Utilize Your Analytics for B2B Sales: A Starter Guide

In the rapidly evolving cannabis industry, leveraging analytics is crucial for B2B sales success. Here’s a straightforward guide on how cannabis businesses can use data to drive sales:

Monitor Website Traffic: Understand visitor behavior to enhance your site.
Analyze Ad Performance: Optimize your spending on Google and social media ads.
Track Marketing ROI: Focus on the most effective marketing strategies.
A/B Test: Improve conversion rates by testing different content and designs.
Sales Metrics: Keep an eye on new customer acquisition, purchase sizes, and customer lifetime value.

We’ll dive into the essentials of B2B sales analytics, why it’s indispensable, key analytics tools like Amperage and Dutchie, and how to set up and interpret your analytics dashboard for actionable insights. Plus, we address common challenges and showcase how real-world cannabis companies are thriving with data-driven strategies.

What is B2B Sales Analytics?

B2B sales analytics is all about collecting and using information on how your customers buy things to make your sales better. For cannabis companies, this includes keeping an eye on:

How many people visit your website and what they do there
How well your ads are doing on different platforms
Which marketing efforts are bringing in sales
How often leads turn into customers
How much money customers are likely to spend over time

By watching these important points, brands can see what’s working well and what needs improvement. Then, they can tweak their sales plans to do better.

Why Analytics Matters for B2B Cannabis Sales

Analytics is super important for a few big reasons in the cannabis business:

Navigate Industry Challenges

The cannabis world has its own set of rules and money issues. Keeping track of data helps companies adjust their sales and marketing to fit these unique challenges. Like watching for changes in laws that affect stores or keeping an eye on market prices to stay competitive.

Capitalize on Sales Opportunities

As the market grows, analytics helps spot the best chances to make sales.

Companies can look closely at different groups of customers to find the ones that fit best. Or notice when there’s a big demand in certain areas and focus their sales there.

Optimize Spending

In a new market, it’s really important to spend money wisely. Analytics shows where it’s best to invest more and where to cut back.

Companies can figure out which marketing channels bring in the most customers or which types of customers are the most profitable. Then, they can decide how to use their budgets and sales efforts better.

Enhance Customer Experiences

By following how buyers make their purchases, companies learn what customers like and don’t like.

This means they can make their messages, products, and services better match what different customers want. And make buying from them a nicer experience.

In short, analytics isn’t just a nice extra—it’s essential for cannabis brands that want to use data to boost their B2B sales.

Key Analytics Tools for B2B Cannabis Sales

Cannabis companies need to keep track of a lot of information to make smart sales decisions. They look at what their customers like, how well their sales are doing, and how effective their marketing is. This helps them spend their money wisely and make buying from them a better experience.

Here are two important tools that help cannabis businesses understand their customers and sales better:

Amperage

Amperage is a tool designed for the cannabis industry. It helps companies keep all their customer information in one place and find new sales chances.

Key features:

A customer management system made for cannabis businesses
Easy-to-read charts and info on sales, marketing, and customers
Keeps track of how much customers buy over time
Works with popular cannabis cash register systems
Sends automatic updates to the sales team about important customer info

Amperage helps cannabis brands get to know their customers better and make smarter sales plans.

Dutchie Analytics

Dutchie Analytics provides built-in information for cannabis stores on their customers, products, and how the business is doing overall.

What you can track:

Who your customers are and what they buy
How much you sell of each product or type of product
How much stock you have and what items are most popular
Sales from different places (like in-store or online)
How well your marketing efforts are working

Dutchie gives cannabis stores a way to see all their important data in one place. This helps them use what they learn to increase their sales to other businesses.

For companies in the cannabis industry that sell to other businesses, tools like Amperage and Dutchie are crucial. They help businesses understand their customers and track how well their sales and marketing strategies are working. By bringing together information from sales, marketing, and operations, companies can figure out what’s successful and make buying from them better for their most important customers.

Setting Up Your Analytics Dashboard

When you’re getting your B2B cannabis sales analytics ready, it’s important to pick the right things to keep track of and set up your dashboard so it’s easy to use. Here’s how to choose what to track and some tips for making a dashboard that works for you.

Choosing Metrics and KPIs

Start by picking metrics that match what your business wants to achieve. Here are some you might want to keep an eye on:

Customer lifetime value: How much money a customer will bring in while they’re with you. This shows you who your best customers are.
Lead conversion rate: How many potential customers actually end up buying. This tells you if your way of getting customers works.
Sales velocity: How fast you’re making sales. This can help you guess future sales.
Customer acquisition cost: How much it costs to get a new customer. You want this to be low to get more out of what you spend on marketing.
Customer retention rate: How many customers keep coming back. More repeat customers mean steady business.

