MarketStar Blog

A "new normal" world with what appears to be a global recession on the horizon, increased cost of living, and 8.20% inflation in the US as of today is not an ideal environment for companies to thrive in. 

These are interesting times. The global economy is facing the possibility of a recession, and businesses are searching for ways to cut costs, streamline operations, and maximize efficiency. This past year we have seen companies like Netflix, Snap, Wayfair, and Tesla all cut costs by halting new hires and laying off portions of their workforce. Many of these same tech giants are changing the ways that they reach new customers and take care of existing customers because of the economic instability attached to a looming recession.

But it's not all gloom and doom. Economic headwinds can provide an opportunity for bold moves. When the competition is contracting and recalibrating, there are some time-tested levers that can lead to explosive growth. One such lever is outsourcing.

Key Takeaways:

• The risk of recession is slowly but surely rising as global turbulence continues.

• B2B businesses are more likely to realize outsized gains before, during, and after a recession if they prepare to take advantage of opportunities, particularly in periods of more volatility.

• As terrifying as it may seem, some great sales strategies can be implemented to ensure your business is recession-proof and in a better position to move forward quickly when growth returns.

The next recession may be on the horizon.

By August 2023, it is projected that there is a 25.15% of probability that the United States will fall into another economic recession. 

That doesn’t mean your business must suffer. Following the right sales strategy can keep your business afloat – and even grow during a recession.

This blog post will explore how a recession can affect sales and provide some recession-proof strategies for B2B businesses.

By the end, you’ll have a game plan for tackling a recession – and coming out on top.

Is the Next Recession a Threat to B2B Businesses?

In the US, the last recession officially ended in June 2009. However, many businesses felt the effects long after that. Some companies are still struggling to recover.

So, is the next recession a threat to B2B businesses?

There are several factors to consider when evaluating this threat. First, let’s look at what causes recessions.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, recessions are caused by “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months.” This can be caused by various factors, such as an increase in interest rates, a decrease in consumer confidence, or an increase in oil prices.

Any of these factors could have a significant impact on B2B businesses.

For example, an increase in interest rates would make it more expensive for companies to borrow money for inventory or expansion. A decrease in consumer confidence could lead to a reduction in demand for products and services. And an increase in oil prices would likely lead to a rise in transportation costs.

Of course, not all recessions are alike. Some are more severe than others.

The last recession was particularly brutal, with many companies going out of business altogether. It’s important to remember that even during less severe recessions, some companies struggle while others thrive.

So, what can B2B businesses do to recession-proof their organizations?

Most organizations do not prepare for an upcoming recession. According to a Bain survey,

• Only 43% of sales organizations develop plans for a recession well in advance

• Some 86% of companies that create a plan well in advance focus on using the downturn to gain market share

• 50% of companies make their plan shortly after the recession hits

The fact that many businesses survived the last recession did not happen by chance; when necessary, the companies shifted course and their approaches to weather the downturn.

Businesses that are adaptable, future-ready, and willing to change will be able to survive any economic downturn. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, but there are some strategies that can help.

First, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of your customer base and your place in the market.

During a recession, customers may be more price-sensitive and less likely to make large purchases. Knowing your most loyal customers and their needs during tough economic times is essential.

It’s also essential to have a flexible pricing strategy.

During a recession, you may need to offer discounts or promotions to compete on price. But be careful not to cut costs too deeply – you don’t want to erode your profits or damage your brand image in the long run.

Finally, despite the economic environment, focus on generating sales, even during recessionary times. The response from the consumers may be slow and delayed; however, the demand for the goods will always be there, so don’t cut back on your sales operations. 

These measures can help ensure that your business will weather any future economic storms.

How Does a Recession Affect Sales?

A recession can significantly impact sales, as businesses are typically more conservative with their spending during economic downturns. This can lead to reduced demand for goods and services, leading to layoffs and other cost-cutting measures.

While a recession doesn’t necessarily mean people will stop spending money altogether, they may be more selective about where they spend their money. This is where having the right sales strategy for business growth can make all the difference.

If your business can offer products or services that are seen as essential or that offer good value for money, you may weather the storm of a recession better than those who don’t have such an offer.

Of course, it’s not always easy to change your sales strategy mid-recession. But if you’re able to adapt and adjust to the current climate, you may be able to come out of the recession stronger than ever before. 

7 Successful Recession-Proof Strategies for B2B Businesses

1. Diversify Your Products & Services

Investing in diverse products and services is crucial for any business.

