Products on the b2b marketing market. Features of B2B market marketing

B2c and b2b are two big separate worlds in sales. Very often, entrepreneurs fail because they do not understand that the rules of the b2b and b2c game are completely different. And in this article we will look at in simple language— how exactly they differ, and how we can play in these markets to win.

What are b2b and b2c in simple terms?

The term “b2c” comes from the English “business to consumer” (literally, “business for the consumer”). The two in the abbreviation “b2c” is inserted for brevity, because the English “two” (two) and “to” (for) sound the same. They also like, for example, to write “2U” (“for you”).

This term means the sale of goods and services to individuals. That is, the client buys something for himself, for his personal use.

It's the same with b2b. This already stands for “business to business”. And this concept means the sale of goods and services for the needs of companies. That is, people buy not to use it themselves, but because they need it to run their own business.

And to begin with, here are a couple of examples for clarity.

For example, I have a business - a translation agency. We provide translations of various documents and certificates into foreign languages. What do you think - is this b2b or b2c? But you can’t say that directly. Because everything depends on the situation.

If a person comes to us who needs his birth certificate translated in order to go abroad and receive a residence permit there, we work b2c. Because the client orders translation for himself and for his own needs.

And if a representative of a factory contacts us, who bought a new Italian machine, and now they need to translate all the instructions so that the workers can work on it - this is already b2b. The plant representative will not personally enjoy reading the translation of our instructions on the balcony in the evenings. The transfer is carried out so that their business (factory) can continue to operate.

By the way, please note that in both cases, clients are forced to order our services. If it were not for the circumstances, no one would have even thought of ordering translations of documents. What I mean is that it would be wrong to think that b2c is when a person buys something for his own pleasure.

Thus, we have conclusion No. 1 - the same company can simultaneously operate in both the b2b and b2c markets. The only question is who will pay for the work - the person himself or his company.

Do you think you have already figured out what belongs to what? Let's check it out.

Example of b2b that are NOT b2b

Here's a quick question for you. Is sushi or pizza delivery b2c or b2b?

At first glance, this is pure b2c. After all, people order food delivered to their home for themselves. What if we are talking about a corporate event? Colleagues gather on the occasion of the upcoming New Year in one of the conference rooms of their company, and there they cheerfully eat the ordered pizza and sushi, interspersing this with dancing and love affairs.

Moreover, it is the company where the employees work that pays for all this dumping of accumulated negativity. So this is already working out b2b? But no. More precisely, it is not necessarily b2b. It depends on whether the head of the company is present at the corporate event. If he is not there (and he formally allocates the money), then the delivery of sushi and pizza becomes b2b.

But if he is there, and he personally deigns to eat the fast food brought, then this is pure b2c. By the way, even the companies that will be contacted for delivery in the first and second cases will most likely be different.

Do you know why? Because b2b and b2c buy differently.

How “businesses” buy and how “consumers” buy

Imagine this situation. So you decided to buy a new laptop. By all rights, you are entering the b2c sphere because you are going to buy a product for yourself and for your personal use.

Do you buy the most expensive laptop or the cheapest? Neither one nor the other. You will buy the most expensive laptop you can afford.

That is, if you have 50 thousand rubles, then you can buy a laptop for 49,990 rubles, but don’t even look at laptops for 15 thousand. Do you know why? Because you want maximum quality for your loved one.

Yes, of course, a high price does not always mean high quality. Therefore, you will spend not only money. You will also spend a lot of time choosing the highest quality of all the laptops in the price category of “about fifty dollars” - maximum RAM, more powerful card, nicer materials, and all that stuff.

What do you know, what's the funniest thing? 95% of the time on this laptop you will only surf the Internet and watch TV shows. That is, these are the tasks that a laptop for 15 thousand rubles could easily cope with. But human psychology does not allow you to act intelligently. And you buy the highest quality of what you have enough money for.

But b2b sales work completely differently.

How do businesses buy?

Now imagine the same situation, but from the point of view of the head of the company. Now you need to purchase a batch of computers for your new management department.

Do you buy the most expensive computers? Or will you buy the cheapest computers? And again nothing. neither. You buy the cheapest computers that will allow you to complete your tasks.

That is, if there is a computer for 20 thousand on which you can edit documents and send them by mail, and there is the same one for 15 thousand, then you can rest assured that the manager will order exactly those that cost 15.

And let the employees grumble dissatisfiedly that their boss is a miser and could have “splurged” on a computer with a more comfortable keyboard. None of this matters in b2b. The main thing is that the task for which the product or service was purchased is completed.

Let's return to our example with pizza and corporate party. If the head of the company is not present at the party, he will order cheaper pizza (just so that people have something to eat). And then it will be b2b.

