Difficult sales
Updated at: 13 February 2025
## What is complex selling
Difficult sales
**Complex** selling is the process of selling technologically or intellectually complex products or services to the corporate segment.
**Complexity is defined by three key aspects:**
**1\. Product:**
- Technologically or intellectually complex;
- requires a certain level of knowledge and understanding on the part of the buyers;
- involves risk-taking;
- examples: industrial internet of things, low-code platforms, implementation of complex manufacturing technologies, corporate insurance systems, intellectual property legal services, consulting services.
**2\. Client:**
- Large and medium-sized enterprises;
- large number of stakeholders with non-obvious connections;
- complex and not always transparent decision-making structure;
- conflicting interests of the participants.
**3\. Interaction:**
- long transaction cycle (from six months to several years);
- high transaction value (millions of rubles);
- long and thorough work with the customer is required;
- high value of each customer due to a limited number of potential customers;
- large number of negotiators on both sides.
To determine if sales are complex, the following test can be used. If most of the items match the company's situation, then sales are categorized as complex:
1. The presence of a complex product.
2. A long transaction cycle (from six months to several years).
3. A large number of negotiators on both sides.
4. High value of the transaction (millions of rubles).
5. High value of each client (small number of potential clients).
In such sales, salespeople must have special skills and knowledge to explain complex technical aspects of products or solutions, and to assist customers in the buying decision process.
## What is the difference between a complex sale and a simple one?
The key difference between simple (transactional) and complex sales lies in the principles of working with the customer and organizing business processes.
In the experience of leading companies, combining simple and complex sales within the same business is undesirable. Large manufacturers often separate these areas, for example:
- tool manufacturers create separate lines for the household (simple sales) and professional (complex sales) segments;
- car manufacturers have different brands for mass-market and premium segments;
- in IT, cloud providers may create separate brands for transactional sales.
Trying to combine these approaches often leads to inefficiencies: complex selling can devolve into a transactional model, negatively impacting margins and profitability.
## What industries use complex selling?
Complex selling is used in a variety of industries that require the sale of technologically or intellectually complex products. **Key areas include:**
1. IT: industrial internet of things, low-code platforms.
2. Manufacturing, implementation of complex technologies in production.
3. Insurance, corporate insurance systems for large clients.
4. Legal services, intellectual property services.
5. Consulting services.
In each of these industries, sales are characterized by the need for deep product understanding, long decision-making cycles and high contract value.
## How do you organize a complex sales process?
It's important to remember that you can't just implement a new CRM system without first working with processes and training people. Automating the chaos will not give the desired effect. Success depends on an integrated approach, where technology supports properly aligned processes and people understand how to work with it.
Successful complex sales organization starts with understanding that the quick approach doesn't work - you need to build processes systematically:
1. **Start by analyzing your current situation:**
- Realize if you have methodological chaos;
- Determine what you want to achieve as a result;
- Understand how it can be achieved.
2. **Engage experts:**
- find a consultant with industry experience;
- meet with at least three different experts;
- choose the one who best understands the specifics of your business.
3. **Build business processes:**
- Study industry best practices;
- Design new processes;
- Implement a sales methodology (e.g. Solution Selling).
4. **Train your team:**
- send managers and salespeople to training on the chosen methodology;
- keep in mind that statistically 20-30% of sales professionals are unable to retrain themselves in complex selling;
- give people the opportunity to look at processes from a different angle.
5. **Automate processes:**
- select the right CRM system for the specifics of complex sales;
- implement tools for each stage of the sales process;
- Make it possible to structure deal information.
| In simple sales: | In complex sales: |
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## What are the methodologies used for complex B2B sales?
There are several methodologies specifically designed for complex B2B sales that focus on understanding the customer's business needs, building long-term relationships, and solving complex problems.
#### [Solution Selling]()
This is a sales technique that focuses on the client's business problems and providing customized solutions to solve them. **This methodology involves:**
- Identifying the customer's pain points;
- Aligning the product or service with the customer's needs;
- Collaborating with multiple stakeholders to create a comprehensive solution.
#### [Challenger Selling (Sales Champions).]()
**This is a sales technique that involves:**
- challenge the customer's assumptions and beliefs;
- help them make a more informed buying decision;
- effectively sell innovative products or services that may be unfamiliar or misunderstood by the customer.
#### [SPIN-selling.]()
It is a technique based on asking open-ended questions to identify customer needs and problems. **SPIN includes four types of questions:**
- situational questions - the salesperson asks questions to find out the customer's current situation and needs;
- problem questions - the salesperson identifies the customer's problems and offers solutions;
- extractive questions - the salesperson helps the client recognize problems and understand how they affect their business or life;
- guiding questions - the salesperson offers specific solutions and helps the client choose the most appropriate one.
By asking these types of questions, salespeople can gather information to tailor their selling proposition and demonstrate the value of their product or service.
## Briefly on complex selling
Complex sales in the B2B segment is a special type of sales that is characterized by a technologically complex product, a long transaction cycle and multiple participants in the decision-making process. Such sales require a systematic approach and differ significantly from transactional sales both in terms of process organization and requirements to the competencies of salespeople. Working with large and medium-sized companies, high transaction costs, multiple stakeholders and the need for a deep understanding of the client's business - all this determines the specifics of complex sales.
For successful organization of complex sales it is critical not to try to combine them with transactional sales within one business and start not with the implementation of CRM-system, but with building processes. Involvement of experts, training of the team in modern sales methodologies (such as Solution Selling, SPIN-selling, Challenger Selling) and the right choice of automation tools can significantly improve the efficiency of complex sales and increase business margins.