Marketing & Brand Growth
Selling to a business is not selling to a person with a bigger budget
A business purchase usually involves several people, more checking and a longer wait. The marketing that works looks different from consumer marketing: fewer prospects, more relevance, more proof and more patience. This session helps owners who sell to other businesses adjust their approach.
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In B2B, one good customer can matter more than a hundred enquiries.
Business buyers are accountable for their decisions. They may be worried about reliability, quality, price and what their manager will say if it goes wrong. They often talk to a few suppliers and take weeks or months to decide.
Owners who sell to businesses sometimes copy consumer tactics, such as broad posts and discounts, and wonder why they get little. The work is more targeted and more patient.
What the session covers
37 topics across 7 areas. Seven parts, from understanding the buyer to handing over to sales.
How Business Buying DiffersDifferent pressures, different process.5
- Several people involved in one decision
- Longer decisions, often with comparison quotations
- Lower tolerance for risk and surprise
- Repeat orders and relationships over single sales
- Payment terms, paperwork and approvals as part of the sale
Who You Are Really Selling ToUser, influencer, approver, payer.5
- The person who uses what you supply
- The person who recommends or specifies it
- The person who approves the spend
- The person who processes the payment
- What each cares about, and what each needs from you
A message that persuades the user but ignores the approver often goes nowhere.
Choosing and Finding the Right BusinessesA short list beats a broad net.5
- Describing your best existing business customers: size, trade, location, need
- Finding more like them through trade associations, directories and events
- Professional networks and industry groups where your buyers gather
- Asking current customers for introductions
- Writing a target list of twenty, not two thousand
Outreach That Respects the ReaderRelevant, short and honest.6
- One sentence on why you are writing to this business in particular
- What you do, in terms of their problem
- One clear, modest request, such as a short call
- Making it easy to say no
- Following the rules on promotional calls and messages, and checking the current ones
- Using contact details from a source where it is reasonable to use them for this purpose
Mass copy-paste outreach harms your name in a small business world where people talk.
Proof Business Buyers Look ForEvidence, not adjectives.6
- Descriptions of work done, with the customer's permission
- References a buyer can call
- Registrations, certificates and compliance papers relevant to your trade
- Samples, trials or small pilot orders
- Clear terms: price basis, delivery, warranty, payment
- A professional, accurate website or profile with real contact details
Only claim what you can show. If you do not yet have proof, say what you can offer instead.
Staying in Touch During a Long SaleUseful, not annoying.5
- Agreeing next steps at the end of each conversation
- Follow-up that adds something: information, a sample, an answer
- A rhythm you can maintain across many prospects
- Recording each contact in one place
- Knowing when to pause or politely close a file
Marketing and Sales Working TogetherThe hand-off decides outcomes.5
- What counts as a lead worth a call
- Who calls, how quickly and with what information
- A shared list with status and notes
- Learning which messages produce good conversations
- In a small business, where owner and salesperson are the same person, making time for each
Exercises owners can do the same week
- Describe the best three business customers and what they have in common
- List the people involved in one recent business sale
- Build a target list of twenty named businesses
- Write a four-line outreach message and ask a colleague to critique it
- List the proof you have, and what you lack
- Set up a simple follow-up sheet
What this session is not
- A guarantee of new business customers
- A course on sales negotiation or tendering
- Legal advice on communications or contracts
- A recommendation to buy contact lists
How the session runs
A workshop of about two to three hours, best with owners who sell to businesses in some form: manufacturers, service providers, suppliers and consultants. The practitioner works through a hypothetical supplier example, then participants apply each step to their own business. Peer feedback is built in: owners critique one another's outreach messages and target lists.
What your students leave with
- A map of who is involved when a business buys what they sell
- A short list of the kind of businesses they should target, and how to reach them
- A short outreach message that is relevant and respects the reader
- A set of proof they can legitimately show, and a list of gaps
- A follow-up rhythm for long sales that does not become pestering
- A clear hand-off between marketing and sales
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
In business markets, relevance and patience beat volume.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.