By spreading your risk across different areas, you can protect yourself from potential downturns in any one particular area. Diversification can also help you to tap into new markets and reach new customers.

By offering various products and services, you can appeal to a wider range of people, increase your chances of success, and increase sales during recession.

It might also mean cutting down on some of your less profitable products and services to focus on the ones doing better.

Recessions can be challenging for businesses, but diversifying your offerings can increase your chances of weathering the storm.

2. Review Your Pricing Strategy

When reviewing your pricing strategy during a recession, you should keep a few things in mind.

First, you need to make sure your prices are still competitive. This means you may need to lower your expenses to stay competitive with other businesses in your industry.

Second, you must ensure your prices align with your costs. If your expenses have gone down, you may be able to lower your prices without sacrificing your profits.

Finally, you need to make sure your prices are still sustainable. This means you need to be sure you can still make a profit even after lowering your costs.

It’s also worth considering offering discounts or promotions to boost sales.

3. Gather Customer Reviews & Testimonials

As the world economy shows signs of a recession, it’s more important than ever to ensure your business is in good shape. One way to do this is to gather customer reviews and testimonials.

Customer reviews are a great way to show potential customers that your business is reputable and trustworthy.

They also help to boost your search engine rankings, which can help you attract even more customers. And during a recession, customers are more likely to research businesses before making a purchase, so having positive reviews can help you stand out from the competition.

If you don’t have customer reviews or testimonials, now is the time to start collecting them. You can post a call for reviews on your website and social media channels or reach out to customers directly and ask them to leave a review.

4. Invest in Data-Driven Insights

Now is the time to rethink your business strategy and make data-driven decisions to help you survive and thrive during the next recession.

Investing in solid insights will give you a competitive advantage when the recession hits. Keep your team focused on making data-driven decisions before, during, and after the recession. This can be accomplished by reinforcing a data-driven approach throughout business interactions.

Data-driven insights are an effective way of creating growth strategies by identifying trends and patterns among customers.

So what are you waiting for? Start investing in data-driven insights and position your business for success in the next recession.

5. Increase Your Marketing Spending

Some businesses immediately cut marketing spend when they see a recession on the horizon.

However, this can be a mistake. While it’s true that discretionary spending is usually the first to go during tough economic times, businesses that maintain or even increase their marketing spend during a recession can see significant growth.

During a recession, customers are more likely to be value-conscious and look for deals. Your marketing campaigns should reflect this by emphasizing your company’s value proposition.

You can also use targeted marketing to reach new audiences who may be looking for products or services like yours.

Lastly, don’t forget that your competition will likely cut back on their marketing spend. This presents an opportunity for you to gain market share and improve your position in the marketplace.

6. Focus on Customer Retention & Success

According to Business.com, returning customers spend 67% more than new customers.

As we enter a period of economic recession, businesses must focus on retaining and increasing sales from existing customers and ensuring their success.

Now more than ever, investing in your existing customer base is crucial and ensures they remain loyal to your brand.

So how can you keep your customers happy and engaged during a recession? Here are a few tips:

Keep communication lines open. Let your customers know what’s going on with your business and how you plan to weather the economic downturn.

Offer discounts and specials. When budgets are tight, customers are looking for deals. If you can offer incentives that help your customers save money, they’ll be more likely to stick with you during tough times.

Go above and beyond. Excellent customer service is even more critical during a recession. Go out of your way.

By focusing on your customers and their success, you can weather the storm of a recession and come out stronger on the other side.

7. Build Your Email List

Adding more quality leads to your email list should always be a priority, regardless of whether we’re in an economic recession.

However, it can be challenging to maintain a consistent flow of fresh leads during tough times.

You can use a few strategies to help keep your email list growing during a recession.

First, ensure you consistently create quality content that will attract new subscribers. You can also offer incentives for signing up, such as discounts or freebies.

Finally, stay active on social media and make it easy for people to find your sign-up forms.

Following these tips can help ensure that your email list continues to grow even during a recession.

Final Thoughts on Sales During a Recession

Without being original, competitive, and creative, it’s frequently impossible to expand and scale a firm during a recession.

As a B2B business owner, it’s critical to be ready for crises, economic downturns, and other dangers to your company. Recession-proofing your firm is always a good idea, regardless of whether a new downturn is imminent or you want to be ready “just in case.”

