Winning large business contracts leads to increased revenue — but selling solely to large enterprises isn’t necessarily sustainable for a sales strategy.
Though it may not seem like it, selling to SMBs can benefit you in the long run. One of its benefits includes connecting directly to primary decision makers instead of dealing with groups of buyers and chains of execs.
SMBs differ from enterprises in clientele, goals, and needs, but stepping up your SMB sales game can eventually increase your revenue. The saying “Fast nickles beat slow dimes” resonates here, focusing on small to medium business is an essential part of your revenue portfolio.
Before we begin, here’s a quick overview for new salespeople:
What Are “SMB Sales”?
SMB sales is simply the selling of a product or service to a small-to-medium business. SMBs are independent organizations that house fewer employees and generate less revenue than larger enterprises. According to the US Small Business Administration, SMBs have up to 100 employees and generate up to $10 million in revenue.
What is the Difference Between SMB and SME?
SMEs (small-to-medium enterprises) operate similarly to SMBs but at a slightly larger scale. Also known as “Mid-Market” companies, SMEs have 101-500 employees and generate $10 million – $1 billion.
Compared to SMBs, SMEs have more international recognition. Some SMEs you may recognize include the United Nations, World Trade Organization, the European Union, and the World Bank.
Why Divide Enterprise and SMB Sales?
Larger enterprises tend to focus their business goals around long-term effectiveness. The same could be said for SMBs, but they most likely need solutions for the immediate. For instance — if a five-person SMB decided one day to hire 10 additional employees, they would need an HR or payroll system in place before onboarding.
SMBs are looked over by sales professionals because they generally don’t have the giant budgets that enterprises do. But what if your SMB customer stayed with you for a long period of time? Think of the customer lifetime value (CLV)!
Selling to Stakeholders with ZoomInfo
SMBs also have shorter sales cycles, which saves your sales team time and resources. And you get to avoid complex buyer groups — instead you get to sell right to the top dog.
But when selling to enterprises, sales reps have to go through multiple stakeholders, get approval from procurement specialists, and generally wait much longer to get the big “okay” for a purchase.
Either way, you need the right tech stack to target the most relevant decision maker. ZoomInfo makes account targeting easier with precise contact searching, intent tracking, and an ICP (ideal customer profile) generator.
How to Scale Your SMB Sales Strategy
Make no mistake with SMBs’ limited resources — you still need to offer value and solutions to their problems. The main goal of selling is, and always will be, generate leads and turn them into customers.
Scaling your SMB sales strategy involves two main parts: analyzing sales cycle stages and restructuring your sales process. Here are some tips to help with your SMB sales strategy for better success:
- Refine your lead qualification process to save time and avoid unfit leads. A solid lead scoring system, created by your sales and marketing teams, filters out prospects that are outside of your ideal customer scope.
- Understand how the customers’ journey differentiates between SMB and enterprise, and segment each buying stage.
- Assemble an SMB-specific sales team.
- Create specific KPIs to track. (Don’t forget to celebrate when they’re met!)
- Shift your sales strategy to a data-driven one.
- Identify and target niche markets — you may find untapped accounts.
- Incentivize referrals from target accounts of all sizes. It’ll impress SMBs!
- Personalize the onboarding experience for each closed account.
Selling SaaS to SMB
While enterprise personnel generally have more granular roles like “Digital Marketing Director”, SMB employees tend to wear more hats. The person in charge of purchasing solutions may be the same person who conducts payroll or designs the company site.
This means SMB stakeholders are also going to be the end-users of your product or service. Do they even know what SaaS is? Finding and addressing their pain points requires a more thorough understanding of their particular operation.
Negotiating monthly packages also offers sales reps the opportunity to improve their organization’s monthly recurring revenue (MRR). With sliding-scale monthly subscriptions being more available, SMBs are now able to acquire SaaS and many other cool new digital tools.
Tech Stacks for SMBs
Depending on what solution you’re offering, selling to SMBs opens the opportunity to talk to stakeholders about their tech stack and how your SaaS would be a great addition.
Larger enterprises already have the latest and greatest in tech, so how you make an SMB business owner feel just as tech-savvy? Bundling solutions for multiple pain points also opens up avenues for future upselling.
Building Your SMB Sales Strategy Boosts Your Overall Sales Game
Like any other sales strategy, you have to consider resource expenditure, data maintenance, and business objectives.
But if you play your cards right, you can land your next big deal with an SMB. They may not have the big payout that enterprise closes do, but they can prove more valuable in the long run.