How to Do B2B Sales: From First Message to Closed Deal

Any marketing expert worth their salt will say you’ve got to build relationships with your prospects to drive sales.

But they rarely explain how to do it. Which is unfortunate, because B2B sales campaigns have lots of moving parts. 

In this guide, we provide actionable tactics on what successful B2B sales teams do to create an effective sales process, build trust, and close.

What Is B2B Sales, Really?

Business-to-business (B2B) sales is the process of selling products or services from one business to another, according to the standard definition.

What does it mean in practice?

The key difference between business-to-consumer (B2C) and B2B is that you’re not selling to just one person—you’re selling to an entire organization. That means more people are involved in the decision-making process. And often, the B2B buyer who makes the final call won’t be the one actually using the product or service. 

These dynamics result in longer sales cycles and more complex processes than typical B2C sales.

Who You're Actually Selling To in B2B

So you sell to multiple stakeholders. But who are they?

There can be up to six roles involved in the B2B buying process:

1. 

   End users: People who will actually use the product or service day-to-day. Ironically, they’re often the group least involved in purchasing decisions.

   
   
2. 

   Champions: Not necessarily end users or decision-makers, but they’re the ones who recognize the need for a solution and push it forward internally. These are often team or department leads.

   
   
3. 

   Influencers: Technical subject-matter experts, team leads, or IT personnel who evaluate options and shape the buying decision with their input.

   
   
4. 

   Gatekeepers: Executive assistants, procurement teams, or IT/security reviewers who control access or enforce process before anything moves forward.

   
   
5. 

   Decision-makers: Usually department heads, directors, VPs, or C-suite execs who have the authority to approve the purchase.

   
   

Let’s say the product is a SaaS tool for field service management for mid-sized maintenance companies. 

Here’s how those roles might show up:

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  An end user is a field technician who will use the software daily to check job schedules, update work orders, and log issues on their phones. 

  
  
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  A champion is an operations manager who sees that the current system is clunky and inefficient. They start looking for better tools and rally others internally to explore your solution.

  
  
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  An influencer is an IT lead who vets the software for integration and security.

  
  
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  A gatekeeper is a procurement specialist who keeps an eye on the budget and makes sure everything follows company rules before moving ahead.

  
  
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  A decision-maker is a COO who signs off on the purchase. Their primary objective is to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

  
  

What does this multi-stakeholder buying process mean for a salesperson?

In short, it demands a process that speaks to different roles at the right times. 

For example, in an outbound sales scenario, you might start with cold outreach to a champion. If there’s interest, the champion advocates to influencers and gatekeepers, who require technical and security specs. Once you pass this stage, the decision-maker may want to see case studies to make sure you can deliver. 

Each of the roles enters the conversation gradually, and each will need their own approach and type of information.

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Outbound vs. Inbound Sales in B2B

In B2B, sales typically follow one of two motions: outbound or inbound. We’ve briefly touched on outbound already, so let’s dig a bit deeper into how it works.

Outbound sales means your team initiates the conversation. You reach out to potential customers who may not even be actively looking for a solution. 

This is common in high-ticket B2B sales, especially when targeting specific accounts. The process starts with identifying a likely champion, engaging them with a relevant pain point, and gradually navigating the internal decision-making chain.

If you're running outbound, a tool like Artisan automates the early and middle stages of this process. AI business development rep (BDR) Ava finds the right contacts, writes personalized messages, and keeps outreach on track—so your team can focus on selling, not chasing.

Inbound sales is when the buyer comes to you—usually after interacting with resources marketers have put together, like blog posts, ebooks, or webinars. 

Here, marketing and sales teams work closely together. The marketing team’s job is to attract and educate potential clients, generating interest and capturing leads. 

Once a lead shows real interest, sales takes over to qualify the opportunity, personalize the pitch based on what the customer needs, and guide them through the evaluation and buying process.

These two motions aren’t mutually exclusive. Often, a successful B2B sales strategy combines both, using outbound to engage high-value or hard-to-reach accounts, while inbound captures and nurtures leads who are already researching solutions. 

In this article, we’ll be focusing on what the outbound sales process should look like. 

The B2B Sales Process, Step by Step

Here’s a rundown of the B2B sales cycle, with tips on how to get the most out of each step:

1. Prospecting: Finding the Right Companies and Contacts

Prospecting is the first and arguably most important step in outbound sales. It starts with defining your ideal customer profiles (ICP).

In B2B, your ICP is made up of two layers: first, you identify the types of businesses that are the best fit for your product, and then you pinpoint the specific people within those businesses who are most relevant for outreach.

