Introduction to B2B & B2C
Many B2B sales agencies and B2B outsourcing companies also deal with B2C engagement and development. Apart from the obvious difference in the latter, not many know the major differences between B2B sales development and B2C sales development.
Let’s start with the full forms; B2B stands for business to business, whereas B2C stands for business to customer. B2B sales involves one business selling their products/services to another business, whereas B2C involves a business selling their products/services to individual customers. Now that we have gotten the most basic differences out of the way, let’s look at some of the major differences between B2B and B2C sales processes.
1. Buyers
Because B2B involves selling to a business, there are usually multiple buyers involved in the business transaction. In case of bigger companies, stakeholders are involved in B2B transactions. B2C transactions generally involve a single buyer who’ll buy the goods/products from the seller.
2. Product Complexity
Products/services offered in B2B sales are often highly complex or extensively featured, such as a software firm offering their software for use to another business. B2C products, on the other hand, are quite simplified, such as a hardware website or store selling general hardware to a customer.
3. Outsourcing Agency
Because B2B transactions are quite complex from the beginning right until the end, many businesses hire a B2B sales agency or a B2B outsourcing company to facilitate the proper development of B2B sales. B2C sales, on the other hand, can be readily done by the seller itself without involving any 3rd party firm unless necessary.
4. Sales Cycles
When an individual buys a product from a website or store, the product may come with a limited warranty if applicable, or none. This means short sale cycles in case of B2C. But B2B deals often have long sales cycles ranging from 1 year to 3-5 years or even more, depending on the contract between the companies.
5. Value of Purchases
B2B business dealing, in addition to complex products/services deployed for business use, involve sales in high volume. For example, a firm that requires hardware for their office will buy the hardware from a relevant business in bulk, which will mean more sales and more value of purchase for the latter. For B2C however the value of purchase is low, and firms generally make less profits in B2C as compared to B2B sales.
6. Skills Required for Sales
B2C sales require a general idea about the features of a product or a service along with regular skills, which can be marketed to consumers who may buy it. B2B sales however require extensive knowledge of a product/service, along with exceptional selling, communication, research and negotiation skills in order to have a higher chance of closing the transaction.
7. Length of Support
B2B sales are always accompanied by extended and customized support, for they are an entirely different level of clients when compared to individual customers. For example, the buyer may require support from the seller at odd times, and the seller has to be ready for it whenever needed. In case of B2C sales however, support is given only during normal business hours subjected to availability. This does not means that the seller has abandoned the buyer, it’s just that after-sales assistance is given on an availability basis with limited features as compared to B2B support.
8. Adaptability to Change
B2C sales typically revolve around a set customer demographic who will likely remain as potential customers. That means the selling firm involved in B2C sales does not have to radically change any promotional campaigns, marketing tactics or other such prospection plans in order to draw in customers unless they launch a different product for a different demographic. In case of B2B sales however, the selling firms must be ready for change of marketing and research tactics because the clients may be very different from each other. For example, a coffee chain may approach a software firm to license their database software for their use, while a school also may contact them for the same software. The product is nearly the same, but the target clients are vastly different from each other, requiring the selling firm to chalk up appropriate researches and tactics for each of those potential customers.
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