But if “the chef himself will be there”, then he will make sure that the pizza is tasty, warm, and with pineapples, just the way he likes it. And then the pizza delivery guy, without noticing it, will jump into the b2c sphere.

Because of this difference in consumer psychology, various funny situations often arise. Let me briefly tell you one of my experiences.

Why performers are offended by “bad” customers

As I wrote above, I have my own translation agency. And I myself, accordingly, am also a translator. And before, I communicated quite closely with my own kind (other translators) on various forums and in VKontakte groups.

And do you know what was one of the most favorite topics for discussion? This was a topic about scoundrel clients who “don’t understand” that a translator is one of the most difficult and dangerous professions in the world, and don’t want to pay us the money we really deserve.

And in every such discussion, an argument was always given as to why these customers of ours are not just scoundrels, but also fools. Like, we always choose the highest quality. So I (translator Vasya Pupkin) am always ready to overpay for sausage in the store. But at least I will get QUALITY!

After reading this article, such statements probably seem funny to you. I tried to explain there several times that in most cases the plant orders the translation of documents because it is required by law. They need to be translated, shown to the inspector, and then put away forever in some dusty closet.

That is, formally, the task of translation is simply to “be” (so that some letters are written on the sheets), because no one will read and check it later anyway. Accordingly, what is the point of hiring an expensive professional for this? Even a schoolboy can handle this at a price of 50 rubles. per page.

Therefore, it is very important to understand what your customer wants and why he needs it. And then you will be able to sell your goods and services much more effectively, be it b2c or b2b. By the way, what is the best way to sell them?

How to better conduct b2b and b2c sales

There are several fundamental differences between “businesses” and “consumers”. Based on these differences, you need to build your marketing.

Difference #1— Businesses buy mainly when it’s already “hot”, and they can’t do without spending money. Mere mortals (like you and me) buy when they really want something.

Difference #2— There are much fewer businesses than individuals.

Difference #3— Businesses have much more money than that of ordinary “consumers”.

Considering all of the above, we can conclude that in the b2b sphere it is better to sell something quite large and expensive, making only a few sales per month (or even per year). And in the b2c sphere it is better to engage in mass inexpensive sales.

At the same time, your product for the b2b market should be their vital necessity. Something without which they simply cannot work normally. Then they themselves will come to you for your product. But for individuals, your product may not have any special practical value.

The main thing in working with “live” customers is to make them want what we offer. Moreover, you can create such a desire from scratch. That is, even if five minutes ago they knew nothing about us or our product, we can quite quickly “warm them up” to the point of being ready to buy.

True, the purchase amount will still be small. This is what all other selling techniques are built on, such as .

Accordingly, the main way to promote b2c goods and services is regular mass advertising. And the main way to promote b2b is through personal meetings and lengthy negotiations. You can read about how such sales are built in the article.

Of course, there are exceptions to any rule. And there are successful b2b companies that sell inexpensively and in large quantities (office supplies). There are also b2c companies that sell expensively and little (yachts, planes). But exceptions, as always, only confirm the rules.

Resume

We can only summarize all of the above once again for better understanding.

• B2b is “business to business”. Companies that sell goods and services to other companies. B2c is “business to consumer”. When goods and services are sold to specific individuals for personal use.
• The same company can operate in both the b2b and b2c spheres. It all depends on who exactly places an order with them and why.
• Individuals buy the most expensive things they can afford.
• Businesses buy the cheapest thing that will do the job.
• In the b2b sphere, it is better to sell something quite large and expensive, making only a few transactions per month or per year. And for promotion it is better to use personal meetings and negotiations.
• In the b2c sphere, it is better to sell something inexpensive and used in wide demand. And for promotion you need to use regular mass advertising.

I hope I have explained clearly enough what b2b and b2c are, and now you can work more effectively in these areas. Add the article to your favorites and share it with your friends using the buttons below.

Don't forget to download my book. There I show you the fastest way from zero to the first million on the Internet (extract from personal experience in 10 years =)

Business-To-Consumer (B2C, b cost to the consumer) - marketing activities, the purpose of which is direct sales of goods and services to the consumer.

B2C (business-to-consumer) is a term denoting the commercial relationship between an organization (Business) and a private, so-called “final” consumer (Consumer). The consumer buys a product to satisfy individual needs. The object of interaction is a product or service, and the subjects are: a company selling a product (providing a service), on the one hand, and a private buyer, on the other hand.

B2c relationship system is one of the links in the chain of modern business processes, and this link builds direct, personalized business relationships: “Business-client”. B2C allows direct sales with a minimum number of intermediaries. Elimination of intermediaries makes it possible to set competitive prices locally and even increase them, eliminating the number of intermediaries, which naturally leads to an increase in trade margins.

B2C sales- a term often used to describe the activities carried out by a retailer trading enterprise. B2C companies use special trading and marketing technologies aimed at mass buyers, which are called retail technologies.

