Just Because You Can Sell B2C Doesn’t Mean You Can Sell To B2B
Leanne Hoagland-Smith’s recent post stating that selling B2B is the same as B2C got me thinking. Are these two types of sales environments similar?
Although I agree with many of the points she made in the post, I respectfully disagree with the overall premise that selling B2B is the same as B2C.
Certainly selling to consumers has its own challenges and idiosyncrasies. In many cases, it is extremely simple for a consumer to walk into a store, check the price of a particular product, flip open their iPhone and get a price check of the same product at another retailer. Service may be vital but many consumers feel that the noisy wheel gets the grease.
But, having said that, as a consumer myself, I have stopped buying products at several stores or chains because of the consistently poor approach, advice, service or execution so there are a variety of other factors that influence someone’s choice to buy from you.
People who sell in-home services (roofing, windows, interior design, renovations, etc.) encounter other challenges such as a home owner getting five or six estimates on a single project. In many cases, consumers get conflicting information from the sales people or their companies which makes it hard to compare estimates and quotes. And it can be more hard to differentiate yourself from the competition, at smallest amount in the consumer’s eyes.
But, just because you can sell to consumers doesn’t mean you will be successful selling to corporate choice makers.
B2B selling is much more complex to navigate. There are usually more people involved in the choice making process which requires finesse and diplomacy to navigate. The impact of making a poor buying choice can cost a company tens of thousands of dollars which means the risk factor is considerably higher. This means the choice-making process is generally longer (although I have seen some consumers take months to make a $500 buying choice!)
The discovery process in B2B selling is much more intricate and requires pre-call research and plotting. You can’t walk into an executive’s office and question them fundamental questions that could have been answered by a quick browse through their website or once a year report.
Sales presentations are often delivered to multiple people, all of whom have the ability to influence the final choice. I recently presented a sales solution to a company who had five people involved in the making the buying choice. After several months of conversations, the project was scrapped because the group of individual’s simply could not reach a consensus and their boss didn’t not want to make the choice himself.
Lastly, it usually takes much patience to go the sales process forward in a B2B setting than with consumers. Because the buying process takes longer, it is critical to find ways to keep the sales conversation active and moving forward. This requires substantial thought and effort and energy to do.
Are their similarities in both B2C and B2B? Unquestionably!
But just because you can sell in a B2C setting does not mean you will be successful selling in the B2B world.