Selling Business To Business
How Selling To A Business Differs From Personal Selling
When a sales representative from one business sells to another business, as opposed to an individual, there are several key differences.
Business To Business (B2B) Selling
When selling to a business, it is vital to know who the key decision maker is within that business. This decision maker may be an individual, or in the case of a company's board, a group of people. The greatest mistake a salesperson can make is to spend all of their time selling themselves and their product to a person within the business who has very little input into the actual decision.
If this is the case, then the real decision maker will make a decision without having met the salesperson, meaning they will probably decide on the written proposal alone. This significantly reduces the ability of the salesperson to influence the decision.
Relationship Selling
Because of the size and complexity of most B2B sales, once the key decision maker has been found the salesperson must be prepared to spend time building a relationship with them.
When selling to a business the value of the sale is usually far higher than when selling to an individual. Obviously there are exceptions, but normally in a B2B selling situation it involves amounts in the thousands rather than the hundreds. Sometimes the sale is worth hundreds of thousands.
Building a relationship with the key decision maker enhances a salespersons prospects of obtaining their business. Also, depending upon the position the decision maker occupies within the business, there may be others that the salesperson needs to build a relationship with in addition to the decision maker.
For example, the personal assistant may be crucial to the decision maker's daily activities. It is therefore essential that you also build a relationship with the personal assistant, who obviously has some influence over the decision maker. It may also be necessary to build rapport with the personal assistant in order to obtain an appointment with the decision maker in question.
Staying In Control
The B2B salesperson must portray a professional image. To be professional means you must obtain as much information as possible by asking questions.
The salesperson should be asking questions such as;
- "Who makes the final decision regarding this proposal?"
- "Does anyone else have any input into the decision?"
- "What is your timeframe for placing an order?"
- "Do you have all the information you need to make a decision now?"
- "What else can I do to get your business?"
Extra Expertise
The salesperson may decide to bring some further expertise with them on one of their visits to the prospect business. This may involve an engineer, a technical expert, or the Managing Director from the salesperson's own business. Selling to a business involves a more professional approach, extensive relationship building, and far more strategy than selling to an individual.
B2B Selling
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