The 7 Key Differences Between Business-to-Business

The 7 Key Differences among ph unity line-to- ancestry and consumer change by Robert W. Bly When asked if he could sp ar an effective direct evolve out megabucks on a complex electronic control corpse, a well-k promptlyn(a) direct result likenesswriter replied, No problem. It doesnt matter what the crossway is. You be shell outing to people. And people atomic number 18 pretty much the same. Hes wrong. Yes, there are similarities. But there are also differences in selling to blood and professional corruptrs vs. the general public. In fact, here are six key factors that set business-to-business trade aside from consumer marketing . The business purchaser involves to buy. Most consumer publicizing clear upers people crops they might enjoy solely dont really need. How some subscription promotions, for example, sell publications that the reviewer rattling could not live without? If we subscribe, we do so for pleasure not because the education offered is ess ential to our day-to-day activity. But in business-to-business marketing, the situation is different. The business emptor wants to buy. Indeed, all business enterprises must routinely buy products and services that patron them stay profitable, competitive, and successful.The proof of his is the existence of the purchasing agent, whose sole function is to purchase things. 2. The business emptor is sophisticated. product line-to-business copy talks to a sophisticated audience. Your regular(prenominal) reader has a high interest in and understanding of your product (or at least of the problem it solves). Importantly, the reader usually knows more astir(predicate) the product and its use than you do. It would be folly, for example, to believe that a hardly a(prenominal) long time spent construe about mainframe computers will educate you to the level of your target prospect a governances analyst with six or septenary divisions experience. This realization makes business-t o-business writers somewhat more humble than their consumer counter split. ) The sophistication of the reader requires the business-to-business copywriter to do a tremendous amount of research and digging into the market, the product, and its application. The business audience does not respond well to slogans or oversimplification. 3. The business buyer will read a lot of copy. The business buyer is an info-seeker, constantly on the lookout for information and advice that can help the buyer do the job better, increase profits, or advance his career. Our prospects are acetifyed off by colorful, advertising-type sales brochures, says the marketing coach of a confederacy selling complex systems software products to large IBM data centers. They are hungry for information and respond better to letters and bulletins that explain, in fairly technical terms, what our product is and how it solves a particular data-center problem. Dont be afraid to write long copy in mailers, ads, and fu lfillment brochures. Prospects will read your inwardness if it is interesting, important, and relevant to their needs.And dont hesitate to use informational pieces as response hooks for ads and mailers. The offer of a free booklet, report, or technical fall out can still pull well contempt the glut of reading matter clogging the prospects in-basket. 4. A multistep buy process. In consumer direct response, copywriters fees are geared toward producing the package an elaborate mailing that does the batch of the selling job for a publication, insurance policy, or other mail order product. But in business-to-business direct marketing, the concept of package or control is virtually non-existent.Why? Because the purchase of most(prenominal) business products is a multistep buying process. A vice president of manufacturing doesnt clip a coupon and order a $35,000 machine by mail. First he asks for a brochure. Then a sales meeting. Then a demonstration. Then a 30-day trial. Then a proposal or contract. Thus, it is not a angiotensin converting enzyme piece of copy that wins the contract award. Rather, it takes a series of letters, brochures, presentations, ads, and mailers combined with the efforts of salespeople to turn a cold lead into a paying customer. 5. Multiple buying influences.You dont usually consult with a team of experts when you want to buy a fast-food hamburger, a soda, bottle of shampoo, or a bitstock of shoes, do you? In most consumer selling situations, the purchase decision is do by an individual. But a business purchase is usually a team effort, with umpteen players involved. For this reason, a business purchase is rarely an longing buy. Many people influence the decision from the purchasing agent and guild president, to technical professionals and end-users. Each of these audiences has different misgivings and criteria by which they judge you.To be successful, your copy must address the needs of all parties involved with the decis ion. In many cases, this requires separate mailings to many different people within an organization. 