B2B Selling: What It Is - 8 Tips with Examples

Even if the name of this business direction is still unknown to you, its manifestations surround us every day. B2B is an abbreviated name for commercial interaction of legal entities associated with the sale and supply of products of different categories by one company for the proper functioning of another organization. In simple words, business to business. Formally, the whole range of services related to making a profit can be divided into two categories:

• B2C (business to client) - the sphere of selling a product to an end consumer.
• B2B (business to business) - sale of goods and services needed by other businesses.

Golden Example BB

Business to business is not a new invention. His most striking example was the entrepreneurs of the time of the gold rush. As a result of the trade in boats, food, clothing and tools at inadequately high prices in the territories of the Klondike, such entrepreneurs earned much more than naive gold seekers. In turn, the gold prospectors simply had no choice: there was simply no other way to get the things necessary for life and work. Thus, the services of a porter cost $ 15,000 at current rates, a boat for crossing the river cost an average of $ 10,000, enterprising traders sold meat for $ 140, and common beans for $ 80.

The most striking story that illustrates the principle of the business-to-business sector is the story of Samuel Brennan, who bought all the shovels and sieves in the area of ​​gold-bearing lands and published a note in his newspaper that in the River found gold. The gold diggers, deprived of tools for searching and processing metal, simply had no way out, they had to buy shovels from Brennan, which he bought for $ 10 for $ 500. , and sieves, cheap in terms of cost, - 200 each.

Million US dollars - this amount was earned by the merchant in three months. And this was far from the last million. By the way, the famous writer Jack London also tried out the fundamental principles of B2B, building and selling boats to people working in gold prospecting.

BB Features

• Relations between business entities are based on the principle of "delivery of a legal entity - a seller to a legal entity to a buyer".
• The ultimate goal of the buyer is not the realization of personal needs and desires, but the improvement of the enterprise and the increase in the profit that the business brings.
• Subject to the correct choice of the buyer, who will urgently need a service or product for the further functioning of his own business, you can earn a lot of money on B2B.

Examples of modern BB work

• Production of inventory required for the operation of a certain circle of enterprises. For example, sports equipment will be easily sold to legal entities that operate sports complexes and fitness centers. The production of equipment for restaurants will find its customers among the owners of the respective establishments.
• Wholesale is a profitable option for B2B implementation. It is profitable for retailers to buy goods from wholesalers, since the wholesale price is always lower, and buying at a lower price can increase your own income.
• Advertising agencies are gaining more and more popularity due to the effectiveness of their own activities. Self-promotion of an enterprise, of course, cannot be called B2B, but the services of agencies are a vivid and profitable example of such an activity.
• Consulting, that is, consulting on commercial and economic activities, also belongs to the modern B2B industry. Clients of consulting companies are representatives of other companies who want to improve the work of their enterprise.

Effective BB sales often require more research than meets the eye

The B2B sales cycle is longer and there is often multiple stakeholder engagement.

Understanding profitable B2B selling techniques will help you become more productive in building trust with customers and closing deals.

So, in this article you will get: Tips for BB Sales Newbies

Analyze the market

This is a fundamental step in every B2B sales process. Market research and connecting to customers is a key step in B2B selling. Knowing your customer, market, competition and steps are formed to analyze the market. Knowing the market for your industry's products is of prime importance.

Share your customer success stories

Get referrals from clients you've worked with and share them with potential clients. Moreover, it is important that the examples are from B2B, and not from B2C.

People will always be more likely to believe in reviews about you if they come from someone else.

Show an example

B2B is a term that is not familiar to every Russian, since it is associated with commercial activities and sales. Today we will try to figure out what a capacious concept is hidden behind this laconic abbreviation, what types of B2B sales exist, how they differ from other types, why every entrepreneur should know what B2B is.

Contents

What is it

B2B sales have undergone significant changes over the past few years.

This is due to the emergence of the latest technologies, increased competition and consumer awareness. The B2B market operates according to different rules than the classic consumer market. Accordingly, there are completely different strategies and tools used in the sales process. To understand these differences, let's start our acquaintance with B2B decoding.

B2B - translated from English stands for “business for the sake of business”. In other words, the company sells goods or services that are necessary not for the consumer's consumption, but for running his own business.

Ignorance of this term, as well as its essence, leads to illiteracy in the business environment. Every businessman is obliged to familiarize himself with this concept of promoting goods and services in order to be competent in any branch of business. The term is often confused with a similar concept of B2C, but we'll talk about that a little later.

What does B2B sales look like in practice? Imagine that you are the owner of a text translation company. You have real polyglots in your staff who can easily translate text from French into Russian and vice versa. The director of a hardware store turns to you for help with a request to translate all the information on new Italian building materials, wallpapers and headsets. You provide him with a service that will help the hardware store to function in the future, since employees will receive a description of the product in Russian and will be able to advise their customers.

This is how B2B sales look in practice, they are aimed not at a specific buyer and his personal needs, but at the needs of the business he owns. B2B sales are becoming a kind of additional link necessary for doing business. For the most part, every businessman is faced with B2B sales, as he needs to attract outside help.

