B2B Sales Guide: Simple Start

Learn how to manage a complete B2B sales pipeline in ValStorm. This guide walks you through the entire lifecycle—from capturing initial contacts and converting them into leads, to customizing opportunity pipelines, managing corporate accounts, and maintaining clean record-keeping.

Step-by-Step Guide

Section 1: Managing Contacts & Initial Referrals

In a B2B sales model, every business relationship begins with a person. Capturing referral sources and individual contacts before making sales pitches is essential for tracking where your best business comes from.

Step 1: Accessing the B2B Sales Workspace

1. In the top navigation bar, click on the Workspace Selector icon on the far left.
2. Select B2B Sales from the dropdown menu to customize your left-hand panel with B2B modules.

Step 2: Creating a Contact (Referral Source)

1. In the left-hand panel, go to the Contacts module.
2. Click Create in the main header.
3. Enter the details of your contact (e.g., Cheryl Duane) and click Save to add them to the database.
   • Note: Always add referrers and partners as contacts first so they exist in the system as recognizable nodes.

Step 3: Creating a Lead & Mapping Referral Sources

1. Go to the Leads module.
2. Click Create to initialize a new lead (e.g., Ben Dudley).
3. Enter their email address (e.g., [email protected]).
4. In the Lead Source field, select Referral.
5. In the Referred By lookup field, search and select Cheryl Duane.
6. Click Save to lock in the lead and establish a clean referral tracking link.

---

Section 2: Moving Leads through the B2B Pipeline

Once a lead is registered, the objective is to move them quickly through attempted contact phases to establish a primary, meaningful interaction.

Step 1: Attempting Contact

1. Access your new lead record.
2. Move the lead status from New to Attempted Contact.
   • Tip: If you have email or phone integrations set up, sending an email, text, or making a call will automatically trigger this transition in ValStorm. Otherwise, click on the status block to advance it manually.

Step 2: Establishing Contact

1. Once your first live conversation occurs, move the lead status to Made Contact.
2. Evaluate the lead's responsiveness and interest level:
   • Determine if they are Engaged (and need more prep work).
   • Decide if they require long-term Nurturing.
   • Mark them as Lost and select a specific reason (e.g., Unresponsive, Not Interested) if they choose not to proceed.

Step 3: Converting Leads to Opportunities

1. If the lead is qualified, transition their status to Converted.
2. Saving this status will automatically convert the lead record and spawn a new Opportunity to progress through the sales pipeline.

---

Section 3: Customizing Opportunity Stages for Your Business

Opportunities represent active negotiations. Different businesses require unique stages before closing a deal; ValStorm allows you to easily customize these pipeline stages to match your exact sales process.

Step 1: Setting Appointments

1. In the newly generated opportunity record, the initial goal is to Set Appointment for a demo or consulting call.
2. With calendar integrations active, booking a slot on your calendar will automatically transition the opportunity to this stage.

Step 2: Creating Custom Pipeline Stages

If your team uses a multi-call close, you can easily insert custom milestones into your pipeline:

1. Open your opportunity pipeline stage editor or click the inline customize button.
2. Click Create Stage (e.g., to create a stage right before Contract Sent).
3. Name the new stage (e.g., Assessment Review for a two-call close).
4. Assign a custom color (e.g., Violet) to help this stage stand out visually in your pipeline kanban.
5. Save the configuration and exit. The custom stage is now active.

Step 3: Valuation & Moving to Pending Contract

1. Advance your prospect to your new custom stage (Assessment Review) and complete the assessment call.
2. If they are a good fit, move them to Pending Contract.
3. In the deal value field, enter the projected revenue amount (e.g., $10,000).

Step 4: Sending the Contract

1. Open your email composer, attach your contract, and send it to the prospect.
2. Move the opportunity stage to Contract Sent to notify your team that negotiations are waiting on a client signature.

---

Section 4: Converting Opportunities and Managing Accounts

Winning an opportunity is the bridge between sales and operations. ValStorm automates this transition by turning won deals into billable client accounts.

Step 1: Linking Corporate Entities

1. Since this is a business-to-business deal, make sure to add the prospect's parent organization in the Company relation field (e.g., Acme Corp).
2. Click Save to link the contact and opportunity directly to their employer.

Step 2: Winning the Opportunity & Creating Billable Accounts

1. Once the contract is signed and paid, move the opportunity stage to Won.
2. ValStorm Automation: Transitioning to Won automatically generates a fresh Account record.
   • Note: The Account is the managed billable profile which syncs automatically with financial tools like QuickBooks, Stripe, or other payment gateways.

Step 3: Onboarding and Client Tiering

1. Open the new Account record.
2. Manually edit the Onboarding Status to Onboarding (or a similar status to trigger your fulfillment teams).
3. Set the client's tier value based on contract size:
   • Silver: $10,000 contracts.
   • Reference Guidelines: Bronze ($5,000), Gold ($15,000), Platinum ($20,000).
4. Input billing-specific data like billing emails and physical addresses directly onto the Account record.

Step 4: Maintaining Detailed Corporate Records

Keep operational records clean by populating the underlying Company record separate from the Account:

1. Open the linked Acme Corp Company record.
2. Fill out administrative fields such as Employees (e.g., 10), Website, Industry (e.g., Software), and Founding Year (e.g., 2020).
3. Use the freeform Notes section to keep your team aligned on specific client background, upload related project files to the attachments panel, and use the central Activity Log to track future phone calls, texts, and emails.

---

Video Guide