Big Fish, Big Pond: Business To Business Internet Marketing
B2B vs B2C: Separating the men from the boys
Those of you who’ve worked in sales know that the BIG DOGS play in the B2B world. Anyone can sell to your average Joe, but it takes a real education to break down the doors of an established company and convince them that your product is of any value.
While the basics of selling are the same no matter who you’re marketing to, there are some slight nuances to selling in a B2B setting which you should take into account.
If you’re planning on selling internet marketing in a business to business setting, there are some GENERAL guidelines which you should follow.
The first thing you need to do is get some leads. Thanks to Google, this is as simple as a keyword search for your specific industry.
Open the pages of a hundred or so websites. We’re looking for QUALIFIED prospects, which in our case means business which could benefit from our expertise as online marketers.
How do you know who to market your services to?
Theoretically, ANYONE with an active web presence marketing a good or service is a potential customer. The only way for you to determine who is a qualified lead and who isn’t is by MAKING CONTACT.
This step can be scary for newbie marketers, especially those who have no experience in direct selling. But take heart, because most people are as uncomfortable TALKING TO STRANGERS on the phone as you are.
The secret is to remain CALM, and adopt the attitude that you are trying to help a FRIEND make the best decision for himself. If you’re desperate, greedy or money hungry, your prospect will sense this and immediately SCREEN you out as a shark.
Once you’ve gathered a list of names, email addresses, phone numbers and brief descriptions of your potential customers, its time to add them to your sales pipeline.
When you have some free time, call each of the numbers on your list.
But I’m scared of selling on the phone!
Yes, it may seem intimidating at first to call strange people. You may feel like you’re “bothering” people at work, but this is how business gets done. If you’re still struggling, try this: list the benefits of your product AS YOU SEE THEM.
When you talk to potential customers, ask them if they would be interested in these benefits. For example, if you can get develop profit-generating systems to their website, then ask them if they would be interested in getting MORE TRAFFIC to their website.
What are they going to say, no?
This is your opportunity to really DIG DEEP and uncover the desires of your prospects. Do this and they’ll eagerly buy from you instead of the other 99% of marketers that just want to SELL SELL SELL and never ask why.