B2B is a term that describes the sale of goods and services necessary for the functioning of enterprises and commercial enterprises.

In simple terms, an entrepreneur works to support the life of other objects of commercial activity. This is a persistent relationship that emerged under the conditions of capitalist relations. The sphere of sales is specific, it is focused on a special type of customers, which are not so many as in the network of regular sales for the end consumer.

Today experts distinguish three main types of sales, each of which should be discussed in more detail:

• B2B. The fundamental difference between this type of sales is that only a legal entity, that is, a third-party organization, becomes a partner and consumer of services. Some businessmen buy goods and services from other entrepreneurs, fully justifying the abbreviation "business to business";
• B2C. This is a more common type of business sales aimed at the average consumer. It is called a consumer business and is most often done through in-store sales. The volume of products sold can be small;
• B2G. Government-oriented sales, that is, the state is the main buyer. It is rather difficult to gain access to cooperation with the state due to the high level of competition and strict requirements. Not many commercial organizations are engaged in such sales, this is a special privilege that can only be won in the course of an exhausting tender.

The interaction of two legal entities is a special area if it brings profit to both parties. The market for outsourcing services for b2b business in our country is rapidly expanding, the benefits of such cooperation for the insiders are obvious. It can be difficult for start-up companies to understand all the intricacies of business processes.

Specifics of providing bb services

What are the motives for buying from an ordinary consumer? This is the satisfaction of their vital needs, getting pleasure. A person makes purchases from acquaintances, advertising, past experience. As a rule, the transaction does not take much time, it is made under the influence of an impulse. Willingness to pay a particular price is not always consistent with profit or practicality. A person can be motivated by prestige for a more expensive purchase, a desire to experience a new sensation - subjective factors, often independent of real solvency (purchases on credit).

The list of motives for b2b services differs dramatically. The company will only buy what can be used to make a profit. The purchase of a service in this segment is always delayed in time, since the client must study all aspects of the offer. The decision is usually corporate or collegial. It can take more than one week to discuss and make decisions on concluding a contract for the b2b service.

It is extremely difficult for a newcomer to break into the market of this business segment. A small company cannot pull public tenders for large corporations. Smaller firms are more likely to work on personal recommendations, business connections, and previously established contacts. The competition in the b2b market is the higher, the “older” the segment of activity itself. Here, the priority is experience, reputation of a reliable partner, documentary support of opportunities and powers.

Most popular bb services

The most demanded services for business in the b2b segment of the Russian market research include information (including IT), legal, marketing support for companies in the domestic and international markets.

A narrower area, but no less important for running a successful business, is outsourcing of accounting functions, personnel support, local logistics and cleaning services.

Detailed list of services for b2b business:

• Consulting. Depending on the client's area of ​​interest, this can be the study of the external and internal markets, consulting on the specifics of legislation, taxation in a particular country. In the field of business consulting services, the b2b list can include the environmental sphere, willingness to invest, development strategy, management features.
• Internet maintenance. It is impossible today to imagine a decent business without your own website. Development, promotion of a website as a tool for attracting customers, as a rule, today is one of the main services for outsourcing business processes.
• Accounting, internal lawyer, recruiting.
• Cleaning services for both indoor and outdoor areas.
• Transport services, warehousing, logistics are classic areas of mutually beneficial cooperation in the B2B service sector.
• For companies entering the world market, the service of interaction with customs services, external legal support of activities is relevant.
• Software, especially for small companies.
• Marketing and advertising support. These services for b2b business are provided periodically or on an ongoing basis. It all depends on the direction of the business.

Leasing of commercial real estate, education, security activities, insurance, printing are in demand in the b2b services market.

Business. In the modern world, this word is found almost as often as the word "I", which has no equal in popularity. It is logical: a person strives for self-respect, and what can give it to a greater extent than participation in business with the maximum utility that we are only capable of? Whether it is large or small, related to goods or services, private or state - even if the phrase "state business" does not sound.

However, in addition to such an obvious gradation, there is another one that includes a Latin abbreviation. About who they are, these mysterious B2B, B2C and B2G, as well as what each of these types of features, and will be discussed in this article. Additionally, we will give examples of businesses for each of the areas.

What is BB?

Pronounced like "bi tu bi" and looks pretty pretty. B2B from English stands for business to business - "business to business". Business between firms. That is, companies working in this area are not guided by a person as a consumer, but by other companies and legal entities.

Most often, such firms organize accompanying services (for example, transportation of goods), create means of production (such as machines, tools), other goods for professional use (high-level cosmetic products for beauty salons or parts equipment for the factories producing it).

Individual entrepreneurs are also considered to be legal entities and on general terms can relate to this type of activity. Very often, this orientation is very profitable: large orders, long-term cooperation, stable income, more opportunities for development, reaching new levels.

In the USA, for example, the share of small businesses focused on B2B is about 50%.

It is B2B that allows small businesses to compete with business sharks, especially in our century, when all the conditions for e-commerce are created.

It is more convenient to conduct B2B contacts as part of online trading platforms - they allow the best way to optimize the communication of enterprise managers with each other and making decisions about interaction. The B2B direction is characterized by a number of points.

BB Segment Features