For years, your business has thrived selling to other companies as a supplier. Those other companies would sell your product to consumers on your behalf.
Everything had gone smoothly.
However, now your new marketing lead wants to reap higher revenue margins by offering your product to consumers directly.
Three months later, your business buyers have deserted you, your consumer sales don’t make up for the B2B revenue losses, and you’re actively interviewing for a new marketing lead.
The problem with porting over an existing marketing program is that B2B and B2C purchasing behaviour is vastly different. Product or service lifecycle, path to conversion, and simple decision-making affect your sales strategy and must be accounted for to find the same type of success.
Winning Sales Tactics That Work for Both B2B and B2C
The difference between B2B and B2C sales does not necessarily come down to the tactic – it’s about the application of it. While the core principal is the same, it’s success depends on creating an approach that will resonate with the target.
Targeted Messaging
When focusing on each level of the purchasing funnel—Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion—benchmark goals are met through audience targeting, call-to-actions, and right-place/right-time messaging.
You must create unique and targeted messaging within each stage of the purchasing journey to keep the sales flowing. Your message to a business owner is going to be different than your message to a consumer.
Customer Education
Regularly delivered content that enhances the conversation will scale to reach all customers. Content makeup changes over time, but if you aim to educate your customer about what your product does, they will hold a higher value for it.
An informed buyer always shortens the sales cycle. Education is crucial to demonstrating your unique value and product usage. However, it is important to keep in mind that education for B2B and B2C customers will be different as they have different requirements and uses for your product or service.
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Six Areas to Consider with Your Sales Strategy
Rational vs. Emotional Messaging
Business purchasers are logical with their decisions, as costs are generally higher and more stakeholders share responsibility. Consumers’ emotions, however, are susceptible to B2C marketers.
Are you failing to appeal to a consumer’s emotional reaction?
Ability to Pay
For business marketing, some annual moments are more favorable to generate a sale. In some cases, budgets must be spent before the quarter ends. In comparison, consumers may spend whenever they have money, such as paydays or tax refunds.
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Purchasing Times
Pitching B2B buyers during work hours makes sense as purchasing is part of their job. However, your consumer audience has a different purchasing schedule.
Are you expecting a response when no one is home?
Education vs. Research
Both businesses and consumers need information about what you offer. Proper business is conducted with the mindset to create a lifetime partnership, supported by B2B customers that are fully educated on your products and processes. Consumers may perform research to get the gist of your unique value, but neither require nor desire extensive explanation.
If you’re using the same educational content for consumers, is it overwhelming and off-putting?
Stakeholders
Due to the size and importance of B2B purchases, there is likely a chain of command to finalize a sale. In B2C, consumers have the final say. Your calls-to-action may be failing if they are not direct to the consumer. ‘Learn More’ can serve both audiences, but focuses on consideration. ‘Call Now’ indicates you expect a purchase from your next customer touchpoint.
Are your marketing messages respecting the consumer as the final decision maker?
Lifetime Value
Business buyers aspire to create long-term partnerships for their companies. These provide the best deals, enable quick request fulfillment, and leverage shared assets. Consumers want to be loyal to a brand, with less interaction with the company.
Do you expect your B2C customer to be your business partner or your brand ambassador?
Sales Strategies Don’t Multitask Any Better Than You
Your strategies should already be unique to meet your goals, but it’s how you speak to your buyer that matters in B2C. If we conducted our personal lives as we do in business, there’d be no work/life separation, essential to productivity.
The same B2B buyers spend two-thirds of their day as B2C purchasers. If you’re speaking the right language at the right time, you will close more sales.
B2B sales strategies fail because it takes a dedicated message using the right voice to close B2C leads. Adjusting your tone will make all the difference.
