Corona Virus is causing more people to work from remote; including sales managers and buyers. Thus, it makes sense to refresh all the sales strategies that can be applied via remote working.
B2B prospecting methods & cultural differences
In my 9 years of sales experience, I’ve been working extensively in Europe and in the U.S. and – for the past years – Silicon Valley has been my home.
Selling to Europe vs. the U.S. has always required a different approach. To engage with buyers effectively and drive sales for their business, leaders must understand these differences, and culture, geography and business behaviours are the most important things to master.
CALLS In Europe, it’s likely your company provides you a cell phone, so you tend to pick it up. Americans will ignore the phone if they don’t recognise the number. This is because Europeans view their cell phone as a business tool, whereas Americans consider it a personal tool. Moreover, in Europe a switchboard operator will likely pass you through even if you don't have a scheduled call with your referent person.
EMAILS I've found out this strategy works with a similar success fee in both the areas. Quoting SalesForce here, "We’ve seen customers, such as Operatix (US), increase their pipeline by 50% using email and call automation". Success factor here seems to be mostly related to how the message is personalised and compelling.
SOCIAL NETWORKING (e.g. #Linkedin) This channel is definitely more abused in the US, rather than in Europe. In my experience this can lead to a situation where you can easily get connected with people on social networks without having any reply (especially in the US). However, a compelling message can ignite a conversation in both the areas.
FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS In Europe, the majority of buyers still expect to meet face-to-face. In fact, according to #Forbes: "75% of actual sales meetings in Europe take place in person". Customers expect to build a relationship with organisations they interact with. This is far from what happens in the US, where sales are increasingly being done online – particularly with cloud-based solutions. Accustomed to the ‘Amazonization’ of the B2C world, American business buyers desire a similar buying experience. If they don’t have so, they may not want to meet in person at all. My educated guess is that, #Coronavirus will impact this European behaviour in favour of a more common "Amazonization".
REFERRALS "Network" is the first word you hear when landing in San Francisco. Without a proper referral, you might have hard time to talk with a prospect. This pushes everyone to participate in Networking events, which represent a good chance to meet people from outside your personal network. In Europe, referrals are just a "nice-to-have". On the other hand, industry-focused networking events are starting to become more popular, but again Corona virus might change this in the short-run.
WEBINARS American organisations have a long history of online-based or broadcasted events. Some of them have become large events followed by thousands of people. In Europe, webinars are less common, but specific topic-related webinars tend to be appreciated also by European managers.
Final thoughts and caveat
Final thought: don't forget to mix two or more methods. For example, if you are planning a webinar/event dedicated to a specific topic, don't forget to invite people on LinkedIn mentioning the webinar as a good reason to get in contact. Something like:
Dear xxx I’m getting in touch to share this event in San Francisco. I’m going to speak about the future of HVAC systems for EV and E-Bus, in collaboration with the Electric Auto Association Would you consider to participate?
Caveat: for this article I've supported my personal experience with data coming from different articles, that you can find below. However, other sales leaders might have different opinions.
References
12 Webinar Statistics You Need to Know - Medium
Technology Sales in the US vs. Europe: a First-Hand Perspective, APTTUS
How to Sell in Europe Versus the U.S. - Salesforce blog
New Sales Trend Research: US Sales Reps Lagging Behind European Counterparts - Forbes
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