The business-level attributes are called firmographics and comprise the following: 

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  Company size

  
  
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  Industry

  
  
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  Annual revenue

  
  
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  Geographic location

  
  
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  Existing tech stack

  
  
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  Recent events that might signal a need for change (e.g., a funding round, leadership changes, layoffs, etc.)

  
  

Once firmographics are in place, the next step is to identify the relevant contacts inside those companies. For initial outreach, you’d generally start with champions. Ask, “What’s their role in my target organizations?” Are they heads of marketing? Senior management? HR leaders? 

Often, hires are also a great entry point. These are people who’ve recently stepped into a role and are more likely to shake things up and bring in new tools.

With your ICP in hand, you can start searching for your target accounts. 

The following sales tools can help speed up and scale the prospecting process:

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  LinkedIn Sales Navigator is often the first tool reps use because LinkedIn is where many business customers spend their time.

  
  
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  Hunter works well for finding email addresses and tends to be especially useful when targeting smaller businesses.

  
  
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  Artisan covers both email and LinkedIn prospecting, enriches lead profiles from its 300 million-strong database, and enables automated outreach across both email and LinkedIn.

  
  

2. Outreach: Starting the Conversation

The most common outreach channels in outbound B2B sales are cold email, LinkedIn messaging, and phone calls.

Here’s a quick rundown: 

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  Cold emails are the most popular because everyone has an email.

  
  
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  LinkedIn messages feel more casual and social, which works well since lots of business folks use LinkedIn to network. 

  
  
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  Cold calling is more personal and direct, but it can be tougher to get through if the person isn’t expecting your call.

  
  

Whatever outreach channel you choose, personalization is key to starting a conversation that will last.

Here’s how to personalize your messages: 

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  Mention a recent event or accolade related to the recipient’s company.

  
  
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  Speak directly to day-to-day problems or inefficiencies they would recognize.

  
  
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  If possible, reference case studies or testimonials of similar companies you've helped to build credibility fast.

  
  

The primary goal of this outreach step isn’t to close a deal right away—it’s to make initial contact and get the prospect interested enough to agree to a call or meeting.

3. Discovery: Understanding Their Needs

After the obvious niceties, open your meetings, whether on the phone, via Zoom, or in person, by asking, not pitching.

Ask about their current setup, challenges, goals, and how they’re handling things today. 

Here’s a selection of discovery questions to ask:

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  “What tools or processes are you currently using for [relevant task]?”

  
  
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  “What’s working well with your current setup?”

  
  
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  “Are there any goals you're trying to hit this quarter that feel out of reach right now?”

  
  
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  “Have you recently made any changes to your team or workflows?”

  
  
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  “If you could fix one thing in your current process, what would it be?”

  
  

Also ask about the two following important elements of the buying process: 

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  Budget: The question, “What kind of budget do you have allocated for this project?” ensures your solution fits their range.

  
  
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  Decision-makers: Asking, “Who else should be involved in this conversation?” or “Who will be making the final decision?” avoids a situation where you’re stuck selling to someone who can’t say yes.

  
  

The more context you gather now, the easier it will be to show how your solution actually helps later. Between 11 and 14 questions is generally the sweet spot for discovery calls and meetings.

4. Pitching: Presenting Your Solution

Most sales pitches unfold over several well-defined steps: a quick intro email, some back and forth where you provide the prospect with more information, and then a call or deck that walks them through your solution.

Here’s how to tailor the pitch to what you uncovered during the discovery call:

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  Start by articulating the value proposition, like saving time, hitting revenue goals, reducing churn, etc.

  
  
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  Reference what they told you earlier. For example, “You mentioned your team spends hours a week manually compiling reports—here’s how this feature automates that.”

  
  
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  Avoid overwhelming them with a 40-slide deck. Share just enough to make it clear you understand their situation and have a solution worth exploring more.

  
  
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  Keep all stakeholders in mind. Often, the person you’re speaking with isn’t the only one involved in the decision. Think about what other stakeholders will care about.

  
  

If you’re sending a follow-up email with materials, keep it skimmable. Recap the key benefits, attach or link to the deck, and offer to walk them through anything.

5. Objection Handling

After you make the pitch, you’ll almost certainly hear at least some of the following objections:

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  “It’s too expensive.”

  
  
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  “We already use something for this.”

  
  
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  “Now’s not a good time.”

  
  
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  “I need to run this by [someone else].”

  
  
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  “We’re not sure it’s a priority.”

