Top 7 Tips for Closing B2B Deals
Bill Latino, VP Sales at Arbe Robotics, shares top insights into how he partners with leading automotive players to bring radar to autonomous vehicles.
Closing deals with corporations can be quite challenging. Navigating through corporate red tape can be frustrating for startups that are used to the mantra “move fast and break things”. Arbe Robotics, an OurCrowd portfolio company, is a real time 4D imaging system that brings the power of radar to autonomous vehicles. The company has successfully navigated the corporate maze with the largest automotive players, including OEMs and Tier one manufacturers. Bill Latino, Arbe’s VP of Sales, leveraged his professional expertise to build a network of industry leaders. Here are his top tips for developing a successful B2B sales processes:
1. Always be prepared with an elevator pitch that can truly spark excitement about your solution
How prepared should a startup be? At a recent forum, Latino ran into a top-level executive just moments before going on stage to give a keynote speech. Realizing he only had a few seconds to grab this crucial executive’s attention, he formulated his shortest pitch yet. “It was short but effective that later led to a dinner meeting and ended with a hopeful relationship”
Secondly, a good speech needs to be tailored to the listener. “It is less about the features or your competitive advantages, but more about the true value followed by a clear explanation on how your solution can deliver/solve it.”
Thirdly, tailor the content to the person in front of you. There’s a common notion that all pitches should be simple, or equivalent to an ‘8th grader’s” understanding. Assessing how familiar the person is with your product/service will guide you with how technical or non-technical your pitch should be. Don’t “lose the attention of a marketer with a technical message and vice versa.”
Lastly, a big part of leaving an impression is achieved by nonverbal messages, so don’t forget to make eye contact and smile!
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2. Understand not only your customer but your customer’s customer
Try and get to know your customer’s needs. Among Latino’s favorite questions to ask are:
- What is my customer’s market position?
- Where do they want to get to?
- Which of their customers influence their behavior?
- What would they like to see from their supply base?
- How can I help my customer match their customer’s requirements in turn?
Having this process in place, will speed up the decision process of customer acquisition, saving time.
For example, “In many cases, Arbe Robotics will sell products to Tier ones, the suppliers of OEMs. Still, we take the time to demo our product to OEMs even if they will not purchase directly.” This strategy has paid off; recently, Latino got feedback from a Tier one that an OEM had directed them to contact Arbe in order to learn how it’s technology could meet their requirements.
3. Deal with decision makers almost exclusively.
Latino puts it bluntly “negotiating with someone other than the decision maker never works.” Finding out, as early as possible, if the contact person at a company is an actual decision maker is a critical part of the work process. Targeting the wrong person could result with a loss of sale and even worth, lost time, a startup’s most valuable resource.
“In my experience, it takes someone high up in the company to allocate resources and money to work with a startup. Team members in more junior position tend to prefer the confidence in maintaining the status quo and working with large providers, as the old saying goes- ‘Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM.’”
For example, a top Tier one, initially told Arbe they were not interested in the product because they already had a radar solution and their focus was finding a LiDAR solution. Not to be dissuaded, they continued to look for contacts, and approached the right decision maker, from another group in the same organization and were offered a collaboration project.
Yet this tip does have exceptions — Latino clarifies, “I say ‘almost’ exclusively decision makers, because many times, “non-decision makers” can be key influencers, so there’s big benefit in increasing the level of confidence in you and your solution across levels. This could ultimately be a key factor in being able to close a deal.” He throws in another insight; “use your time with the non-decision maker to learn new insights that will assist when you do find yourself dealing with the right person.”
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4. Be expeditious in gathering information but patient in developing the full picture.
“Often, when Arbe makes an offer, the answer is no. But companies need to internalize that this is not the end of the conversation. Research shows that customers say no 5x on average before saying yes. Bill’s suggestion? “Think of “No” as “Maybe”.”
Startups should be patient and wait for the right timing and circumstances to present again. “Work with the customer to resolve the reasons your offer was rejected. You can do so by being open to learning the reasons for the negative answers. Use this communication to gradually open up the possibility for a yes.
5. Never assume anything about the sales cycle
Whether it be a competitor’s position, accessing decision makers, or pricing constraints acting on assumptions is a sales killer. Don’t be afraid to ask the difficult, awkward questions. Latino offers a few “Are you looking at any other solutions? How do we compare? What can we do differently?”
This information is critical for your success and you look confident and transparent by asking for it.
6. Sales is a two way street
Through meetings, the sales team has a valuable connection to the customer. Make sure to let the entire startup in on the specific customer feedback, and how they differentiate from the general industry. As Latino puts it “become the gateway to the industry — don’t let your company have the false sense that they know everything.” This feedback will help your company be more dynamic and responsive to real industry requirements.
7. Win the customer, not just the opportunity.
As any industry expert knows, it’s easier to grow your business with an existing customer then to win a new one. That’s why it is crucial to remember that a first deal is about building the relationship and establish trust. So how can startups earn that trust? Become a true partner. Latino puts himself in their shoes.
“Customers are busy dealing with their own pressures. Support them by offering innovative ideas, advice, and insights. Whenever possible, leverage your expertise and work with other players in the market with similar pain points to your customers.”
This can help your customers develop strategies for dealing with their competitors, and gives you their trust and attention.
I hope this advice will support your sales efforts, good luck winning new customers as well as their trust!
Bill Latino is a seasoned business development and sales executive with over 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Prior to joining Arbe Robotics, Latino spent 10 years developing markets and building strategic customer relationships for a number of successful startups and businesses. Latino’s experience in the semiconductor industry includes leading and managing global account sales organizations for both Altera and Xilinx.
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