Your Business is Not B2B or B2C. Here’s Why.

B2B and B2C are terms often banded about to describe the nature of a business and they are still relevant to some degree. Of course, it’s incredibly important as an entrepreneur, business owner, or manager to identify exactly who you’re trying to sell to in order to be successful and part of the segmentation process includes deciding on whether or not you’re focusing on companies or individual consumers.

Having said that, most companies make one fatal error when segmenting, particularly when deciding that they will sell to businesses. For all the analysis of the thousands of potential customers, working out key areas geographically and key current industry problems, there’s one thing that’s often forgotten.

It may sound obvious but when trying to sell to companies it’s incredibly easy to forget that behind the brands, big buildings and serious corporate messages are sets of people; real people who have senses of humor, emotions, and goals that drive them every single day. The sooner you find out what you need to do to make them laugh, make them feel good, and help them accomplish their goals, the sooner you become a greater salesperson.

That’s why many people are now suggesting that no company should work on a B2B or B2C basis, but should rather focus on a human-to-human (H2H) mentality. Any entrepreneur/business owner and their sales team, B2B or B2C-focused, will find it far easier to build rapport, understand a prospect’s wants and needs and, more importantly, work out exactly how a sales pitch should be framed for the best results if they truly think of every prospect as a person and not a company name.

One key problem is that many salespeople and entrepreneurs currently use the same script for every single prospect. This essentially assumes that every prospect in your target market is the same. They’re not. They’re all different. Which is why, as a modern business owner or businessperson in general, it’s key to be as adaptable as a Hollywood actor, changing the tone of your approach, style of your speech and speed at which you act depending entirely on the audience you’re performing for.

Of course, for practicality reasons, I’m not suggesting that you should write different scripts for different personality types. You should of course ask the same questions to qualify each prospect, but your general approach and demeanor should differ from prospect to prospect.

As a natural businessperson, you should be able to ditch your script and let the conversation flow by simply listening to what your prospects have to say. Thanks to the fact that every single company in the world now faces global competition, every industry is now highly pressured. In your increasingly competitive market, thinking on a H2H basis will become increasingly important as you deal with different cultures and begin to compete on an international level.

To ensure your business’ success, it’s incredibly important (and will be increasingly important for that matter) to focus on people and not on companies. As long as your focus and the focus of the people within your business is of a H2H manner, you’ll find it easier than ever to find new business and keep old customers happier for longer.