  
  

Instead of going into defense mode, follow this three-step “objection-busting” framework:

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  Clarify what’s behind the objection: Timing issues, competing priorities, or internal blockers can sound like surface objections—but there’s often more going on. You might ask, for example, “Is it the timing, or is it more about not being sure this is the right solution yet?”

  
  
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  Acknowledge the real objection, then dig deeper: Once you’ve uncovered the deeper reason, explore it more deeply. For instance, by saying, “Totally fair. Can I ask what you need in place to know a solution like this is right for you?”

  
  
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  Offer a solution to the objection: Use the lead’s description of what a solution might look like to post a solution. For the uncertainty in this example, you could offer a free trial: “What about a no-risk free trial to test-drive the product and see if it’s a fit?”

  
  

If an objection keeps coming up, don’t wait for it—proactively address it in your pitch next time. 

For instance, if people often say, “We’re already using another tool,” you might counter with “We hear that a lot—many of our customers were using a similar tool before switching. Here’s what made them want the change….”

Automate your outbound with an AI BDR

Meet Ava—your AI BDR who handles prospecting, outreach, and follow-ups, so your team can focus on closing.

Book a Demo

6. Closing the Deal

In B2B, “closing” usually isn’t a single moment. It’s a series of small yeses—getting buy-in from multiple stakeholders and ironing out contract details.  

Instead of pushing for a close, guide them through each step. Provide resources, follow up consistently, and make it easy to keep moving forward.

Here are two examples of statements that create urgency without being aggressive:

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  “We have onboarding support available through the end of the quarter.”

  
  
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  “If we start onboarding this month, you’ll be up and running before [critical business milestone].”

  
  

Post-Sale: Onboarding and Relationship Building

B2B salespeople often stay involved during the early stages of onboarding. 

Here’s what you can (and should) do after the deal is signed:

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  Confirm next steps right after the deal closes. 

  
  
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  Share key context with whoever’s taking over (e.g., goals they mentioned and concerns they had).

  
  
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  Check in often during the first 30–60 days.

  
  

This phase also lays the groundwork for upsells and referrals over the next three to six months, when customers are usually most open to further purchases and advocacy. 

Tips for Building Trust and Long-Term Relationships in B2B Sales

Trust-building relies on three factors: respect, consistency, and availability. They work no matter where you are in the sales funnel. Let’s look at how to use them effectively. 

1. Respect your prospect’s stage in the buyer journey

Before you do anything else, figure out where leads are in the customer journey. Are they just becoming aware of the problem? Actively looking for solutions? Already comparing options? 

Map all your touchpoints based on that. Guiding someone who knows their options through a top-of-funnel pitch is at best a waste of time and at worst irritating. The same goes for jumping ahead when they’re not even clear on what the problem is.

2. Always follow up

Plenty of customer relationships never take off because the prospect forgot to reply and the rep didn’t want to be a bother.

Never assume you're being annoying by following up. Most of the time, recipients aren’t ignoring you. They're just busy. 

As long as your follow-up message is respectful and spaced out, most people will appreciate the reminder.

3. Be there to answer their questions…and be honest

Think of yourself not just as a sales rep, but as a trusted advisor. Create an environment where prospects and customers feel comfortable asking any question (even the tough ones), knowing you’ll give honest answers and won’t push your solution aggressively. 

And remember, your sales performance, metrics, and conversions aren’t the final goal of your sales process. A lasting customer relationship is.

Tools That Can Make B2B Sales Easier

You can have the best sales strategy in the world. But if you’re stuck wasting time on repetitive tasks, you’ll see poor results. A few good B2B automation tools are all it takes to get those off your plate.

Lead generation tools

Platforms like ZoomInfo, Hunter, and Apollo give you access to large B2B contact databases, making it easier to find the right people to contact. Some also help with enrichment and email verification to keep your outreach clean.

Sales automation systems

B2B sales automation tools like Artisan bring the entire outbound process under one roof. Reps are using it to automate lead generation, profile enrichment, and multichannel outreach. 

CRM software

All the data you generate, from email opens to booked calls, flows in and out of your customer relationship management (CRM) system. It’s your hub for managing prospects and existing customers. Some of the most popular options in B2B are HubSpot, Pipedrive, and Salesforce. 

B2B Sales Is a Long Game, Play It Smart

The B2B sales professionals who play the long game with patience and the right tools are the ones who earn trust and repeat business.

Staying consistent gets a lot easier when your day isn’t packed with manual busywork. Artisan takes over routine tasks and helps you connect with the right B2B customers, so you can focus on building real relationships.

Automate your outbound with an AI BDR

Meet Ava—your AI BDR who handles prospecting, outreach, and follow-ups, so your team can focus on closing.

Book a Demo