It’s easy to think websites have one purpose: to be found online. While they certainly do provide that aspect, sites increasingly provide further benefit after attracting prospects. Even more so, a lack of that ‘further benefit’ may be where sales are lost.
Changing worlds, changing processes
Today’s world has changed and is continuing to change. One place where this occurs for B2B companies is how the sales process operates. Previously, the process would rely heavily on salespeople to not only prospect for customers and actually close the sale, but spend the time to guide the prospect through the decision making process. Increasingly, this central step of being a resource in the consideration phase is being replaced by prospects doing their own research online.
This makes sense, as the speed of business has also increased and the availability of information for other large purchases has moved online. Customers now expect that level of information to also be available for B2B purchases – even highly complex ones. As this expectation becomes commonplace in the business world, not having enough information on a company’s product or service tends to convince buyers to look elsewhere – not pick up the phone.
So how does a website work in the B2B world? It works in two phases: discovery and verification. Both are becoming equally as important.
Discovery
This is the easy one to understand. Online ‘discovery’ is how the prospect finds you. The website is what the prospect happens upon from searching for a solution to an issue. It is the place they arrive at after seeing an ad and where they are referred to by other means.
Certainly it is easy to see the value of a website from this angle. The site brings new prospects into the marketing and sales funnel and it is the first step in convincing them to buy your product. The site must convey the value of the company through its brand and the utility of the product through the presentation of the value propositions it provides.
Verification
While many think the discovery aspect is the only time the site is used, the website is also used again in the marketing and sales process – especially for the more complex specifying done in B2B markets. In this stage, the prospect has probably visited the site previously, but now the site is being used to vet and compare your product against competing offers.
The verification phase comes after the customer has placed your product in its recall set of products that they initially feel will solve the issues they have. Now they compare this much smaller list against each other and weigh features until they have decided on one product that solves the core aspects best. Generally, this is a sort of negotiation where features are rated by value whether the product fits with whatever process they need it to do. Potential customers will also factor in bonus features and their benefits at this stage.
As the product or service becomes more and more critical to the profitability of the customer, this verification step will engage greater numbers of people and departments. It may even engage executives. Each of these being consulted have their own needs and motivations. Typically this is shaded from the seller and the seller may not have any way to support the decision making process directly. But the seller can help the process by building a site that answers the common questions the buying company may ask.
Getting a site verification ready
What does this ‘new’ reality of selecting products and services mean for companies? It is best to think of the website not as a purely advertising medium but a tool in the sales process. The website works in the conversion process, as well as the awareness and consideration phases. It is the sales presentation deck and the bingo card. The site has to present the unique value proposition, manage objections and even set the stage for follow-on purchases.
The seller needs to ensure their website has the relevant details on it to convince the customer to purchase the product. More precisely, the seller needs to have the details a prospective customer uses to consider a product available on their site. Customers will go to the internet first to have questions answered and features compared before picking up the phone – if they do so at all.