In the modern world, one of the most effective forms of doing business is B2B. What is business to business, and what marketing tools are used in this segment? Let's talk about this in this article.
Concept B2B
The term B2B, or business to business, means a way of doing business in which a product or service is sold to a legal entity, rather than an ordinary consumer. The decision to purchase in this case is made by a group of people called a B2B center, and the buyer’s choice is based on rational motives - to develop their own business. This is the fundamental difference between B2B and B2C - another way of doing business.
Different “universes” of B2B and B2C sales
Without understanding the clear differences between the concepts of B2C and B2B (trading platform), it is impossible to manage them effectively. These are different universes, different methods and different results.
In B2C, all actions are aimed at a private individual, that is, an ordinary consumer who is ready to buy something. Of course, advertising plays an important role in this. It encourages a person to shop. Under her influence, we go shopping for entertainment, mood enhancement or confirmation of social status. We work in order to buy something, it does not matter - this is food, clothing or luxury goods.
In the B2B segment, the client is a legal entity, therefore there is no concept of “pleasure from the purchase”, and the goals are set exclusively rational - further profit.
Absolutely different motives affect the purchase of goods or services in these segments. B2C is characterized by the use of mass advertising, a large role is played by the brand, which opens up a certain status for the buyer, for which he is ready to overpay. Fashion, brand and personal attitude do not affect the B2B sphere. What is the saving - the purchaser understands, since his profit directly depends on it. It is more profitable for him to buy a product, the cost of which did not include the costs of advertising and marketing.
B-clients, unlike C-clients, often outperform sellers in competence, moreover, they, as a rule, are well aware of the specifics of the market from the inside, since they work with one type of product, hold tenders and look for the most favorable conditions. For them, advertising or branding will be simply ineffective, B2B marketing is a much more complex, special concept and technology for selling to customers who have “everything.” Let's consider it in more detail.
Trust in B2B Marketing
How to show your superiority against the background of competitors and prove to the contractor that you should deal with? In the field of B2B, what trust is, they understand very well that getting it and not losing it is one of the main ways to win a tender. How to do it?
Firstly, there is no need to give empty promises, trying to stand out among similar firms. The risk of not justifying oneself is very high, which means harming one's own reputation.
Secondly, the open “kitchen” of the seller company can contribute to the trust between the companies. Show the client the structure, production, employees who will carry out work on the project. The more understandable and accessible this information is, the higher the level of trust will arise in relation to you.
Thirdly, do not exclude B2B reviews about your company, of course, if each positive statement is supplemented by the phone number of a satisfied customer.
Be sure to reinforce the case study negotiations, that is, real examples of successfully completed projects and fictitious situations to demonstrate what you are ready to handle in case of unforeseen circumstances.
Not a single B2B marketplace can do without documentary evidence, so be sure to prepare licenses, certificates, patents and other necessary papers.
And the most important thing is to prove the economic benefit for the buyer.
How to achieve payback?
To achieve payback, you need to justify the customer its benefits from the acquisition of your product. Suppose your company provides training and training for various employees in PowerPoint. To justify the economic benefits of the client you need to know:
- How many employees will learn PowerPoint and how much time they spend working on the program per week.
- How much does an average employee cost per hour.
Based on feedback from previous customers, we know that the time spent working with presentations after training is halved. Naturally, the figure should be honest.
We calculate the benefit of the buyer and the cost of the service:
- cost of an hour of work - X;
- the number of hours a week - Y;
- after training - Y / 2.
It turns out savings: X * Y / 2 * 4 (the number of weeks in a month) * the number of trained workers. This figure may be the price for your services.
Do not forget to note how many months this investment will pay off for the customer.
B2B directions
This example shows one of the directions of the B2B sphere - the provision of services and assistance in doing business. Moreover, these services can be completely different, from cleaning to auditing.
The classic forms of business to business are also wholesale and complex sales to buyers or their own dealer network, corporate and government orders, tenders.
Benefits of B2B
What is “difficulties in business for business” is understandable - it is a direct dependence on customers and the risk of their loss, low margin. This is evidenced by the reviews of professional managers. Now let's talk about the advantages of this form.
- in B2B, competition is not as fierce as in B2C;
- there are no large costs for marketing, because cooperation is conducted more on personal negotiations and the work of the seller;
- a lot of insider information to help increase profits.
In conclusion. B2B is an active sales area. The more you act, the sooner you will form the base of your customers, and the sooner you will start making a profit.