B2C Marketing characterized by the fact that:

• the company is a manufacturer of goods and services focused on interaction with the end consumer;
• the consumer buys a product that satisfies individual needs and makes a decision individually;
• the buyer is not an expert in the product;
• in addition to the rational one, the emotional component of the purchase is important;
• the sales process cycle is very short;
• relatively low importance for the business of an individual buyer, but at the same time, the effect of scale is significant due to the mass of sales;
• need to use mass communications;
• Sellers use the same type of solutions and “marketing templates” in the sales process.

E-commerce - b2c form of sales, the purpose of which is direct sales to consumers through electronic means of commerce - online stores.

Christopher Ryan - general manager Fusion Marketing Partners and a recognized expert in B2B marketing. "Winning B2B Marketing" is a textbook on creating a predictable and reliable marketing mechanism, created based on twenty-five years of experience of the author and his colleagues. The book describes in detail the basics marketing planning, positioning and strategy development, advice on organizing the work of the marketing department is given, and various tools and life hacks are discussed to help successfully promote the product. With permission from SmartReading, we are publishing a summary - a “condensed” version - of Christopher Ryan’s bestseller “Winning B2B Marketing.”

SmartReading– a project of the co-founder of one of the leading Russian publishing houses business literature“Mann, Ivanov and Ferber” by Mikhail Ivanov and his partners. SmartReading produces so-called summaries - texts that concisely present the key ideas of best-selling books in the non-fiction genre. Thus, people who for some reason cannot quickly read full versions books, can get acquainted with their main ideas and theses. SmartReading uses a subscription business model in its work.

1. Foundation for success

1.1. What should a modern B2B marketer be like?

In order to not only survive, but also succeed in the changing marketing landscape, a marketer must possess the following characteristics:

Be able to stop doing things that are ineffective, painful or unpleasant. Feel free to tell management or partners that long reports and hours-long meetings are a waste of time if you really think so (don’t forget about convincing arguments). Sometimes it is better to change jobs than to imitate hectic activity instead of working for results. Don't work with unreliable and unproductive people.

Strive to win, using all the opportunities that B2B marketing provides, regardless of the circumstances. Even during an economic crisis, there are winners and losers in every industry. If you view yourself as a victim of circumstance and only try to “stay afloat” during difficult times, you will inevitably lose. Only hard work and the desire to be the best leads to success.

Focus on one thing. When a person says that he is unable to do this or that task, he simply does not want to leave his comfort zone and concentrate on a difficult problem. The author offers a cruel but effective way to concentrate and cope with the most difficult task: tell yourself that if you do not achieve the goal, the one you love most in the world will die.

Resist stereotypes and majority opinion. It is generally accepted that good knowledge promoted product or service is the key to success. In fact, understanding the wants, needs and habits of customers is much more important. Only this understanding will help you create a marketing message that will motivate customers to take action.

Do what you need to do, not just what you like or do better. In a difficult situation, it is easier to leave everything as it is, but a true professional does what is best for the business. Sometimes you have to fire pleasant people who can't do their job.

1.2. Seven “sins” that B2B marketing does not forgive

There are some things that are like biblical mortal sins that a marketer should never do.

Lose objectivity towards yourself (your company). You must know not only your strengths, but also be aware of what exactly you and your company are not strong in and what your competitors are superior to. An effective tool self-analysis (analysis of your company) is SWOT analysis: identifying strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Be a perfectionist. Firstly, marketing is an area in which it is impossible to achieve perfection and there is always something to improve. Secondly, the boss’s perfectionism demotivates the staff: no matter what people do, the boss is unhappy. Third, perfectionism is subjective: sometimes you stay up at night perfecting what you do, only to find out that someone else is doing the same thing better than you.

Living in the past. Memories of how successfully you used certain techniques, tools and methods 20, 10 or 5 years ago are destructive. As Andy Grove points out in his book Only the Paranoid Survive, good marketers are always paranoid because they are constantly looking for something new that will help them beat the competition.

Neglect calculations. Sometimes marketers forget that information is their best friend and begin to measure the success of their work by awards for creativity. However, it is the data on how many people were reached, how many responses were received and how many new customers were acquired that makes your company competitive.

Don't do tests. To understand what exactly needs to be improved, you need to test each element marketing campaign: target audience, promotions, media, advertising texts, graphics advertising products etc. The author advises making testing part of the marketing strategy and budgeting: allocating 90–95% of the budget to what has already proven its effectiveness, and spending the remaining 5–10% on new programs, promotions, and target audiences.

Be passive. There is no perfect time to launch a campaign, enter a market, or develop a marketing strategy. A good marketer is an aggressive marketer, and best experience and knowledge is acquired in the process of work, and not while reading smart books, thinking and analyzing the market. Immediately get up from your desk, leave the office and go to where your existing and potential clients live.