6. Business products are more complex. Most business products and their applications are more complex than consumer products. (For example, clients I now serve include a commercial bank, a manufacturing business of elevator control systems, a data processing training firm, a database marketing attach to, a mailing list broker, a general contractor, and a semiconductor manufacturer. Business-to-business copy cannot be superficial. Clarity is essential. You cannot sell by deceive the prospect or hiding the identity of your product. Half the battle is explaining, promptly and simply, what your product is, what it does, and why the reader should be interested in it. In high-tech direct mail, the key is to educate the prospect, say Mark Toner, who manages the advertising program for Amano, a manufacturer of computerized time-clock systems. With a product like ours, most customers don t even know of its existence. In short, in business-to-business marketing, the rules are different. In the months to come, well explore ways to increase response and profits in this exciting and challenging marketplace. Business buyers are face for personal well-beings by Robert W. Bly In a column titled The 7 Key Differences Between Business-To-Business And Consumer Marketing, I described the six key factors that set business-to-business marketing apart from consumer marketing. They are The business buyer wants to buy. The business buyer is sophisticated.The business buyer is an information seeker who will read a lot of copy. Business-to-business marketing involves a multistep buying process. The buying decision is frequently made by a committee and not by an individual. Business products are in general more complex than consumer products. Recently, I have formulated a seventh principle which I would like to add to the list The business buyer buys for his bon tons benefit and his own. There are two parts to this principle. Lets take them one at a time. The Business Buyer Buys For His Companys hitThe business buyer must obtain products and services that benefit his company. This means the product or service saves the company time or money, makes money, improves productivity, increases efficiency or solves problems. Lets say, for example, that you sell a telecommunications net unravel and your primary advantage over the competition is that your system reduces monthly operating expenses by 50 percent. If a prospect is spending $40,000 a month for your competitors network, you can replace it and add his company with the same level of service for only $20,000 a month.The company benefits because it saves $240,000 a year in communications costs more than $1 million in a five-year period. Yet, despite this tremendous benefit, you find that prospects are not buying. They seem interested, and you get a lot of inquiries. But few sales are closed. Why? Becaus e in addition to buying for his companys benefit, the prospect also buys for himself. The Business Buyer Buys For His Own Benefit The second part of principle 7 is that, while the buyer is looking to do right by his company, he has an equal (if not greater) concern for his own well-being and selfish interests.Although the idea of saving $240,000 a year with your telecommunications system is appealing to your prospect, his thought process is as follows Right now I have an AT&T system. Your system sounds thoroughly exclusively I dont know you or your company. If I work shift and something goes wrong, I will be blamed. I may even get fired. My boss will say, You shouldnt have gambled on an unproven product from an unknown vendor why didnt you pound with good ole certain AT&T? He will say this even though he approved my decision. So to be safe, I will stick with my current system ven though it costs my company an bare(a) $240,000 a year. After all, Id rather see them spend an e xtra $240,000 a year than me lose my $60,000-a-year-job This play-it-safe mentality is only natural, and it affects buying decisions periodic in corporations throughout the country. Data processing professionals are fond of saying, goose egg ever got fired for buying IBM. Buying IBM ensures the prospect that no one can criticize his decision, even if brand X is the better prime(a) from a business and technical point of view.A corporate pension neckcloth passenger car, writing in Money magazine, noted that no money manager ever got fired for losing money invested in a blue-chip stock. A different example, but the principle remains the same. The Business Buyer Is For Himself chafe for making the safe, acceptable decision is a primary motivation of business buyers, but it is not the only reason why business buyers ingest products, services and suppliers that are not necessarily the best business closure to their companys problem. Avoiding stress or hardship is a immense conc ern among prospects.For example, a consultant might offer a saucily system for increasing productivity, but it means more paperwork for the shipping department and especially for the head of the shipping department. If he has anything to say about it, and thinks no one will criticize him for it, the head of shipping will, in this case, work to sway the committee against engaging the consultant or using his system even though the current procedures are not efficient. The department head, already overworked, wants to avoid something he perceives as a hassle and a headache, despite its contribution to the greater good of the organization.Fear of the unknown is also a efficacious motivator. A middle manager, for example, might vote against acquiring desktop print and putting a terminal on every managers desk because he himself has computer phobia. Even though he recognizes the benefit such technology can bring to his department, he wants to avoid the pain of learning something he perceives to be difficult and frightening. Again, personal benefit outweighs corporate benefit in this situation. Fear of loss is another powerful motivator. An advertising manager in a company that has handled its advertising in-house for the past decade may esist his presidents suggestion that they retain an after-school(prenominal) advertising say-so to handle the companys rapidly expanding marketing campaign. Even if he respects the ad agency and believes they will do a good job, the ad manager may campaign against them, fearing that bringing in outside experts will diminish his own status within the company. In these and many other instances, the business buyer is for himself first and his company, second. To be successful, your copy must not only promise the benefits the prospect desires for his company it should also peach to the prospects personal agenda, as well.