What is B2B selling?
The terms B2B and B2C are short forms for Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-toConsumer (B2C). Both describe the nature and selling process of goods and services. While
B2B products and services are sold from one company to another, B2C products are sold
from a company to the end user.
While almost any B2C product or service could also be a B2B product, very few B2B
products or services will be used by consumers. For example, toilet paper, a typical B2C
product, can be seen as a B2B product if it is bought in larger quantities by a hotel for their
restrooms and guestrooms. However, few people will buy an excavator for their private use.
Most B2B products are purchased by companies to be used in their own manufacturing,
producing goods and services to be sold on. The value added product can then be either sold
to yet another company; or to the consumer.
Any consumer product would have gone through numerous value-add processes before it is
being purchased by the final user. Numerous suppliers from various industries would have
contributed to the finished product. For instance, a can of soft drink will require different
companies to provide the can, water, sugar, other ingredients, label-printing, packaging,
transportation and paint for the printing. The can itself is made from aluminium that needs
to be processed and extracted. Only the very last transaction in the sales/ purchase chain is a
true B2C relationship.
In terms of perceived risks, a b2b product is commonly viewed to possess higher perceived
risks compared to b2c products due to the value of each transaction: e.g. buying a machinery
can cost $2Million compared to a tube of toothpaste which would cost just $2. However in
reality, risks levels in terms of duty-of-care, can be fairly similar depending on the nature of
the product. A faulty machine similar to a contaminated tube of toothpaste can bring grave
harm to its respective users. However, because of the quantum of purchase, buyers of b2b
products tend to place more focus on the evaluation and selection process
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Value Creation Through
Relationship Selling
• The trend in professional selling today is
toward relationship, problem-solving selling
• Customer Satisfaction: the ultimate goal of
the relationship salesperson throughout the
selling process
• Relationship Management:
• Managing the account relationship
• Ensuring that your clients receive the proper
service during and after the sale
2
Relationship Builders
• Treat customers like life-long partners
• Become a solutions provider
•
•
•
•
Deliver more service than you promise
Schedule regular service calls
Develop open and honest communication
Use the ‘we can’ approach
• Take responsibility for mistakes made
• Be an ally for the customers’ business
3
Relationship Breakers
• Simply wait for the problem to develop
• Focus only on making the sale
• Over-promise and under-deliver
• Wait for your customers to call you
• Lie or make exaggerated claims
• Use the “us versus them” approach
• Blame somebody else; Knock a competitor
• Focus on your own personal gain
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Relationship Selling Versus
Traditional Selling
Relationship Model
of Selling
Traditional
Model of Selling
Phases
Approach
Identifying Needs
Making the
Presentation
Resistance
and Gaining
Commitment
% time spent
Building Trust
(Rapport)
40%
Probe, Ask Questions,
30%
and Listen
Sell Benefits
20%
Reassure
and
10%
Close
% time spent
Telling
Qualifying
Presenting
Features
Closing Long
and Hard
10%
20%
30%
40%
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Sales Cycle Framework for
Relationship Selling
Prospecting
Service after
the Sale
Closing the
Sale
Handling
Objections
Preapproach
and Telephone
Techniques
8 STEP
SALES
CYCLE
Making the
Presentation
The Approach
Need
Discovery
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The Personal Selling Process (PSP)
There are 7 interacting, overlapping steps in the professional personal selling cycle
A Typical Engagement’s LifePre-Sales
Cycle Post-Sales
Learn
About
eCRM/
NI Tool
Submission
Qualify
Bid/No-Bid
Propose
Proposal
QA
Close
Contract
Signature
Project
Initiation
Execute &
Control
PO/
Engagement Billing
Project Review(s)
Setup
A Conveyor Belt Running Through the Organization
• Adapted based on complexity/size of deal
• Always Event driven with required milestone completion
• Opportunity value ranges $xK - $xM
Close-Out
Close-Out
Review
Add-On
Sale
BPS Home Page – Select the Network Integration & Consulting Process
Document
http://bps.web.att.com/
The Sales Cycle Framework for
Relationship Selling
• There are three phases in the Sales Cycle, which are presented
on the next three slides.
• The steps are presented in a logical sequence, but are NOT
necessarily in chronological order!
Phase One
• Identifying Qualified Prospects
• Qualified prospects must have:
• Need
• Money
• Authority
• Planning Preapproach Activities
• Telephone Activities
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Phase Two
Approaching the Prospect
Discovering Needs
• Success of the process depends on this
• Requires questioning and creative listening
skills
Making the Presentation
• Takes planning
Handling Objections and Gaining Commitment
• It is up to the seller to qualify the buyer
• Resistance happens because an atmosphere
of mutual trust was never fully developed
• There may be problems beyond your control
• The closing stage is often the longest and most
tedious stage
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Business Markets
• Business Markets
• Individuals or groups that purchase a specific kind of
product for resale, direct use in producing other
products, or use in daily operations
• Producer Markets
• Individuals and business
organizations that purchase
products to make profits by
using them to produce other
products or using them in
operations
Business Markets (cont’d)
• Reseller Markets
• Intermediaries who buy finished goods and resell them
for profit
• Wholesalers purchase products for resale to retailers.
• Retailers purchase products and resell them to final customers.
• Factors affecting resellers’ purchase decisions:
•
•
•
•
•
Level of demand
Profit potential (sales per square foot)
Supplier’s ability to provide goods on demand
Ease of ordering and producer support
Competing or complementary product characteristics
Business Markets (cont’d)
• Government Markets
• Federal, state, county, and local governments
• Purchase a broad variety of goods and services
• Public accountability results in complex buying procedures
requiring bids and negotiated contracts
• Institutional Markets
• Organizations with charitable,
educational, community, or other
non-business goals
• Churches, hospitals, fraternities and
sororities, charities, and private colleges
Dimensions of Marketing to
Business Customers
• Characteristics of Transactions with Business
Customers
•
•
•
•
They use contracts; term is longer
Orders are much larger and higher dollar amounts
Purchases are made more frequently
Several people or a committee are involved in the purchase
decision
• Reciprocity: a buyer and seller purchase from each other
• Better informed and demand more detailed product
information
Business Buying Decisions
• Business (Organizational) Buying Behavior
• The purchase behavior of producers, government units,
institutions, and resellers
• Buying Center
• The people within an organization who make business
purchase decisions
• Users—actually use the products
• Influencers—help develop the specifications and evaluate
alternative products
• Buyers—select suppliers and negotiate terms of purchase
• Deciders—actually choose the products; higher level
management that hold the $$$
• Gatekeepers—control the flow of information to others in the
buying center
Role Play
• Sell your favorite restaurant as the place for
the next holiday party for a business
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