Focus on what doesn't exist of great importance . Things like reports, meetings, beautiful website design, friendship with colleagues, the size of a stand at an industry exhibition are useless in themselves. They "devour" your main resources, time and money.

In fact, what really matters in a marketer’s job is:

• the number of attracted customers who subsequently made a sale;
• hiring or outsourcing efficient workers;
• reducing waste of time and money;
• repeat sales to old customers;
• improving website conversion in terms of sales;
• reducing the cost of attracting a client;
• increase in profits.

1.3. Difficult questions

Before starting any marketing campaign, it is helpful to answer questions regarding market readiness. This will help you understand how ready the company is to capture the market.

Question 1: What is the Big Idea?

It is important to understand what exactly makes your product unique, why it better than that what competitors offer. Correct positioning is much more important than beautiful slogans, texts and design.

Question 2. Who is your target audience?

Essentially this question consists of two questions:

what organizations and people will do business with us (buy a product, use a service, join our organization...)?

What organizations and people will not do business with us?

Once you have your answers, focus your time and money on the first group and forget about the second.

To narrow down your target audience, you can look at your existing customers and determine what they have in common: what industry they are in, small, medium, or large business, their location, the title of the contact person, their demographic characteristics (age, gender, education), and etc.

Question 3. What are your goals?

Goals are what you do and spend money on and are your destination when strategizing and writing. marketing plan. They come in the following types:

Positioning Goals- are associated with improving customer perception of your company. Think about how to better inform customers and how to outperform competitors in positioning. A positioning goal could, for example, be something like this: ensure that existing customers are informed about the company's new services through mailing lists.

Vertical Marketing Goals- reflect the growth you strive for. For such purposes, percentages, numbers, and amounts of money always appear. “Increase market share from 12 to 14% by the end of 2017” or “Increase in 2017 profits from the sale of accounting software to hospitals and clinics from 500,000 to 600,000 rubles.”

Income goals- are not the exclusive competence of marketing specialists, but it is optimal if they take part in their formulation along with specialists financial service and sales department. These goals should be as specific as possible, taking into account the product line, region, etc.: “Provide an income of 10 million rubles per year from the sale of product X in region Y.”

Goals for identifying potential clients- it is worth including them in both annual and monthly goals, taking into account the marketing category. Identify the need for product X among workers in industry Y living in area Z.

2. B2B marketing and planning

2.1. Marketing Research

Standard marketing research consists of eight steps:

• Determination of research objectives: Without knowing your goals, you won't ask the right questions.
• Search for secondary sources of information: publication of research results conducted by government agencies, trade associations and non-profit organizations- source useful information, which does not require material costs and takes very little time.
• Identifying sources of information directly: individual interviews, online surveys, focus groups, telephone surveys, paper questionnaires.
• Preparing a sample survey. If 40% of your target audience lives in Siberia, about 40% of respondents must live in Siberia, otherwise the results of the study will have no value.
• Drawing up sample questions, testing them in a focus group and preparing the final version of the questionnaire.
• Collection of information: The sooner you conduct the survey, the better, because any data quickly becomes irrelevant.
• Information processing and: sorting and organizing, for simple projects it is possible to work with information manually, but there are now many possibilities for computer processing and analysis of data.
• Analysis and reporting: It is important to select the information you need and interpret it concisely; the shorter and simpler the reports, the better.

2.2. Marketing plan

Today they are increasingly saying that success in business is achieved by those who quickly respond to changing situations, and such “time sinks” as are unnecessary. However, successful marketers always create a plan that:

• helps determine priorities, since there are now too many marketing methods and tools;
• contains information about the sequence and duration of all actions;
• sets the direction of activity through clearly defined goals;
• helps measure progress towards goals;
• makes it possible to determine financially effective ways product promotion;
• provides the marketing team with a scenario of actions and defines the area of ​​responsibility of each team member;
• saves time on decision making.

There are many variations of marketing plans, here is just one of them:

Section 1. Explanatory note - brief overview plan.

Section 2. Situational analysis - a description of the progress (regression, stagnation) of your company over the past year.

Section 3. Main programs and items of expenditure in the current year and existing results.

Section 4. Marketing goals: positioning, vertical marketing, customer acquisition, PR and profitability.

Section 5: Creative Strategies: Unique Selling Proposition, Platforms, and Headlines.

Section 6. Determination of market niche; a list of all known segments: product, industry, location, company size, etc.

Section 7. Promotion strategies, what mechanisms to use: online promotion, direct marketing, printed publications, television and radio advertising, etc.

Section 8. Other Marketing Activities: Research, trade fairs and anything not listed in Section 7.

Section 9. Summary of the marketing budget: expenses for each item of the plan and the total amount.

