In B2B sales, closing big deals isn’t easy. The sales cycle can be long, complex, and full of hurdles. Companies often face multiple challenges, from identifying the right decision-makers to overcoming objections and aligning multiple stakeholders.

But marketers can play a critical role in smoothing out this journey and helping sales teams win large deals.

Why Large B2B Deals Are Especially Challenging

Large deals typically mean:

  • Multiple decision-makers: You’re not just selling to one person but a committee or even an entire department.
  • Longer sales cycles: Big purchases take time, often months or even a year or more, because companies want to minimize risk.
  • Complex buyer needs: Each stakeholder might have different priorities, concerns, and expectations.
  • High scrutiny: More research, more comparisons, and more approvals are involved.
  • High stakes: Mistakes are costly, so buyers proceed cautiously.

These factors create many challenges for sales teams trying to get buy-in and close the deal.

Typical Challenges in the B2B Sales Cycle

1. Identifying and Engaging the Right Decision-Makers

Finding the right contacts inside a company is tough. Large organizations have layers of management, and the actual decision-makers might be hidden or hard to reach.

2. Building Trust and Credibility

For big investments, buyers want to feel confident that your solution will deliver value. Without trust, the deal stalls.

3. Addressing Diverse Stakeholder Needs

Different roles (finance, IT, end-users) want different things. Sales teams must balance these varied expectations.

4. Handling Objections and Concerns

From budget worries to integration challenges, objections are common. Effective responses require knowledge and proof.

5. Keeping Momentum Over Long Cycles

Long sales cycles mean interest can wane, or prospects get distracted by other priorities.

6. Coordinating Between Sales and Marketing

Misalignment here can lead to lost opportunities, inconsistent messaging, or poor lead quality can cause deals to slip away.

How Marketers Should Support the B2B Sales Cycle, Especially for Large Deals

Marketing isn’t just about generating leads,it’s about enabling the entire sales journey. Here’s how marketers can step up:

1. Help Identify and Nurture the Right Contacts

Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator and account-based marketing (ABM) to research and segment target accounts. Run personalized campaigns to warm up contacts before sales reach out.

2. Build Credibility Through Thought Leadership

Create educational content like whitepapers, case studies, and webinars that demonstrate your expertise and the success of your solutions. These resources help build trust with skeptical prospects.

3. Personalize Messaging for Different Stakeholders

Develop tailored content and messages addressing the unique needs of each decision-maker type finance cares about ROI, IT wants security and ease of integration, and users want usability.

4. Equip Sales With Sales Enablement Materials

Provide sales teams with battle cards, objection-handling guides, demos, and testimonials so they can confidently answer questions and objections.

5. Keep Prospects Engaged With Continuous Nurturing

Use email marketing, retargeting ads, and content drip campaigns to stay on prospects’ minds during the long sales cycle.

6. Align Closely With Sales Teams

Hold regular meetings to share insights, update on campaigns, and adjust targeting based on sales feedback. This ensures messaging is consistent and leads are qualified.

Why This Collaboration Matters

Research by Gartner and Forrester shows that B2B buyers engage with up to 70% of the sales process digitally before talking to sales. Marketing’s role in delivering the right content at the right time can make or break a deal.

Moreover, Forrester found that companies with strong sales and marketing alignment achieve 32% higher revenue growth.

Key Takeaways for Marketers in Large B2B Deals

  • Don’t just focus on lead quantity; prioritize quality and relevance.
  • Use account-based marketing to target specific high-value accounts with tailored content.
  • Educate and build trust through helpful resources, not just sales pitches.
  • Support sales with materials and real-time insights to overcome objections faster.
  • Keep prospects engaged over long sales cycles with consistent communication.
  • Collaborate tightly with sales teams to ensure alignment and maximum impact.

Conclusion

Large B2B sales cycles are complicated and challenging, but marketers who play an active, strategic role can make a huge difference. By helping identify the right people, building trust, personalizing messaging, and supporting sales teams, marketers become crucial partners in winning big deals.

Strong sales and marketing alignment is no longer optional—it’s essential for success in today’s complex B2B world.