2 Who are you selling to?
How you sell your product, service or idea will very much depend on who you are selling to.
Business-to-Business
B2B – Business-to-Business sales occur when you sell your product or service to another business, which may then resell it or possibly integrate it into their own products or services. For example, a supplier of automotive parts might sell its products to a retailer who will then sell them to consumers.
Business-to-Consumer
B2C – Business-to-Consumer sales is where you are selling your product or service to consumers directly. For example, a business creates a smartphone app, which it makes available directly to consumers via the App Store.
Some businesses will engage in both B2B and B2C sales at the same time, depending on customer need. For example, a bakery might sell bread directly to the public (B2C) as well as to the local café (B2B), which then uses the bakery’s bread in the sandwiches it makes and sells to the public.
The sales approach you take can differ significantly between B2B and B2C. For B2C sales, relationships are important but the process can often be much more remote and customers might be more interested in added extras and perceived bonuses.
Alternatively, for B2B sales you might need to spend time developing relationships in order to ensure long-term repeat purchases. Research by global consultancy firm McKinsey & Company highlighted the specific interests of B2B customers:
[B2B] Customers insisted price and product aspects were the dominant factors that influenced their opinion of a supplier’s performance and, as a result, their purchasing decisions. Yet when we examined what actually determined how customers rated a vendor’s overall performance, the most important factors were product or service features and the overall sales experience.
When dealing with B2B customers you might consequently need to spend more time working to overcome objections and highlighting the features, advantages and benefits of your offering.
1 What is selling?