b2b or b2c

Business as usual.

B2B is not much different from B2C and these 2 factions should in a near future be extinct since they are no longer needed to define a customer. B2G would still need to be on a planet on its own since it uses very different rules and mechanisms compared to the other 2.

Selling to a business is in many regards no different from selling to a consumer and vice versa so why divide it up in to factions at all?

B2C would be the original.

Behind the scenes at retail, there is another factor at work. Corporations and independent store owners alike are always trying to get the edge on their competitors. One way to do this is to hire a merchandising solutions company to design custom store displays that will attract more customers in a certain demographic. The nation’s largest retailers spend millions every year on in-store marketing programs that correspond to seasonal and promotional changes. As products change, so will a retail landscape. Retailers can also use facing techniques to create the look of a perfectly stocked store, even when it is not.

A destination store is one that customers will initiate a trip specifically to visit, sometimes over a large area. These stores are often used to “anchor” a shopping mall or plaza, generating foot traffic, which is capitalized upon by smaller retailers.

More B2C would be big companies selling to another big company that is the end consumer but this would still (for most) fall under B2B.

B2B

1 company selling their products to another company.

Hmmm.

The selling process would be almost identical so lets focus on the differences or what you could change.

If you are a b2b seller then you should benefit greatly by looking up how b2c are marketing themselves and use the same marketing technic to your benefit. Your order value would typically be astronomical compared to the b2c orders but you should still treat the it like any other order since it’s still down to the basics: do the customer get enough value for their cash. (and do they like you and what you represent).

As a b2c seller you should learn to present your marketing efforts as hard facts and readable data.

I’ll give you an example. Working for a strict ceo that had the policy to never ever pay for radio, tv or marketing campaigns but only used the company’s excellent sales force as the only marketing tool. That gave him control over what worked and how it worked and more importantly why it worked! After a couple of years he stood back and hired a new ceo. It took him 2 months to spend a couple of millions on a tv ad and run it. when we was informed about this (sitting at the board of executives we were all surprised about being informed after the campaign and not before) we asked how this had contributed in more sales. He had no hard facts at all he had just spent the money hoping that it would generate sales as he was sure it would. The add had the benefit had at most given the brand a better recognition among folks but other than that he basically burnt the money.

When not measuring values before a campaign you can not measure how succesful (or unsuccessful) it was since you have nothing to measure it against.

So lets sell b2b or b2c and focus on the deal instead of the etiquette.

Stay in touch!

There is a saying that it costs  5 times the effort to get a new customer than it does to keep an existing one.

Interesting that so few out there seems to acknowledge this.

What would count as staying touch then?

Different for each customer?

Keep it simple.

The best tools for this would be old-fashioned mail. (Emails tend to end up in the junk category and if they are read they tend to be discarded with only a quick glance). First of if you want to send flashy big baskets of fruit and candy then do so but a christmas card is just as effective business wise. Still don’t think a card is enough? then add a charity donation in the customers name and put it on the card so they can feel good knowing that the basket they expected, feed a whole village in some other country .

So christmas cards is good, then you get in touch 1 time/ year.

Birthday cards is really good. I’ve used this for years and customers love it and so do I, when I get a congratulation card cause it shows that someone actually took the time and effort to send this. To get the customers birthday is usually a skill in it self since some people don’t want to get in to this and others of c has no problem with it. Explain what you want it for then its never a problem.

And this is what it’s all about really, showing that you send them a thought, put down some time and effort for the sake of staying in touch.

How about that, now we have 2 stay in touches / year.

And both are non sales opportunities, they should be only for staying in touch purposes so don’t pitch on the cards (or what you choose to send).

How about lunch?

Getting a customer to lunch are easy. sending the right message is important however so please make sure the restaurant is up to your standards (if you don’t have any its ok, ask someone who is picky about eating out or read some of the local reviews). You don’t want to end up with food poisoning your customer . The reason you are at the restaurant is to create a nice away from the office setting for checking out how your product/service is being used,thought off, implemented, if any improvements can be made to better it and if they need/ want something else. So make sure you get a nice table where you can’t talk undisturbed or if that is not possible just eat and chat away and book a new meeting so you can get a better shot at this. Since the purpose of the lunch is staying in touch you don’t actually have to sell anything but you should definitely be listening intently on what the customer has to say since they always (if allowed to talk freely) will give you information that you will need in the future.

Facebook, linkedin and twitter. (Internet social media)

Be there or be no where?

The world of business is still done mostly face to face and that is good. staying in touch however can certainly be made by these channels and makes it much easier to. If you don’t have the time to call or write emails to your customer but need them to know you still exist then write on their wall or just press the like button when you actually like what they said. They will not remember what you liked and mostly not what you have written they will remember you and that was the goal here.

Phone call /chat /video chat.

Have a purpose for calling! if it’s for staying in touch have something to say or don’t call at all. We are all in business and are therefore busy.

So to sum up.

Christmas card, birthday card, lunch, social media and phone.

This way you will be remembered by the customer and you can sell more to them and also free up time to get new ones without risking to lose the existing ones.

 

add-on sales

So who is your most important customer?

The one in front of you.

