How can B2B marketers drive sales acceleration without adding to their existing tech stack? In an ever-evolving B2B marketplace, what winning formula can provide the answers?
Discover first party insights from our Insights for Professionals (IFP) community on how to achieve sales acceleration success and boost lead conversions…
Reading time: 5 minutes
Why should B2B Marketers Strive for Sales Acceleration?
Sales acceleration is a necessity in today’s competitive B2B sales environment. With demanding targets and sales quotas, go-to-market teams should be leveraging every tool, process and strategy to move prospects through the stages of the sales cycle more efficiently to accelerate pipeline revenue.
With more than three-quarters (78%) of B2B marketers citing average sales cycles anywhere between 1 to 12 months, and over half (58%) saying it can take up to 6 months to set a qualified meeting with a senior decision maker, the ability to accelerate the sales process is as vital as ever.
A sensible first step is to mine your data to identify the aspects of your marketing strategy that can be adjusted to positively impact and accelerate sales. This is how maximum conversions and ROI can be achieved while keeping costs optimal.
Next, you’ll need a way to measure how well your strategies are working for you. Key to determining their effectiveness is regular monitoring and reporting based on reliable, quantitative data. Enter, the Sales Acceleration Formula.
How to Calculate Sales Acceleration: The Winning Formula
For businesses to get behind the concept of sales acceleration and for it to be embedded in sales and marketing culture, it’s vital to demonstrate its value. By measuring the rate of acceleration you’ll not only have a clear view of what’s working well for your target audience, but you’ll also be able to identify areas for improvement.
According to Forbes, sales acceleration means to increase the velocity of the sales process. Yet, it can be tricky for B2B marketers to understand the essential numerical components that measuring sales velocity needs to include. To help B2B marketers track and measure the success of their sales acceleration strategies we’ve created the following formula – a baseline for which sales acceleration can be reliably measured:
- Number of deals: Total number of deals over a set period (month, quarter, year)
- Deal size: Total revenue / closed-won opportunities in a set period
- Win rate: Accounts won / target accounts. The % of the account list with a new win in a set period
- Length of sales cycle: Number of days of an average sales cycle
- Sales velocity: The speed at which it takes a prospective customer to move through the sales pipeline and generate revenue.
The result of this formula is effectively the amount of new closed won revenue per day across the sale.
For example:
Summary: Key Takeaways for B2B Sales Acceleration
Now we know how to measure it, let’s take a deeper dive into exactly how to accelerate B2B sales. Used together the following 7 strategies will help increase conversions, boost ROI and ultimately increase your sales pipeline velocity. For more detail, download the full guide here.
1. Data Science: Adopt a Data-Driven Approach to your Marketing Strategy
88% of marketers have seen an improvement in conversion rates through the application of a data driven strategy to their marketing.
Leverage data science to help better understand your ICP and amplify the lead conversion process. Apply Look-a-like modelling, Intent data and Propensity modelling to minimize waste and maximize effectiveness. The better the quality your targeting, the greater your conversion rates and the faster your sales velocity will increase.
2. Account-Based Marketing (ABM): Velocity and Penetration
Tailor messaging to key decision makers in target companies, allowing you to resonate at an even greater level. When using ABM as a strategy, it’s important to focus on setting the right goals before focusing on the metrics that matter. Both revenue and non-revenue goals are equally important – here are some to consider:
ABM metrics that matter: Understand exactly how to accelerate sales in your target accounts by:
- Clearly defining your revenue and non-revenue goals
- Assigning relevant KPIs
- Reporting regularly.
3. Business Development Representatives (BDRs): Leverage their Skills
Utilize BDRs as the first point of contact with prospects. They are key to growth and sales acceleration, driving awareness and strategic opportunities by getting deals set up ready for SDRs to close. Make sure they are using all resources available to them to tailor their customer service to the specific needs of each business.
4. Lead Quality and Prioritization: Focus on Lead Quality over Quantity
40% of B2B marketers cite lead quality as the top area of focus area for demand generation in 2022. Bad leads are a waste of precious sales time and resource, so understanding:
- Which high-quality leads to prioritize
- Those with the greatest propensity to convert, is key.
Nurturing and scoring leads correctly before passing them to sales is also vital to maintain a high MQL to SQL conversion rate, reducing lead rejections and keeping sales accelerating.
5. Content that Intercepts and Engages: Create an Abundance of Content
Deliver the right content at the right time, across the right channels and in the right formats. Create content that is:
- Engaging
- Consistent
- Useful.
This increases trust, retention, brand credibility and reputation. Conduct a content audit and map content against the customer journey to ensure you have enough relevant content to put in front of the right people when it matters most to them.
6. Sales and Marketing Alignment: Unity is Key
Organizations with aligned Sales and Marketing teams generate over 200% revenue growth from marketing tactics, are more than two-thirds (67%) more effective at closing deals, and experience 24% faster revenue growth (MarTech Alliance).
Persevere with Sales and Marketing alignment and reap the benefits of a unified team by:
- Encouraging teamwork
- Meeting regularly
- Setting clear responsibilities
- Maintaining communication and feedback.
7. Measurement and Key Metrics: Measure, Measure, Measure
Report regularly and transparently to gauge performance against your overarching goals. Create a red thread on every opportunity, allowing you to establish a single source of truth for:
- Increased marketing efficiency
- Optimized channel and targeting strategies
- Data driven decisions.
B2B Sales Acceleration Formula: Ready, Set, GO!
More tech is not always the answer. Sales acceleration is as much about a mindset as it is about the underlying automation. Companies that recognise the need to connect marketing efforts with sales activities, also understand that great teams underpinned by the right processes and with the right data can achieve sales acceleration success.
Use these 7 strategies to accelerate your B2B sales pipeline velocity and our B2B sales acceleration formula to measure your success.