You can add a “Risks” section to the plan, which will not only list possible problems, but also describe action algorithms in a given situation.

2.3. Assessing the success of a marketing campaign

To understand how successfully your b2b marketing is working, you first need to honestly answer the following questions:

Do you have a clearly defined value proposition that is present in all your marketing messages and promotions? Can all team members create a quick presentation based on it if necessary?


Is your brand/image accepted by the market? Does your view of the product/company match the views of existing and potential customers?


Does your company have an agreement between sales and marketing on the number of leads generated by marketing activities? Is the number of clients attracted enough to achieve your profit goals?


What percentage of the prospects you attract end up making a purchase?


Are you choosing the right target audience for a particular campaign? Do you maintain a database of potential and actual clients?

Are you equally successful at different stages of your marketing campaign? What are your weak points?

The following indicators also help determine the success of marketing activities:

• cost of a client request;
• percentage of inquiries converted into leads;
• percentage of potential customers who ultimately bring profit;
• sales efficiency depending on the territory;
• average check size;
• market opinion about your company and products;
• recognition of your trademark compared to competitors;
• customer lifetime value.

Short-sighted marketers consider the number of customers who make a purchase as a result of a marketing campaign to be the main criterion for success. In fact, the real skill of a marketer lies in turning a person who once makes a purchase into a repeat customer. Progressive organizations spend a lot of effort on customer retention because it's profitable. Marketing costs aimed at repeat sales are 5–10 times lower than the cost of attracting a new customer.

3. Strategy

3.1. Branding and positioning

Branding and positioning are aimed at shaping the opinions of customers and potential customers about the company and its products. Maybe, potential client I've never heard of you or your company. This is not bad because you have the opportunity to present yourself favorably. It is much more difficult to combat negative or misconceptions about a company and product. However, the worst thing is if potential clients know about you, but perceive you as a “consumer goods merchant.” At all costs, you need to convince them that you offer something special.

In B2B marketing, a successful branding and positioning strategy begins with honest and detailed answers to the following questions:

• What is the scope of the branding (organization, product line or product)?
• What market niche would you occupy in an ideal world where competitors, money and time are not important?
• What is your current market niche? Interview employees, clients and potential clients.
• What niche does each of your competitors occupy? Compare quality, services and prices.
• How justified is the positioning of the product (company) from the point of view of the company’s position in the market?
• Does the product or service positioning strategy run counter to the company’s mission and principles?
• This new product or a variation of an already known product or service? (The buyer asks the question: “What kind of product is this?” or wonders: “How does this model differ from the previous one?”)
• Do you have the opportunity to offer more low price than the competitor's?
• Can you occupy the desired niche, taking into account the answers to the previous questions?

Before moving to the next step (creating a creative platform), discuss the benefits and benefits of the brand with finance, marketing, sales, developers, and customer success. Finally, make sure your branding and positioning meets four criteria:

• Your brand/position differentiates you from others.
• The brand/position has clear, compelling benefits.
• The brand/position is characterized by maximum originality.
• The brand/position is easily perceived.

3.2. Creating a creative platform

Before you get started with texts and graphics, you need to take the time to create a creative platform consisting of the following elements:

• Defining the scope of the campaign: what problem are you trying to solve.
• Specification of the main and secondary target audience.
• Designation of goals: introduce the product, attract potential buyers, sell, etc.
• Compiling a list of product/service benefits.
• Formulation of the main selling idea: what is your uniqueness and why people will want to buy your product.
• Understanding the alternatives your competitors may offer.
• Writing a creative topic: how a marketing message, product/service story and offer can motivate action.
• “Sketches” of creative details: what the design elements will be (use of graphics, photographs, color choices, etc.).

3.3. Writing effective text

Dozens of books and hundreds of articles have been published on how to write strong texts. However, there is no universal algorithm, following which you will create a text that will certainly find a response in the soul of a potential client. At the same time, there are several secrets that help improve the effectiveness of a copywriter.

First of all, a copywriter must be a master of communication: he must make sure that a potential buyer not only learns about your product or company, but also understands 100% exactly what is written in the text. The proven AIDA formula helps you throw out your thoughts on paper (in a text file):

• Attention- attracting attention using graphics, original questions, etc.;
• Interest- maintain interest, for example, by talking about the benefits of the product;
• Desire- create a desire to receive what you offer;
• Action- push to action (filling out an online form, making a phone call, etc.).

A copywriter should remember an important rule: emotions come first, logic second. If you rely on listing the benefits of the product in the text, there is a high risk that the potential buyer will not read the text to the end. The decision to purchase is made, as a rule, on an emotional level: I want it - I don’t want it, I like it - I don’t like it.

Specifications and other details will be needed later to confirm the correct choice.