If they have signed a contract or purchased something over the counter from you, then they are very inclined to buy more from you right now. The add-on sales is easier than the initial sell to.

What do you have that you can sell that will go in line with your product that the customer bought?

If nothing is the answer think hard on what accessories or added features you can add since these will be very easy to sell to the customer and create additional income for you.

Also add-on sales can be as easy as mailing out to existing customers. The hitrate will be lower but the effort will be minimal for the cash earned. If you have big customers / few customers then going there with the purpose of add-on sales is not frowned up on but actually expected. In this way you will do a customer satisfaction meeting and having the opportunity to expand and deepen your cooperation with the customer and even develop new products for said customer.

If a customer wants you to add benefits /gadgets /change the product  to better fit the needs of the customer should you do it?

Yes if you can treat it as add-on sales. In other words if the customer can pay for it or if you see a greater market potential in the suggestions.

So utilize old fashioned mail, email, the phone (or a telemarketing firm), book a meeting. Anything to get more add-on sales and think about starting a newsletter that will come out 1-2 times a year, chances are that the customer will appreciate it and create a mental note about it. and you can use this to launch new add-on´s for your products.

 

Add-on sales is good value for both you and your customers so take the opportunity to sell more!

 

Talk the talk

Ever been listening intently on a person?

Most have not.

Since the verbal part of human communication is so small (between 10-20% of the information we send being face to face comes from our words (% varies depending who you ask)) most develop listening skills that uses the eyes and less so the ears.

This has a big impact on how you come across when you talk. You can prepare meticulously for your presentation or your pitch and most of us do. And then the recipient don’t even listen to our words but our body language and face expressions and eye movement.

Ouch.

Most of the people you meet in business uses this to read us without anything but experience to do it some are trained in this field so they are better than police interrogators in reading us.

So if you are poor in body language can you compensate for this with a better presentation?

Yes and no. A simple trick will be to seek eye contact and have a good written/visual presentation to take the heat. Try  to do as little movements as possible. (I will do a body language post later on.) REMEMBER TO SMILE!

So lets concentrate on the words coming out.

Talking in positive form only is the goal or for most a vision. Trying to say everything in positive form will make you more likeable and will enhance you and your product.

All negatives will be just that. Negatives will decrease your value as well as your product/company.

Being insecure (you will automatically use more negatives when insecure) will also be revealed when speaking with belittling / weak words like :

• not – it is better to say what is than what is not. Put your statements in the positive. Even words like “never” or “nothing” are better than “not”. “Not” is fine when stating the contrary: “I like Paris, not France.”

I’m sure you get the point and click the link on “not” to read a bit more on the subject.

So how to learn how to speak in positive form? Practice on every one you meet and I do mean every one!

Go in to discussions and try to win them by just saying positive things try with your partner and friends first and when you get better use it in presentations and pitching. You should after a bit of training be able to twist anything to your advantage regardless on the subject if you manage this then you’re a pro!

After a pitch / presentation you should rewind and press play to go trough it in your head and change the parts that you could differently. If you have the luxury of having colleagues you should let them ride along with you for 2-3 meetings and have them register negative and weak words so you can get an instant feedback on this. If you work alone this will take more time to get right. You will get there and you will see a clear difference between your presentation now and then but more importantly you will see a higher closing percentage.

Stay positive and practice on everyone!

Ps. Heres another link to weak words. Ds

sales reluctance

sales reluctance,

This is something that is commonly known as sales calls reluctance or a block.

Its something inside your head that makes you reluctant to pick up the phone and book your next meeting or even goes so far as making you physically ill in some cases.

the early signs would be irritability and personality changes in you / or your sales staff. be very observant on these small signs since you will have to deal with them immediately or they will grow into a major pain problem. I had a person in my staff that at first was nice to every one and then gradually began to be more introvert and after more time started being irritated on her colleges. things that a normal person would not even consider to be bothers worthy. she eventually “hit the wall” and had to quite her job. we had of course had numerous meetings about how we could ease her situation (and her colleges) but nothing seemed to be helping and if they did it was usually for a short period of time.

She had sellers block and was afraid / hesitant / reluctant to lift the phone since they (the customers) was mean / nasty towards her according to her. Listen in on her to calls to try to help her i could detect that she almost urged the customers to be aggressive like she wanted it to become a bad call.

this is how far something like this can go. but it surely it’s an extreme case. I have since this case been much more observant on the negativity and phrasing on sellers to change the path they stake out for themselves and on the bottom line the path they stake out for your company.

If you have the symptoms of sales reluctance then make sure to address it straight away to not let a small snowball create an avalanche.

How do you do that?

Review your last couple of days and your performance on the phone when booking meetings. if you start to see a did in performance and booked meetings then you should try to go back to a safe way of doing it like a script or pitch paper and use that since this has worked before it will work for you again. Start to build self-confidence in your ability to book new meetings and hopefully you will get up to speed again.

talk with someone who you trust and ask them to “spot” you ie listen in and come with positive critic and if this don’t work then really you should try to get external help like a sales coach or consultant since this will severely affect your ability to conduct any sort of business.

Usually you can check your new contracts numbers and see that you don’t take in any or very few since its much more convenient and easy to call existing customers.

Hope this helps someone!