Sales Management and E-Marketing \"B2B

Sales Management and e-Marketing "B2B selling is the easiest job around. B2B buyers need to buy the product and B2B sellers need to sell it. It's just a matter of putting the two together." Is sales management more of a sales job or a management job?

The role of B2B selling professionals is much more complex that the quote implies. The most successful B2B sales persons not only manage the accounts they sell to, they also work thoroughly to understand existing and new projects and programs at their customers, often to a very technical level. It's critical for the B2B selling professional to also have a thorough understanding of their customers' strengths and weaknesses as well. From this standpoint of needing to know as much as possible about their customers' projects and programs and also knowing enough about their own companies to get tasks done on behalf of their customers, it's clear that B2B selling professionals need to be very skilled in management. This management ability includes both managing projects within their customers' companies in addition to managing projects inside their own. Is the quote above a fair assessment of B2B selling?

No, it is uni-dimensional in its definition of what B2B selling is. B2B selling is much more complex and one of the most challenging professions in selling overall. To be successful in B2B selling, professionals need to thoroughly understand each of the companies they sell to, from the senior management and project teams to the long-term product development and supply chain strategies. Multiply these requirements by all the customers a B2B sales professional has, and the complexity of being a professional in this role become apparent. What obstacles do B2B sellers encounter?

The obstacles that B2B sales professional encounter are related to their customers, competitors, the companies they work for, and the broader trends in the industry they are selling into. In addition to all these factors, the obstacles of having to keep long sales cycles moving forward, keeping prospective customers moving towards being customers, and cold-calling on potential sales prospects make the challenges of being a B2B sales professional very challenging. Starting with the need to have a very clear and concise view of customers' existing and planning projects, the unique requirements of the projects and their contributions to the customers' company, and the planned purchasing cycles all require a B2B sales professional to be very well informed as to what is happening in their customer accounts. In addition there is the need to figure out quickly what parts of a project can be bid on, in addition to knowing what the best possible price is for each project underway within customers' project plans. In addition, the challenge of staying current with project teams in each customer forces the B2B selling professional to stay in constant contact with key customers and account contacts. Competitive intelligence is also critical aspect of any B2B sales professionals' skill set as well. Many companies have market research departments that provide insights into what competitors will be charged for products and services. It is critical for any B2B sales professional to have a sense of whether their products' pricing is competitive or not. In addition, services pricing is highly variable and needs to be also continually considered in both project and contract negotiations with customers. There are many, many aspects of competitive intelligence that B2B sales professionals need to be up to speed on, with the roadmaps of competitors as it relates to future product introductions also being a critical area of knowledge needed. The B2B sales professional needs to understand gaps in the competitive offerings of competitors to be able to successfully position their own products with customers as well. Often B2B selling professionals also spend an inordinate amount of time building contacts within their own organizations as well, to build a network of experts they can rely on to solve their customers' problems. The ability to create an informal team that can assist in the developing of quick, an accurate response to customers' inquires is also critical for sales success. The subject matter experts of companies need to be treated as a valued resource and consulted with frequently to stay on top of what is happening with the latest product and service developments internally.

Finally there is the need to stay constantly on top of the latest trends and developments within the company and also the industry to be of the greatest value to customers. The role of the B2B sales professional is more of being a trusted advisor and not at all being an order taker. Trust is the currency that B2B selling runs on.

How has the advent of the internet and other technology complicated the relationship between B2B buyers and sellers?