Mastering B2B Sales How To Optimize Your Sales Engine
With Special Guest Tove Zilliacus
In our latest broadcast of The Digital Download, "Mastering B2B Sales How To Optimize Your Sales Engine," we dove headfirst into the art of optimizing B2B sales for sustainable growth with our guest, Tove Zilliacus, Country Manager Finland at Fenerum.
Here are some key takeaways from the episode:
Understanding True Customer Value
Tove underscored that businesses must deeply understand what their customers want to achieve and how their solution helps reach those goals. Instead of focusing on features, sellers should frame their value proposition around the outcomes customers can realize, ensuring conversations are about the customer’s objectives, not just the product.
Mapping and Adapting to the Buyer’s Journey
Drawing from her experience at Xerox, Tove highlighted the importance of grasping each phase of the B2B buying process and aligning sales efforts accordingly. She explained that successful sales cycles require keeping the customer’s decision-making journey in mind, spending most of the time building awareness and relevance before even mentioning products.
Moving Beyond Product-Centric Selling
Tove cautioned that most B2B sellers mistakenly believe their products are unique or central to the buyer’s business. She encouraged sellers to “do the flip” by putting themselves in the customer’s shoes, acknowledging that for most buyers, your product is just one of many options—relevance comes from solving the customer’s specific problem, not from listing features.
4, Using Digital Tools Thoughtfully
While digitalization and AI have simplified outreach, Tove warned that their overuse—like mass, impersonal emails—adds noise and harms brand credibility. She advocated using digital tools for efficiency (such as refining messaging), but emphasized the need for tailored, thoughtful engagement based on real research and understanding of the customer.
5, Aligning Sales and Marketing for Sustainable Growth
Tove identified the persistent misalignment between sales and marketing, pointing out that marketing’s focus on vanity metrics often fails to support actual pipeline creation. She suggested that treating prospecting as a shared responsibility and measuring both departments against real business outcomes, like sales, can drive more meaningful growth.
You can listen to the episode here
You can watch the episode here
Beyond de Show
by Tove Zilliacus
Having seen the sales landscape change drastically over two decades, the "noise" is louder than ever. I want to help B2B sales professionals stand out from all that noise. It's not about shouting louder or sending more AI-generated "personalized" emails. It's about truly comprehending, from the customer's viewpoint: "How does this solution help the customer achieve their goals?" When you grasp this, your communication naturally shifts. Customers will listen, even expect your call, greeting you with, "Well hi! I was just thinking about you/your solution, glad you called."
If you're curious to explore this approach further and transform your sales efforts, I've written an ebook on the subject, "To be or not to be a B2B expert: selling tools and tactics for B2B sales". It's available for instant download here: https://www.changesales.fi/shop (English, Swedish, Finnish).Next time on The Digital Download
Stop Telling Stories Your Audience Won't Believe With Special Guest David Pullan
This week on The Digital Download, we explore why so many great ideas die a lonely death and how a deeper approach to story can save them. Our special guest is David Pullan, Author of "The DNA of Engagement" and Lead Alchemist at The Story Spotters. He helps leaders and their teams turn explanation into inspiration through powerful story-based techniques.
Too many brilliant ideas wither because the communication lacks the strength to support them. This episode moves beyond the common advice to "just tell a story" and looks at the science and art of what truly makes a message stick.
Join us as we discuss questions like:
Why do most spoken messages fail to land?
What is the difference between explanation and inspiration?
How do our behaviors trigger powerful stories in the minds of others?
What are the stories you tell yourself and how do they impact your success?
With a background in helping leaders package and deliver their messages so that they stick, David has worked with top executives at organizations like Novartis and IBM. He provides the tools to build trust, ensure listeners pay attention, and craft vivid, repeatable stories that spark innovative thinking.
We strive to make The Digital Download an interactive experience. Bring your questions. Bring your insights. Audience participation is highly encouraged!
#Storytelling #BusinessCommunication #Leadership #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #SocialEnablement #LinkedInLive #Podcast
Join us live! Friday, June 20, 2025, 14:oo GMT / 09:00 ET
#Storytelling #BusinessCommunication #Leadership #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #SocialEnablement #LinkedInLive #Podcast