Key Insights

Customer support and expectations in 2022 will leave little room for error. 

As of 2022, 92% of the United States' total population has internet access. That translates to over 305 million users. Whether their intent is to find information, entertainment, or to connect with others, one thing is certain- today's customers live online. And with a reported 40,000 Google search queries per second, it looks like they are pretty active. This creates an ocean of opportunities for organizations to utilize their online presence and leverage a plethora of tools and channels to spark curiosity, capture leads, and nurture them throughout their buyer journey.

Key Takeaways:

• Effective sales pipeline management can help you organize your sales process efficiently and make better business decisions

• A sales pipeline represents the complete journey of a buyer – from coming in as a lead to becoming a customer

• Sales pipeline software helps track each stage of your pipeline, monitor the process, and helps in understanding the next steps

• Sales pipeline CRMs offer customizable pipelines that help manage leads, opportunities, and customer relationships throughout the sales process

• A CRM tool helps you understand if a lead is responsive and if they’re interested in your product or service

In today’s competitive marketing world, businesses need innovative sales strategies to attract leads. And the sales process plays a vital role in attracting those leads and converting them into customers quickly. 

From generating leads and building a contact repo to following up and closing the deal, your sales process requires systematic planning to help the team close the deals faster. 

However, managing it manually can be time-consuming and tedious. To help manage things efficiently, you can empower your team with effective sales pipeline tools.

This blog will cover everything you need to know about sales pipelines and the top tools to manage them.

What is a Sales Pipeline?

A sales pipeline includes several stages, and the leads are moved from one stage to the next as they move through the process. The stages include lead generation, lead nurturing, marketing qualified leads, sales accepted leads, sales qualified leads, closed transactions, and after-sales.

Today, organizations employ technology to move, monitor, or evaluate prospects through the phases of a deal, and this technology is called sales pipeline software. It enables businesses to keep track of their prospects and clients and know where they are in the sales funnel.

With a sales pipeline enabled in your work process, you will know how many deals your salespeople need to close in a given time.

The importance of maintaining your sales pipeline is straightforward – to stay ahead of the game and manage your salespeople. It also helps to improve your sales operations process, get a picture of your targets, and better revenue forecasting. 

Are you looking to be more successful in your business? Identify the changes that can be made within your sales pipeline, so your prospects move from one stage to the next faster.

How to Build an Effective Sales Pipeline?

We’ve listed down the steps to help you build a successful sales pipeline:

• Understanding your target audience is the first step to building an effective sales pipeline.

• Next, set up your sales cadences for the best accounts by identifying and targeting them from your database.

• Group those accounts based on product interest, location, and previous interaction with your brand.

• Finally, set up a successful sales pipeline with the right tools and software.

Read on to explore the best sales pipeline management tools that can help you set up an efficient sales pipeline.

Sales Pipeline Tools

Sales pipeline management tools help you organize your entire selling process.

It gives you a clear view of your pipeline by tracking every stage, streamlining the complete process, enabling your team to function better, and helping in understanding business growth.

These tools can also accurately evaluate your leads, predict sales, and track key metrics. Stay informed of your prospects, enable your sales team to follow up with them, and make better decisions with an effective sales pipeline.

How a Sales Pipeline Tool Can Help Your Business

By using a sales pipeline tool, you can organize all the processes in your pipeline efficiently.

You can understand where your leads are coming from and where they are in the pipeline and automate scheduling meetings, sending emails, and more.

Apart from minimizing human errors and saving time in repetitive tasks, it helps your business with the following:

• Understanding customer behavior: Sales pipeline tools can track conversations and metrics, which helps in understanding your customers and their pain points better.

• Making better decisions: The tool offers insights regarding leads, conversions, and processes, helping you make better decisions and understand where your business is headed.

• Generating more revenue: It helps you understand which leads are cold/potential, and how interested they are in your product/service while translating into more conversions and revenue generation.

The 4 Essential Tools to Manage Your Sales Pipeline

Let’s look at the top sales pipeline management tools, their features & benefits, and why customers prefer using them for managing their sales processes.

1. Salesforce

Salesforce is one of the top CRM software providers as it redefines the way businesses connect with their customers.

It is designed for marketing, sales, and customer service ops to create meaningful customer relationships by understanding their requirements.

This CRM helps in creating an effective sales funnel to nurture customers. It provides excellent automated features and customer service tools to help manage good relationships with your leads/customers.

