number of sales opportunities and increase your winnability and deal size, and still get a compelling result!

For sure, sales velocity is more focused on increasing the quality of your deals. It makes you realize that not all campaigns aimed at increasing the lead volume can significantly impact the bottom line.  

Considering that win rate and deal size are the numbers to watch out for, B2B companies should make sure to apply this principle through the following means.

Listen to their prospects

There is really no other way to increase the win rate than to let audiences know you strut the right stuff. Quality sales propositions put a ton of emphasis on knowing what prospects want, and this should be enough to kickstart a more focused marketing campaign.

Channel resources to more lucrative prospects

Rather than aim for higher lead traffic, B2B companies will also need to make sure that they are spending a great deal of their time and resources on high-stakes prospects. The larger the deal size, the more intensive a targeted campaign should become.

Related: Poor Conversions? Better Use Progressive Profiling

Nurture your leads

Increasing your winnability means putting a great deal of focus on lead nurturing. If anything, this marketing component is crucial towards facilitating the transition of a prospect into a paying customer. This, of course, requires constant communication and observance of a prospect’s interactions online. The information you require about their activities will surely help in crafting a highly resonate and more aggressive campaign.

Related: A Crash Course on Lead Nurturing… And Why it Matters

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