How to Overcome Buyer Pain Points and Generate More B2B Sales

If you're struggling to meet your B2B company's sales monthly or quarterly sales goals, the problem could be attributed to buyer pain points. In the B2B industry, buyers are typically high-level professionals like business owners and C-suite executives. They typically purchase products and services from B2B companies to solve a problem. If they can't find the right product or service -- or if they have a negative experience when attempting to purchase it -- buyers may look elsewhere for a solution. By overcoming buyer pain points, you'll foster a positive experience for buyers while generating more sales in the process.

What Are Buyer Pain Points?

Also known as customer pain points, buyer pain points are business-related challenges or problems encountered by buyers. B2B buyers typically don't purchase products or services for the same reasons as consumers. While consumers often make purchases for leisure or entertainment purposes, B2B buyers make purchases to solve a problem. These problems are pain points. When left unresolved, buyer pain points can prevent businesses from achieving success.

When a business owner or C-suite executive identifies a problem, he or she will typically look for a solution to deal with it. Buyer pain points can be defined as an underlying problem such as this, or they can be defined as a challenge that prevents a buyer from obtaining the necessary solution. Regardless, all buyer pain points are problems or challenges encounters by buyers. As a sales rep, it's your job to help buyers overcome these problems and challenges. You can pitch a product or service as a solution. Assuming your pitch is compelling, the buyer may agree to purchase it.

Comparing the Different Types of Buyer Pain Points

While all buyer pain points are challenges or problems encountered by buyers, there are different types of them. One of the most common types of buyer pain points is low productivity. Productivity and revenue go hand in hand. Businesses that are highly productive will typically generate more revenue than their unproductive counterparts. If a buyer's business is suffering from low productivity levels, he or she may seek a solution. Low productivity is a buyer pain point because it inhibits the growth and success of the buyer's business.

Buyer pain points can involve finances. According to Harvard Business Review (HBR), cost reduction is one of the leading reasons why buyers purchase products and services from B2B companies. All businesses have expenses. Expenses are inevitable when running a business. Nonetheless, high expenses can restrict businesses from turning a profit. To reduce their operational costs, many buyers seek products and services from B2B companies.

Another type of buyer pain point is poor post-purchase service. A buyer may purchase a product or service, but if he or she is unable to effectively use it, the product or service won't offer much value. As a result, buyers often seek service or support after making a purchase. Failure to provide buyers with a high level of post-purchase service will result in a pain point. Low productivity, high expenses and poor post-purchase service are some of the most common types of buyer pain points.

Tips to Overcome Buyer Pain Points

You can overcome buyer pain points in several ways. When communicating with buyers, don't be afraid to ask questions. Asking the right questions can provide insight into their respective pain points. Once you've identified a pain point, you can then offer a solution to it. What questions should you ask buyers exactly?

Here are some questions to consider asking buyers:

• What's the biggest problem or challenge your business is currently facing?
• What other products or services has your business used in the past to deal with it?
• How long has your business been dealing with its biggest problem or challenge?
• Who are your business's decision-makers?
• What's the timeline for your project?
• How much money are you looking to spend?

By asking the right questions, you can identify buyer pain points. The next step, of course, is to offer a product or service as a solution. Different types of buyer pain points require different solutions. For low productivity, you might be able to convey the productivity-boosting benefits of your B2B company's product or service. Explaining how the product or service can make the buyer's business more productive may convince him or her to purchase it.

You can even go one step further by providing the buyer with case studies. Case studies highlighting statistical data related to productivity may result in a sale. You can create case studies by analyzing some of your B2B company's past or existing buyers. A case study is simply a data-backed report that reveals the real-world benefits of a product or service. It's estimated that nearly three in four B2B companies use case studies in their sales process. By jumping on the bandwagon, you can overcome buyer pain points and generate more sales.

Keep in mind that buyer pain points can occur after purchases as well. Poor post-purchase service is a common buyer pain point. Even if it's a valuable product or service -- and sold at a competitively low price -- the buyer may not be able to use it without service. Therefore, you should keep the lines of communication open after closing the deal. If a buyer reaches out to your B2B company for assistance with the product or service, make sure you respond with a helpful answer. Offering excellent post-purchase service will overcome this buyer pain point while promoting more loyal and satisfied buyers.

In Conclusion

There's no avoiding buyer pain points. Most buyers seek products and services from B2B companies to overcome a pain point. Buyer pain points are simply problems or challenges within a buyer's business. They can include low productivity, high expenses or poor post-purchase service. Regardless of the specific type of buyer pain point, though, you can offer a product or service as a solution. Conveying how your B2B company's product or service can overcome buyer pain points will lead to more sales. Just remember to ask the right questions so that you can identify them.