The Ultimate Strategy for B2B and B2C Sales

This article is an excerpt from the Shortform book guide to "The Ultimate Sales Machine" by Chet Holmes. Shortform has the world's best summaries and analyses of books you should be reading.

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What is the key to securing B2B sales? How does the business-to-business sales approach differ from business-to-customer’s?

B2B and B2C sales approaches are polar opposites. With business-to-business selling (B2B), it’s important to make sure you’re talking to the right person at the company. For business-to-customer sales, you need to cast a wide net in your marketing efforts to reach lots of people at once.

Keep reading to learn about B2B and B2C sales strategies.

Business-to-Business Selling: Get Past the Gatekeepers

Junior- or mid-level officers at a big company don’t have the authority to make big purchases on their own. And many receptionists and administrative staff members are specifically trained to prevent salespeople from speaking to the CEO. Part of training your staff is teaching your salespeople to get on the phone with high-level corporate officers like CEOs or CFOs who are actually empowered to make decisions.

Always Be Respectful to the Assistants

But just because you’re trying to get past the administrative or executive assistants to speak to the CEO doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t take those people seriously or treat them with respect. Even though they’re not the ultimate decision makers, one of their main functions is to act as the gatekeepers for the decision makers—deciding who does and doesn’t get to speak to them. That’s why it’s smart to get on the gatekeepers’ good side.

In New Sales Simplified, Mike Weinberg writes that it always pays to be gracious and courteous with receptionists, assistants, and other gatekeepers at a prospect’s company. Making a good impression on people in the company can only help your sales efforts. Further, when you actually get an appointment with the CEO and have the opportunity to meet an assistant in person, Weinberg recommends taking time to express appreciation to them for their help.

Project Confidence and Be Persistent

Holmes recommends calling them up and projecting confidence with the receptionist, speaking as if the CEO knows you and is expecting your call, and—most importantly—avoiding sounding like you’re a salesperson. For example, if you were looking to speak to Elon Musk at Tesla, you could say something like, “Hi, this is Johanna. I’d like to speak to Elon. Is he in?” If the admin doesn’t put you on right away or tells you the CEO doesn’t know who you are, you can further project confidence and persistence by saying something like, “Tell him again that it’s Johanna from Devon Capital. That should jog his memory.” Holmes writes that it’s important to not include overt sales pitches like, “I want to tell Elon about an exciting investment opportunity.” That’s a surefire way to brand yourself as a salesperson and get the cold shoulder.

Again, the key is persistence. CEOs of major companies whose business you’re trying to get will respect your determination. No matter what you’re selling, if they hear your company’s name enough and you do a good job of educating them on the value it provides, they will eventually turn to you when they decide they need what you’re offering.

When Not to Fake It

Holmes’s advice to act as if you know the CEO when you don’t in order to get a meeting with her is a form of bluffing, or at least a variant of the “fake it ‘till you make it” adage. Yet some experts warn that this kind of bluffing can actually backfire. If your bluff turns into bravado or arrogance, you can sour your prospective clients or partners by coming off like you think you’re the most important or smartest person in the room.More broadly, some psychologists write that “acting as if” can only be successful if done for the right reasons. If your motivations are intrinsic and based in a desire to change something about yourself that you feel is hindering your happiness or success, then acting “as if” you are the kind of person you wish to be can indeed be a successful approach. But if you’re faking it to project a certain image of yourself to others—as Holmes is recommending—you’re less likely to succeed. In fact, some research suggests that putting on a facade to impress others only makes you more conscious of your own shortcomings, reduces your confidence, and forces you to expend so much mental energy that your ability to make good decisions becomes impaired.

Business-to-Consumer Selling: Cast a Wide Net

For business-to-consumer (B2C) selling, where you’re directly selling to the end user, Holmes writes that the approach is a bit different. Since the biggest customers in your target market could consist of hundreds or even thousands of individuals, you simply won’t have the time to ring them all up on the phone and speak to them directly. Instead, you need to find ways to reach as many people as possible at once.

The Ultimate Strategy for B2B and B2C Sales