3.4. Attractive offer

An offer is the relationship between what you promise to give a potential buyer and what he should give in return. Here are 6 criteria for an effective B2B proposal:

It works, i.e. achieves the planned result.

It aligns with your company's positioning.

It is convincing enough to withstand market and consumer bias. Every day people receive hundreds of offers. You won't be heard unless your offer is truly unique..

It targets the right audience. Much depends on what position the potential client’s representative holds. An ordinary employee is more likely to be attracted by an offer that can help him advance in his career, increase his influence in a department or company, as well as speed up and simplify his work. The top manager will be inspired by the opportunity to increase sales and reduce financial and time costs.

It should be targeted at a specific stage of the sales cycle. Informative offers are effective when a potential client is just thinking about a possible purchase, and offers with a price are optimal in anticipation of a tender.

It should require immediate attention: “Call now and get a great offer!” Depending on your goals, different types of proposals can be effective, here are just a few:

Direct sale offer- exchange of goods or services for money, but in modern world this type of proposal is ineffective.

Offer special price- effective in relation to existing customers or potential customers who are already familiar with your product or service.

Introductory offer- special price for new clients; this offer may work to attract new customers, but it is risky in terms of worsening relationships with customers who buy at a higher price.

Offer special conditions- buy the product right now and receive interest-free installments for 6 months.

Special Incentive Offer- the one who makes a quick purchase receives a bonus (for example, “The first 10 buyers of office furniture will receive a 10% discount”).

Conclusion

To create a reliable marketing engine, you need to lay a solid foundation, carefully plan your campaign and develop a strategy for it.

An effective internet marketer must: be able to stop doing things that are ineffective, painful or unpleasant; always strive for victory, be able to focus on one thing, resist the opinion of the majority and persistent stereotypes, and do what is needed at the moment. In addition, he should resist the following “sins”: bias towards himself (towards his company), perfectionism, the temptation to live in the past, neglect of calculations, reluctance to take tests, passivity and lack of focus on what is important.

Before launch marketing company It is important to answer the following questions:

• What is the Big Idea?
• Who is your target audience?
• What are your goals?

The planning stage includes:

Conducting marketing research.

Drawing up a marketing plan that helps determine priorities, direction of activity, sequence and duration of all actions, and also measures progress towards achieving goals, suggests ways to promote the product, a scenario for action, the responsibilities of each team member and saves time.

Defining campaign success criteria.

Creating a creative platform involves: determining the scope of the campaign, primary and secondary target audiences, goals, listing product benefits, formulating a core selling idea, searching for alternatives that competitors may offer, writing a creative theme, and thinking about creative details.

Effective copy must be absolutely clear, attract attention, maintain interest, create desire for the product and encourage action. He primarily appeals to emotions, not logic.

Effective B2B proposals are actionable, consistent with the company's positioning, persuasive, targeted to a specific audience, targeted to a specific stage of the sales cycle, and the ability to attract attention.

Few people know what it is, the B2B sphere, although everyone who has ever looked at advertisements for current vacancies has read words like these: “To the sales department large company A manager is required, required in the B2B field for at least a year, the salary is high.” And such advertisements are published more and more often. What is the reason for the popularity of such employees? Is there really such a capacious and saturated market behind these three mysterious letters?

B2B - what does this mean, what are the features of working in this sector? Why do companies operating in this field require only experienced specialists, and why are wages higher than in other industries? Let's figure it out.

Learning terminology

B2B - what it is, decoding the abbreviation will help you understand. Behind it are the words “business to business,” which translated from English means “business for business.”

We can say about B2B that this is an area in which exclusively legal entities operate. The buyer subsequently uses the product for his own needs, production or provision of services to the public.

Can we say about the B2B sector that these are corporate sales? More likely yes than no. The line between them is very blurred, and almost no one separates them.

Working in B2B is very specific and requires special methods when developing marketing activities and conducting the negotiation process. It requires increased attention to personnel selection for the sales department.

Is this the right market?

Do you want to understand whether your company belongs to the B2B sector? Try to analyze your activities based on the following points:

the customer buys the product as raw material;

the client uses the product as a means of production (machines, packaging, tools, stationery, cars);

the client uses your services during the production process own product(transportation, consulting, personnel selection, IT, marketing);

• the customer is a business and consumes your product for their own needs ( building materials, fuels and lubricants, electricity, furniture, printed publications).

If at least one of the points applies to your business, we can say that the company operates in the B2B sector.

Who is my partner

B2C and B2B markets are often confused. What is it, what is the fundamental difference? The last abbreviation stands for “Business to Consumer”. That is, the partner of the legal entity in this case is the end consumer, an ordinary person purchasing a product (service) for personal use. Managers and ordinary employees of sales departments must distinguish between these two directions (B2B and B2C). What does this mean, how does it affect the workflow?

