B2B Selling
one company making a commercial transaction with another company
creatively joining your company’s capabilities with your customer’s needs
Boundary personnel
sellers, particularity in partnering roles, are often called upon as the liaison to manage both intrafirm and inter firm conflicts. sellers, thus, are often in the role of boundary personnel, the diplomats of the organization
dyadic interactions
one-on-one meetings or sessionsbetweek stakeholders in the buying center and the seller. a typical sales call by a seller on a buyer would qualify as a dyadic interaction.
b2b vs b2c selling
- more time consuming
- more relational between buyer and seller
- stakes are greater in terms of value and sale
b2b sales relationship
- comprised of buyers and sellers
- span boundaries of own orgs and customers
- liaison to other key organizations
- can be major asset in buyer-seller relationship
characteristics of b2b selling (5)
- repeated, ongoing relationship
- solution-oriented,total system pay off
- long term period before selling effort pays off
- continuous adjustment of needs
- creativity of seller in problem solving often demanded by buyer
“-repeated, ongoing relationship”
series of dyadic interactions
“-solution-oriented,total system pay off”
- customers buy solutions
- understand needs and motives of buying center
long term period before selling effort pays off
outcome may not known for months or years
use development period to reinforce value offering and reduce risk feeling in customer
3 things for a successful relationship
mutual respect
trust
authenticity
levels of relationship
- discrete exchange (short duration with minimum involvement)
- differentiating an undifferentiated product (greater degree of social interaction rather than collaboration or partnering)
- multiple transactions (repeated interaction and ongoing relational exchange )
- collaboration or partnering (level of intimacy is sought by both parties)
switching costs
costs that a consumer incurs as a result of changing brands, suppliers or products
relational exchange
customer-supplier relationship where the interaction recognizes the long-term benefit of the combination.
inward sales driven cultures
maximizing production/sales is often the goal
- production era
- product era
- sales era
market value driven cultures
maximizing market choice or life quality and focus on satisfying needs
- marketing era
- societal/partnering/value network era
order taker
take orders and ensure timely delivery of the correct products
persuader/sustainer
- proactive role in relationship
- updates customer about offerings
- convinces customers of offerings value
- maintains and nurture existing relationships with established customers
motivator/problem solver
- focused on the needs of the customers organization
- finds unique customer solutions by matching supplier capabilities and customer needs
- a customer resource
relationship/value creator
- builds and maintains partnership with all elements of the buying center
- relationship is mutually inspiring
- both seller and buyer recognize equity in the others success
field-marketers
market developments, focus on translation, finding new customers, fiding and testing new markets, developing new business
post-sale customer service
reinforce purchase decision
mutual needs of buyer/seller
- needs of job function
- needs of organization
- individual needs of buyer
- individual needs of seller
call pattern
sequence or cycle of sales calls typical for a given type of product or customer
sales call
in-person meeting between seller and stakeholder in customer buying center
