B2B (business-to-business) sales are intricate. Often, salespeople fail to comprehend the connection between their prospects and their company. This makes your potential clients shift from “want to know more about your business” to “unsubscribe.”

Relationship mapping provides B2B sales teams with the data they require for closing more sales within a specific timeframe. Having an in-depth understanding of these relationships and points of influence in a deal will help a sales team recognize and win opportunities.

But what does relationship mapping mean? Why is it so useful for B2B companies? If you are wondering about these questions, keep reading. Here, we will shed light on this process and how it can benefit your B2B company.

Understanding Relationship Mapping

Relationship mapping is a tool that is used for representing and analyzing the influences and connections among entities within a client's company structure. It covers fields like marketing, sales, and account management to know and manage customer relationships better.

This tool is used to recognize primary decision-makers, stakeholders, and influencers. It also helps to have a clear idea about the communication channels and relationship dynamics in an organization.

As a business leader, you need to be tuned into everything taking place in the sales department. Also, your sellers should be able to understand the internal dynamics and essential lines of influence to attain a consensus and win. It is here that tools like relationship mapping prove useful. You can click here to learn more about it.

Relevance of Relationship Mapping for Deal Teams

The selling and buying process is more difficult than it appears. Research by Raconteur shares that, on average, it takes 11.4 key decision-makers to arrive at the final purchasing verdict. Hence, for each B2B sale your team is dealing with, 11 team members from the client's side are involved to conclude if they want to purchase from you.

Multiple connections and relationships pose a challenge to effective data organization. Even though an organization chart helps, it can leave out an essential element of the sales process, which is relationship data.

Similar to an organization chart, a relationship map provides a visual representation of your business. However, it also highlights the connections existing between the main stakeholders and team members in your company. It helps your sales team to know the people who have more influence on the purchasing decision. 

Prolifiq states that leading names specializing in relationship mapping tools can help track stakeholder engagement in the sales cycle in a report. It further identifies the main personas in a sales cycle and outlines them on a map.

The Advantages of Relationship Mapping

Nearly 84% of professionals in various sales roles feel that a robust team culture will favorably impact a company's performance. Relationship mapping can help accomplish this goal in three ways:

Comprehend Key Customer Accounts Better

Relationship mapping enables the sales team to understand their primary customer accounts. Once you know the way your business interacts with clients, you can cater to them better. It's easier for you to realize their business needs and unlock the ones to make major decisions. It also helps you check when you last spoke with a client and whether you must email or call a certain person for optimum results.

It will help you develop a favorable connection when you know who to approach and how. For instance, if you speak to the wrong contact person in an organization, you will be selling to an individual who has zero decision-making power. However, equipped with a relationship map, you can act with relevant data at hand, which will help you derive meaning from each client interaction.

Maximize Customer Retention and Loyalty

When you have a good bond with your clients, it helps them feel confident about your business. It helps to generate a culture of loyalty. Hence, relationship maps are a potent tool to build necessary business associations. The moment you pair relationship intelligence with customer support, client loyalty and retention increase. It's because people want to do business with someone they can trust.

Close More Deals Fast

Last but not least, relationship mapping tools can enable you to close your deals quickly. It provides you with a clear path with actionable insights to navigate the entire sales process. Since you know who to connect with; you don't waste time on guesswork. It helps you skip pointless interactions and expedite the sales cycle by 25%.

In conclusion, most B2B companies fail to generate the revenue they are capable of because they don't know who to approach from the client's side. It wastes their valuable time and limits them from making adequate sales. A relationship map comes to the rescue of your sales team. It enables them to collaborate, review, and enhance relationships cross-functionally to maximize sales and make your business thrive in a competitive market.