In the B2B market, the average contract price is significantly higher than in the B2C market, and buyers are much more discerning and competent. In each sector, communications with consumers follow their own special pattern and require their own, unique approach. These circumstances dictate various salespersons, personnel selection, and even the organization of employees' workdays.

They decide and decide

The method of making a decision to purchase a product is the main difference between the B2C and B2B markets. What it is and “what it’s eaten with” is easier to understand by looking at a simple example.

Let's imagine that the same person buys a phone, but is in two opposite situations. In the first case, he is a simple buyer, and the phone will be used as a means of personal communication. The decision is made fairly quickly, based on reviews in popular magazines, the prestige of the model and ergonomics. The seller has little influence on the selection process, since the communication time is short, and the buyer comes to the outlet with an already formed opinion.

But if the same person acts as the person responsible for purchasing telephone exchanges at the enterprise, the main factors influencing the selection process will be reliability, warranty, price service, the possibility of upgrading or expanding the network in the next few years. In addition, several more employees (IT specialist, supply manager) will participate in the decision making. Here, communication between the seller and the buyer takes place at the professional level, negotiations last for at least several days, and the selling party can have a significant influence on the final decision.

The above example clearly showed how simple relationships are in the B2C sector. Having analyzed it, we can say about B2B sales that this is highly intellectual work that requires the manager to have a thorough knowledge of his own product and great experience active sales. At the same time, in B2C transactions are quite simple.

One or two

An enterprise can operate in one market or in two at the same time. For example, travel companies, lawyers, dry cleaners, cleaning agencies, auto, railway or air transportation work with both legal and individuals. In their case, sales are divided into two areas for the correct application of sales technology.

There are enterprises that occupy only the B2B market. What is this or who is this? First of all, producers of raw materials, production components, industrial equipment. That is, those goods that the average citizen simply does not want to buy, since he will not be able to use them in the future.

B2B and media

All B2B market players sell exclusively professional products. These are publications published for the purpose of providing information necessary in the process of work. For example, specialized accounting journals, as well as those devoted to issues of management, logistics, medicine, construction and others. As a rule, they are all aimed at a certain profession or industry.

How can I serve you?

Regarding goods, necessary for business, everything is extremely clear and understandable, but the question arises: B2B services, what is it, what do enterprises need? They use the services of carriers, lawyers, doctors, insurers, cleaners, as well as business coaches and consultants, narrow specialists in related production process industries. Very often, contracts are concluded for the provision of seasonal services. For example, clearing the roof of snow, landscaping the area.

Choosing a seller

It is believed that a good salesman “will sell the devil to a bald man,” just like an excellent leader will be able to quickly organize any team. This is stated by almost all business coaches and popular manuals on acquiring sales skills. But is this true when we consider B2B sales?

That this is a completely separate genre of work has already been described above. Working with a business and providing services is quite difficult. And increased demands are placed on the manager.

What recruiters say about a good B2B salesperson is that he is a person:

possessing high skills as a “universal seller”, that is, knowledgeable and successfully applying sales technology and psychology;

having extensive professional knowledge in a given field (product knowledge) or intellectually developed enough to as soon as possible study it thoroughly.

If we draw an analogy with the game of chess, then a manager selling his company's goods or services to another business must masterfully play long games. In the corporate segment, the sales cycle can be very long, and the work of the seller is not limited to only fragmentary, short actions commercial offers, preparation of meetings and presentations). He must have strategic thinking, think through the game several steps ahead and be prepared for unexpected scenarios.

Personnel management

The correct approach to department management is one of key factors successful sales. As already mentioned, people in the B2B sector work in a slightly different format, and, accordingly, the approach to the leader of such a team should be special. Successful management and motivation experience in other industries cannot be thoughtlessly transferred to this market. For example, in FMCG companies, a manager reports on the number of meetings and calls, and his remuneration depends on this. And rightly so, because in this area the seller “feeds his feet.” But when a product is sold to another company, the number of cold calls is not critical, and it is also small, since the number of players in the B2B field is much smaller. Accordingly, the motivation system must be built in a completely different way.

New direction

It can be said about B2C and B2B that these are established trends that have been developed over the years. But times are changing, and, most likely, they will soon be replaced by new markets, such as C2B and C2C. In them, individuals will act as sellers, providing various services.

Growing every year. Almost every resident has available means of communication (telephone, Internet). Contact another person who owns the right product, is not difficult. And entrepreneurs developing the field of information technology only contribute to the emergence of such contacts by creating convenient and safe platforms for communication on the Internet.

An example of the above is the international online auction e-bay, where anyone can put up for sale items at their disposal. The organizers of the site have thought out efficient system points and ratings, helping to find the best seller and secure the transaction. Similar sites, which are local in nature, are open in many countries. There are also resources that facilitate the exchange of things and the organization of joint wholesale purchases. Or you can rent the items you need from another person.

