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 it in this article.
B2B Concept
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, and not to an ordinary consumer. The decision to buy in this case is made by a group of people called B2B-center, and the choice of the buyer 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 B2C and B2B (marketplace), 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 person, i.e. an ordinary consumer who is ready to buy something. Of course, advertising plays an important role in this. It encourages people to shop. Under its influence, we go shopping for entertainment, mood enhancement or social confirmation.status. We work to buy something, whether it's food, clothes or luxury goods.
In the B2B segment, the client is a legal entity, so there is no concept of “purchase pleasure”, and the goals are set exclusively rational - further profit.
Completely different motives affect the purchase of a product or service in these segments. B2C is characterized by the use of mass advertising, a big 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 saving - the buyer understands, because 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-customers, unlike C-customers, often outperform sellers in competence, moreover, they usually know the inside of the market well, because they work with one type of product, hold tenders and look for the most favorable conditions. For them, advertising or branding will simply be ineffective, B2B marketing is a much more complex, special concept and technology for selling to buyers who “have everything”. Consider it in more detail.
Trust in B2B Marketing
How to show your superiority against competitors and prove to the contractor that you are worth doing business with? In the field of B2B, what is trust, they understand very well, getting it and not losing it is one of the main ways to win a tender. Like thisdo?
First of all, don't make empty promises trying to stand out from similar firms. The risk of failing to justify oneself is too high, which means damaging one's own reputation.
Secondly, the open “kitchen” of the selling company can contribute to trust between companies. Show the client the structure, production, employees who will work on the project. The clearer and more accessible this information is, the higher the level of trust will arise in relation to you.
Third, do not exclude B2B reviews about your company, of course, if each positive statement is complemented by a satisfied customer's phone number.
Be sure to back up your case study negotiations with real-life examples of projects you've successfully completed and fictional situations to show what you're prepared to handle in the event 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 most importantly, to prove the economic benefit for the buyer.
How to get payback?
To achieve payback, you need to justify to the customer his benefit from the purchase of your product. Let's say your firm provides training and trains various employees in PowerPoint. To justify the economic benefit of the client, you need to find out:
- How many employees will be trained in PowerPoint and for how longspend on work in the program per week.
- The average hourly cost for this employee.
Based on feedback from previous clients, we know that presentation time is halved after training. Naturally, the figure must be honest.
We calculate the benefit of the buyer and the cost of the service:
- cost of an hour of work - X;
- number of hours per week – Y;
- after training – Y/2.
It turns out savings: XY/24 (number of weeks in a month)number of trained workers. This figure may be the price for your services.
Don't forget to note how many months this investment will pay off for the customer.
B2B directions
This example shows one of the areas of B2B - the provision of services and assistance in doing business. Moreover, these services can be completely different, from cleaning the premises to auditing.
Classic forms of business to business are also wholesale and complex sales to buyers or our own dealer network, corporate and government orders, tenders.
B2B Benefits
What is “difficulties in business for business” is understandable - this is a direct dependence on customers and the risk of losing them, low marginality. This is evidenced by the reviews of professional managers. Now let's talk about the pros of this form.
- B2B is not as competitive as B2C;
- no big marketing costs, because cooperation is more personalnegotiations and work of the seller;
- a lot of insider information to help increase profits.
And finally. B2B is the area of active sales. The more you act, the sooner you will form a base of your customers, and the sooner you will start to make a profit.