Put similar metrics together in your dashboard so it’s easier to see what’s going on:

Sales performance: Deals made, how fast deals are done, analysis of the sales process
Marketing effectiveness: How many leads you get, cost per lead, how many leads turn into customers
Customer engagement: How many customers leave, how much they’re worth, how much they buy

Keep trying new metrics and tweaking your dashboard as your business changes.

Dashboard Customization Tips

A good dashboard makes data easy to understand. Here are some tips to make yours better:

Color Schemes

Use colors to highlight key metrics and trends. Red and green can show if things are going well or not.
Make sure there’s a good contrast between text and background so it’s easy to read.

Layouts

Group metrics by category, like sales or marketing.
Put the most important metrics at the top and more detailed info below.
Leave some space around graphs so they’re not too crowded.

Graph Types

Pick the right type of graph for your data, like bar charts for comparing things.
Use interactive charts so you can look closer at the data.
Use line graphs to show how things have changed over time.

Interactivity

Add filters so you can look at data for specific times.
Make it possible to click on data points to see more details.
Organize your dashboard so you can easily go from general to specific information.

Spend some time to make your dashboard easy and useful. Keep improving it by listening to what users say.

Interpreting Data for Sales Insights

Sales Data Analysis Best Practices

When you’re looking at your sales numbers, there are a few smart moves to make sure you’re getting the real picture:

Look at changes over time: It’s better to see how things change from one week to another or one month to the next. This helps you understand what’s really happening.
Compare things: It’s useful to compare different times (like this week compared to last week), different ads (like one on Facebook versus one on Instagram), or different groups of customers (like new versus returning). This can show you what’s working better.
Watch out for weird numbers: Sometimes, you might see numbers that are way higher or lower than usual. Understand why these are happening instead of just looking at average numbers.
Keep an open mind: Don’t just see what you want to see in the data. Be open to what the numbers are actually telling you.
Make data easy to understand: Use graphs or percentages instead of just a bunch of numbers. This helps make things clearer.

Following these steps can help you really understand what your sales data means and what to do about it.

Turning Insights into Action

After you figure out what your data is telling you, here’s how to use that information:

Why did things change? If you notice a difference in something like how many people click on your ads (clickthrough rate or CTR) or how many people buy something (conversion rate), figure out why. This helps you know where to focus.
Grow or cut back? If you see that something is really working or not working at all, think about doing more of it or stopping it.
How can we make things better? Use what you’ve learned to improve your sales and marketing step by step.
What should we try next? Let your findings help you decide on your next move, like a new ad campaign or a change to your website.
Who else should know? Share important stuff with other teams, like the people who make your products or handle customer service.
What’s our new goal? Set new targets based on what you’ve learned, aiming to do even better.

By asking the right questions and taking action, your data can help guide your sales strategy and improve your results.

Applying Analytics to Enhance B2B Sales

Optimizing Sales Funnels

Analytics helps cannabis companies figure out where they’re losing potential customers in their sales process. By understanding these spots, they can make changes to keep people interested and moving towards a purchase.

For instance, if a lot of visitors look at products but don’t put anything in their cart, the company could:

Send emails with product suggestions based on what they looked at to encourage them to add to their cart
Offer a special discount or deal if they seem like they’re going to leave the page without buying
Add more information or visuals to product pages if they’re lacking

Using data, companies can spot these issues early and fix them to help more visitors become buyers.

Personalizing Sales Outreach

With the help of data, cannabis companies can get to know their customers better. This means they can talk to them in a way that feels more personal and relevant.

For example, by looking at customer behavior, companies can create groups like:

Loyal Larry: Shops a lot and spends more. They could get special deals or early looks at new products.
Bargain Betty: Looks for the best deals. Let them know about discounts.
Curious Carl: Checks out products but doesn’t buy much. Send them information to learn more about the products.

This way, salespeople can understand what different customers want and offer them things they’re likely to be interested in.

By using data smartly, cannabis brands can make their sales process smoother and more personal. This not only makes customers happier but also helps the company sell more.

Case Studies: Analytics Driving B2B Cannabis Sales

Case Study 1: Fyllo’s Data Helps Brands Increase B2B Sales

Fyllo gives cannabis companies tools to better understand their customers and make smart decisions based on data. With Fyllo’s analytics, companies can:

Predict future sales by looking at past sales and what’s happening in the market
Figure out what new products customers might like by seeing what they’re interested in
Make better deals for stores by using data to create special offers

For instance, a company that makes cannabis edibles used Fyllo to learn more about their best business customers. They noticed what these customers liked to buy and made new products and deals just for them. This approach helped them sell 15% more to these top customers.

Case Study 2: Springbig’s Analytics Boost B2B Retention

Springbig offers tools that help cannabis stores get to know their business customers better. With this knowledge, they can keep these customers coming back by:

Finding out who their best business customers are by looking at how much they buy and how often
Making special offers and suggesting new products that these customers will like
Creating loyalty programs that reward businesses for buying from them

One store used Springbig to focus on getting more orders from their most regular business delivery customers. By doing this, they managed to get these customers to order again more than 20% more often every month.

