In this article we explore how to review B2B processes and the key reasons for doing it.
What are B2B processes?
B2B, or business-to-business, processes are the series of events, phases or steps that happen when one business sells a product or service to another business. These processes are designed to be a scalable and repeatable instruction manual to help salespeople to convert prospects into customers, as well as helping businesses stay focused and reach their sales goals. Different businesses will have different steps in their B2B process. Some examples of these stages in a B2B process are the discovery stage, the pitch stage, the objection handling stage and the follow up.
There are several differences between B2B and B2C, although many businesses will involve having a B2B interaction before selling to customers. In simple terms, the main difference between the two are that B2B relates to sales between business to business whereas B2C relates to sales between a business and a consumer. There are some other main differences between B2B and B2C. The first is the price of B2B products is usually a lot higher compared to consumer products and services. The size of the market is another difference; B2B companies may only have a few hundred customers compared to B2C companies who may have thousands. The sales methodology also differs between B2B and B2C companies. B2C companies usually use simpler selling skills compared to B2B companies who use more sophisticated techniques. Another difference is the level of customer service. B2B companies have more of a pressure to maintain a high customer satisfaction and success rate compared to B2C companies.
B2B businesses need to understand their processes and the market in a lot of detail if they are to succeed. Companies can do this by ensuring they understand the B2B data from previous sales. Below are some of the reasons why you should continuously review your B2B processes.
If you are regularly reviewing your B2B processes, this will help you to recognise where your strengths and weaknesses are as a company. Recognising this will help your company to generate more business opportunities. For example, if you recognise that you are getting fewer results from the follow-up stage of your B2B process, target this area and find another way to follow customers up and see if the results improve.
Reviewing your B2B processes will help you to improve your product and industry knowledge, leading to your business and sales teams benefiting more in the future. As you review and delve deeper into your processes, this will allow you to further analyse the products and services you offer as you are trying to find better ways to improve a particular stage in the B2B process.
Another reason to review your B2B processes is to allow your business to gain a better idea of your ideal customer profile. This will help to target more sales as you will have a better understanding of who your processes target best. This should lead to gaining more sales in the future as you are targeting the correct market.
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