In order for an enterprise to receive a confident and stable increase in profit, each client needs to organize its own, special approach. Therefore, a thorough analysis of partners, planning of future transactions and analysis of already completed ones are the key points of the successful work of the selling company.

The combination “b2b” appeared relatively recently in the CIS countries - not earlier than 2000 and stands for “business to business” (the number 2 replaces the word too). B2B sales – what does it mean? This means that the product of a certain company (computers, for example) is supplied to another company to modernize the work of the office, for example. This is an activity that involves collaboration with legal entities. The b2b sector operates with technically complex goods: CNC machines, nanotechnologies, complex communication devices. If a company uses a product (or service) for resale or modernization of production and at the same time creates new product or (service), then this is the B2B business model.

What is b2b

If you want to know what b2b is, then you need to turn to history. One of the most striking examples of the history of the United States is the period of the gold rush. Thousands of people rushed to mine gold dust. To work in the mines they needed boats, tools, clothing and food. Selling it all related product at inflated prices has enriched entrepreneurs much more than the washed-up sand of gold miners. One of these entrepreneurs bought all the sieves and shovels in the vicinity of gold mining and through the newspaper advertised new finds of gold and the seekers were forced to buy production tools at prices that were inflated by at least 50 times. Jack London also made B2B history by building and selling boats to gold miners.

What is a b2b market

b2b market – what is it? The market sector that organizes cooperation between enterprises in the production process and their acquisition of goods or services is the b2b market. Sales here are made wholesale at the enterprise level. Interaction with mass consumers is excluded. The subjects in the b2b market are business managers, b2b marketing specialists, commercial directors other enterprises. In this market sector there is no need to appeal to a wide range of consumers, which distinguishes the b2b market with some specifics:

• Lack of global advertising campaigns in the media.
• The importance of the external attractiveness of the product is given a secondary role - the main thing is the functional characteristics.
• The global Internet network is acquiring paramount importance in promoting various goods or services.

The decision to purchase or sell goods or services in the b2b market is made by a team of specialists - the so-called purchasing center. The participants of this center have common goals and, most importantly, share responsibility for the risk of the decision made. A marketer conducting an analysis of the market for a product or service must take all possible measures to reduce this risk. The decision is influenced by several factors, the main one of which is the reputation of the supplier. The image is formed over more than one year and is characterized by:

• Reliability of financial position.
• History of development and policy of the enterprise.
• The quality of the goods and services provided, as well as the number of responses to the offered product.
• Secondary factors: the office environment and its equipment, the composition and number of employees, their image, and so on.

Promotion of goods and services in the b2b market consists of organizing and participating in exhibitions and fairs, holding conferences and presentations, as well as placing and promoting trading platforms on the Internet.

What is the difference between b2b sales?

The difference between the business-to-business market and the business-to-consumer market can be determined using examples.

• The media (as well as advertising in transport, on billboards and leaflets) are designed for the mass consumer, that is, private buyers. Professional publications (for example, a magazine for restaurateurs) have a target audience of narrow specialists and satisfy only their interests. This is B2B.
• The vast majority of sites on the Internet social media and the groups in them are intended for the mass reader, that is, the consumer. Business Internet portals, official websites of companies, trading platforms with the possibility of online sales are intended for the b2b sector.
• Regular stores and other small ones retail outlets intended for trade with private individuals, that is, with the population. Wholesale trading companies with huge warehouses are typical for b2b.
• The consumer buys a prestigious phone or car to satisfy the desire to keep up with fashion or ambitions. The company purchases these same phone models to make large profits, since it knows the weak points of consumers. It doesn’t matter to a b2b buyer whether this product is fashionable or not - the main thing is that it sells well.
• Self-promotion of an enterprise or salon is aimed at the mass consumer. Involving an agency in advertising is more typical for the b2b sector.

Personnel for the b2b market

A b2b sales manager bears little resemblance to a fellow manager retail chains. First of all, it is a great responsibility, since huge sums and the reputation of the enterprise are at stake.

Psychologists have proven that decisions made under strict control are almost never spontaneous and unreasonable. Therefore, b2b managers have clear criteria for making decisions; they must be specialists in the full understanding of this word. They are significantly superior in their competence to their colleagues from retail. And to increase sales they must offer non-standard offers.

For example, your corporate clients The online store offers the purchase of goods that are not in the public catalogue.

An example of a motivational program to increase sales: “work well, rest well.” Before conducting a motivational program for their partners, b2b marketers conducted a comprehensive analysis of the hobbies of the target audience (corporate buyers), as a result of which they offer additional bonuses from the sale of a certain product. Earned bonuses can be spent on your hobby in a specially created online store.