According to Salesforce customer success, companies that switch over to Salesforce see an average of 25 percent increase in revenue.

Benefits:

• Salesforce helps communicate with customers/leads using automation tools

• Gives a 360-degree view of your customers and engages with them accordingly

• Removes the burden of using various applications by syncing data from them all

• Positively impacts online customer support by providing chat assistance

• It helps your brand have a unified approach with an omnichannel feature

• Collects insights to understand your customers and business better

2. Pipedrive

Pipedrive is a fully functional, cloud-based CRM tool for managing sales effectively throughout the pipeline. It helps you stay focused on hot deals, track leads, and predict business revenue.

Pipedrive offers custom web forms and chatbots to automate repetitive tasks. It helps you get the most important deals fed into your pipeline and track calls/emails/contact history for each deal. Control your sales pipeline through a mobile device and boost your work by integrating Pipedrive with your business tools.

Benefits:

• Pipedrive is easy-to-use and customize

• Can track the number of active deals and give detailed information for each open deal

• Guides you with the deals that need prioritization

• Adaptable and cost-effective plans

• Offers machine learning-powered sales assistant for all plans

• Workflow automation for most plans

• Pipedrive doesn’t have all the features that Salesforce does, but it is perfect for small businesses with smaller budgets.

3. HubSpot CRM

HubSpot CRM is a cloud-based tool that supports sales, marketing, customer service, and content management with better resources and strategies. You can avoid your sales falling through the cracks and easily manage your deals.

HubSpot CRM helps you to design attractive brand profiles and organize all the important communication details with your leads/customers. It allows you to add new deals directly from the CRM with up-to-date details.

Whether you already have an established sales process or are just starting, HubSpot CRM eases your work by creating an ideal process. With HubSpot, you don’t need the help of a technical team to edit, delete, and add deal properties and stages. 

Benefits:

• It allows you to create visual dashboards and design a sales funnel the way you want it.

• It can be connected to your social media handles.

• The website integration feature will notify you when a lead visits your website.

• The features of HubSpot CRM are not as complex as other CRMs’

• It also offers a clear view of all the tasks/activities of the team in a single dashboard

4. Lusha

Lusha is a data enrichment tool that enables you to retrieve phone numbers, email addresses, and other contact information quickly and easily. It helps you to access your leads’ contact details and B2B company info within seconds.

Marketing and sales professionals can use Lusha to drive business growth, boost campaigns, and improve revenue.

Benefits:

• It helps gather accurate B2B contact information

• It allows data enrichment at scale

• One-click CRM integrations

Bottom Line

The goal of any company is to increase revenue and generate leads. However, most leads are lost in the pipeline due to irregular/negligent follow-ups. 

An effective sales pipeline management system can help convert your leads into customers. If you haven’t implemented sales pipeline management for your business, it is high time you do it immediately with expert help. 

That’s where You need MarketStar as your sales and revenue accelerator. MarketStar is a pioneer in the sales outsourcing industry. With over 50+ world-class clients served, we create growth and drive results for companies of all stages and sizes using tailored solutions to help you hit your specific business goals. 

Sales as a Service is growing in popularity year by year with an increasing number of executives seeing the enormous value that Outsourced Sales bring to the table. The high cost of living combined with the long and costly recruiting process, expensive industry turnover, and a future that isn’t very predictable are only a few challenges faced by many organizations today.

Key Insights

Like all areas of business, telemarketing has undergone rapid changes in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Call volumes have increased, contact center managers are looking for better tools, and there is a renewed focus on increasing process efficiency. 

A study by the Harvard Business Review highlights how difficult calls saw a 50% uptick during the pandemic.

Back in the late 90s, an American software designer, Alan Cooper, developed a concept that changed and redefined how today's marketers and sales teams target and interact with their buyers. "To create a product that must satisfy a diverse audience, logic might tell you to make it as broad in its functionality as possible to accommodate the most people. This logic, however, is flawed.  The best way to accommodate a variety of users is to design for specific individuals with specific needs." This Cooper's statement led to the invention of a concept known as "Buyer Persona" which proves to be the most crucial step in targeting and engaging with the right prospects. Researching and finding out who your current as well as ideal buyers are and whom your product value proposition resonates with will help you define the right parameters for attracting viable leads and retaining your audience.

Key Insights

It is tempting to do everything in-house. The more you can do in-house, the less you pay the third parties. But at a granular level, this approach can prove to be challenging.