These are difficult times, especially from the B2B sales perspective. The market is competitive with everyone trying to make a sale and at the same time, buyers are more cautious with respect to spending money. They are looking to cut non-essential expenses and maximize their ROI, but also want to invest in trustworthy vendors.

Here are some best practices to follow that will help you win the trust of your leads in the current situation.

Speak in a language they understand: Technology is your ball-game, your area of expertise. But, for your leads, techno-speak is a foreign language. So, when you are getting in touch with them, especially for the first time, remember to go easy on the IT-speak. Even commonly used terminology may seem like jargon to your leads. If they don’t understand what you are saying, how can they understand how you can help them?

Speak to your prospect in terms relevant to their profession. For example, when talking to a law firm lead, you can talk about how you can ensure easy but secure access to their case files. When in talks with a doctor’s office, talk about how you can offer a high level of confidentiality and security that patient records need as per the HIPAA regulations.

Make it clear you’ve done your homework: Before calling a lead, make sure you are up-to-date on the IT challenges faced by their industry. If there are any specific software programs in use by them at industry level (For example, law firms commonly use Worldox, Needles, Time matters, Imanage, Turis, Prolaw software programs), or any specific IT regulations (For example, health care professionals have to adhere to HIPAA mandates) that they need to adhere to, make explicit references to them. 

Another way to let your clients know you are genuinely aware of their IT challenges is by using concrete numbers to support your claims. For example, when talking to a CPA firm, you could point out that opting for an MSP makes sense because it is seen that most accounting firms spend 70% of their IT budget on system maintenance and only 30% on new technology. You know their industry and you know the numbers. Make sure they know that!