Overcoming Common Analytics Challenges

Data Quality and Standardization Issues

Dealing with data can be tricky, especially when it’s not accurate or organized. Here’s how cannabis companies can tackle common data problems:

Incomplete or messy data

Problem: Sometimes, details like customer names or what they bought are missing or all over the place. This makes it hard to understand what’s going on.
Solution: Make rules for how data should be entered and cleaned. Use tools that help catch mistakes early. Train your team on how to handle data correctly.

Data living in silos

Problem: Sales info is spread out in different places, like CRMs or email, making it hard to see the big picture.
Solution: Use tools that bring all your data together in one spot. This helps you see everything clearly.

Inconsistent metrics and terminology

Problem: Different teams might use different numbers or names for things. This makes it hard to understand each other.
Solution: Agree on common terms and which numbers to track. This helps everyone stay on the same page.

Outdated practices

Problem: Old ways of handling data may not cut it anymore, leaving you behind.
Solution: Keep looking for ways to get better at collecting and analyzing data. It’s all about improving step by step.

Driving Adoption of Analytics Tools and Processes

It’s important but sometimes hard to get sales teams to use analytics tools. Here are some ways to make it easier:

Make the benefits clear

Show your team how using data can make their jobs easier and help them meet their goals. Use real-life success stories as examples.

Involve teams in planning

Ask sales reps what they need from analytics and let them help choose the tools. This makes them more likely to use them.

Phase in slowly with lots of support

Start small and offer plenty of help along the way. This makes it less overwhelming.

Encourage peer sharing

Let those who’ve had success with the tools share their stories. It’s motivating for others.

Incentivize usage

Think about linking some rewards to how well the team uses analytics.

Continuously optimize

Always look for ways to make things better based on feedback. Fix any issues quickly.

With the right approach, you can help your sales team get on board with using analytics to improve their work.

Conclusion

: Why Using Data is a Must for B2B Cannabis Companies

For businesses in the cannabis industry that sell to other businesses, understanding and using data is super important. With all the rules, changing customer likes, and tough competition, using data helps companies make smart choices to find and grab sales chances. Companies that get good at using data will have a big advantage.

Here’s a quick look at the main ways data helps B2B cannabis companies succeed:

Find What’s Hot and What’s Not: By keeping track of lots of details about customers, products, and how well marketing works over time, data shows where people are starting to buy more or less. This lets companies quickly offer what customers are looking for.
Spend Money Wisely: Data tells you which marketing efforts are bringing in money and which aren’t. This means you can spend more on the stuff that works and stop spending on what doesn’t. You make more money and waste less.
Talk Directly to Customers: Knowing a lot about your customers means you can reach out to them in a way that really speaks to them. Sending the right message to the right person at the right time is how you keep customers coming back.
Guess What’s Next: With lots of data, companies can use special math models to predict future sales more accurately. This helps companies get ready by lining up their products, operations, and budgets to meet their goals.
Everyone Should Think Data: It’s important for the whole company to think about data. Trying new things, learning from them, and doing better. It gets better over time.

For B2B cannabis companies today, data is what helps the business grow. As the world of cannabis data gets more advanced, it’s getting easier and cheaper to start using data. Now is the time to build your data base and keep moving forward. Rely on data to deal with rules, understand your customers, and beat the competition. The companies that focus on data will lead the future.

What is B2B sales analytics?

B2B sales analytics is all about gathering and looking at data from business sales to make things better. This includes keeping track of how sales are going, how long deals take, which sales are successful, and how valuable customers are over time. The main goal is to figure out what works well and what doesn’t to make sales efforts more effective.

How do I get started in B2B sales?

To start in B2B sales:

Learn about who you want to sell to
Use tools like LinkedIn to find the people in charge
Send personalized emails and make calls to get them interested
Prepare talks that show how you can solve their problems
Always follow up quickly
Ask for referrals to find more potential customers

Focus on offering value, solving issues, listening, and building connections. Keep an eye on your performance to improve your approach.

How do I set up B2B marketing analytics?

To set up B2B marketing analytics:

Connect different data sources like CRM, website, and ads together
Watch important numbers like how much leads cost, how many turn into customers, and how effective campaigns are
Use dashboards to check on things every day
Mark your campaigns and set up your own rules for tracking success
Look at how customers move through your sales process
Group data to see how different campaigns, offers, and groups of customers do against each other

Keep analyzing and testing to get better results.

What is the first step in the B2B selling process?

The first step in the B2B sales process is finding leads and reaching out to them. This means doing research to figure out who would be most interested in what you’re selling and finding ways to grab their attention. Getting this right is key for moving these leads through to the next steps of making a sale.