Since this is a B2B Sales site, several people have asked…
What is the difference between B2B and B2C?
In the world of selling the difference between B2B sales and B2C Sales are very different.
B2B – Business to Business Selling is about targeting accounts, researching what they do, developing sales strategy, using questioning skills rather than presentations as a focal point, and using ROI calculations to win the budget game. B2B sales is more of long term sales process. The buyers – business – are using what you sell to make another product or service usually then sold to the final end user or consumer of their product. Thus, b2b sales is more complex and you have more people involved in the decision making process. The b2b sales process can be elongated with the hidden influence of players in the system. You must master the skills of prospecting / targeting accounts, researching the organization looking for ways to improve their business, rapport building techniques for all the different types of people within an organization, questioning skills become the key factor for both learning and confirming problems, issues and consequences as well as the monetary impact of no change, with trust building a key factor in getting a contact or an agreement to move forward – the skills of the b2b sales person require more sophistication and complete skill or mindset development.
B2C – Business to Consumer Selling is more about traditional selling techniques – get their attention, present an idea or solution, show benefits and advantages and then close the consumer. This is a more of a short term sale. These buyers are usually the end user of the product or service. Since there are fewer people involved in the decision making process – the b2c sale is more of a simple sell. You only have one person or a couple rather than a committee full of decision makers – each with their own personal agenda. While in modern b2c sales you will use the same sales process as the b2b, it will move faster to the final decision phase. Rapport building, presentation skills and closing skills become more important.
As you look at these differences between b2b selling and b2c selling, you should note how much more you have to learn to be a b2b sales superstar. There are no quick fixes or accelerated tracks. You will need to master your b2b selling skills, sales strategy development, team selling coordination and how to manage an account relationship – wide and deep within your major accounts.
Voss Graham
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