The Brooks Group, where Tony Smith serves as national accounts manager, recently analyzed more than 12,000 sales interactions and concluded: "Selling is like being blindfolded, everything is pitch-black, and you have a dart in your hand. Your job: Just hit the target," says Smith. Well, that's just great.

But lucky for us, in a recent guest post at the Follow the Lead blog Smith offers some concrete advice for today's B2B marketers, many of whom are "groping around in the dark" largely because they don't have access to vital information about their prospects' decision-makers. His tips for shining some light on the murky B2B sales process:

Create compelling stories. "No one really cares about the features and benefits of your products and services," Smith states bluntly. "They are more concerned with what they want." If you can "provide a story that helps them understand how you can bring value to their own view of the world, then you will win the day."

Don't rely on metrics. "Metrics are good for identifying gaps, sales trends, and other key information, but they are not the solution for a struggling sales team," Smith notes.

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