B2c and b2b sales - what is it in simple terms? B2C sales: how to apply and where Basic B2C sales techniques
C2C (customer to customer) is a type of business website used for mediation between sellers and buyers of various goods. Unlike B2B sites, C2C sites do not directly offer the sale of any products, but only act as a connecting link in purchase and sale transactions. For the provision of intermediary services, the C2C site, as a rule, receives a certain commission from the amount of transactions.
The brightest representative of the family of C2C sites is the American online auction eBay. On ebay.com, buyers and sellers find each other, bargain, and make mutually beneficial transactions. For the opportunity to sell on its “territory,” ebay.com charges a small commission from sellers.
C2C sites allow consumers, acting as buyers and sellers, to buy and sell various goods with maximum convenience. Almost any Internet user can become a seller or buyer on C2C sites.
The development of C2C websites is quite complex. In addition to performing a standard set of functions, C2C sites must also provide the highest level of security for transactions, and, if necessary, resolve disputes, revoke transactions, etc.
C2C sites, in addition to the ability to buy and sell goods, also provide consumers with many other useful opportunities.
For example, with the help of C2C sites, Internet users can search for jobs or search for employees, buy and rent housing, or search for buyers and tenants of real estate, etc.
- The development of sites belonging to the C2C group is aimed at creating projects that best meet the following requirements: security security And reliability
- The development of sites belonging to the C2C group is aimed at creating projects that best meet the following requirements: - the risk of non-receipt of goods or failure to provide services, as well as the risk of receiving low-quality goods and improper provision of services must be minimized; efficiency
- The development of sites belonging to the C2C group is aimed at creating projects that best meet the following requirements: - the provision of services or the purchase and sale of goods on C2C sites must be carried out without obstacles or delays; facilities
The development of C2C websites begins with a preliminary analysis of the needs of the target audience. Can other types of web resources or web applications meet the needs of the target audience that a C2C site satisfies? Yes, there are such resources, but they either meet the requirements of the target audience only partially, or have too low a level of trust.
Therefore, with the identification of the needs of the target audience of C2C sites and the determination of ways to satisfy these needs, the development of sites of this type begins directly: drawing up technical specifications, developing design layouts and layout of templates, developing functionality, hosting, final testing.
C2C websites developed in professional web design studios can effectively perform assigned tasks, provide all the necessary security and quality requirements, satisfy the needs of the target audience and bring a stable profit. And therefore professional C2C website development is the key to success.
Comprehensive development of websites that are effective for business is the main activity of the web design studio WebStudio2U. The business sites we create - be it B2B, B2C, C2C or C2B - represent the interests of the company on the Internet, help increase the number of company clients, turning visitors into buyers of goods or consumers of services.
Efficiency, convenience, attractiveness, reliability and security are the main qualities of a modern business website.
And in the web design studio WebStudio2U they know how to make your website the owner of all these qualities and a powerful tool for doing business on the Internet.
like C2C you can right now!
- From this article you will learn:
- How do B2C sales stand for?
- How B2C sales differ from B2B
- What are B2C sales characterized by?
What are the B2C sales techniques?
There are several types of activities in marketing, each with its own goals and nuances. B2C sales is the topic of this article.
B2C sales – what does it mean?(B2C, consumer-directed business) is a set of actions aimed at making sales directly to individuals, for personal consumption, and meeting individual needs. A B2C “Business – Consumer” commercial interaction is being built between the company and “end consumers” - those who consume the object of this interaction - the product (goods/services). Accordingly, the subjects of relations in B2C sales are the enterprise providing the product and the individual purchasing the product.
The B2C segment makes it possible to sell almost directly, minimizing intermediary services. B2C relationships - part of the business system that has developed today - are based on personal contacts between a business and its clientele. Excluding distributors from B2C sales will allow you to set a competitive price, even raise it, removing intermediaries from the sales chain, which will also increase sales income.
B2C sales – the definition most often refers to the work of organizations engaged in retail sales. Enterprises engaged in B2C sales, focusing on ordinary consumers, use certain marketing and trading technologies, otherwise called “retail technologies.”
What are the characteristics of sales in the B2C segment?
Features of B2C sales are as follows:
- orientation of the manufacturing enterprise towards communication with ordinary customers;
- sales of B2C goods are made to an individual for household use, excluding further resale;
- More often the consumer is not familiar with the product at an expert level;
- in B2C sales, the factor of emotions occupies the foreground, logic is often excluded;
- the B2C sales process is quite simple;
- a single sale in the B2C sector is of little significance for an enterprise; what is more important is increasing sales volume by increasing the number of transactions;
- connection to the B2C QMS sales process;
- During B2C sales, certain marketing algorithms and standard techniques are used.
An online store is an electronic version of organizing B2C sales, aimed at direct sales to consumers, but remotely.
B2C sales – what is it using as an example
Formulating the problem. The company's target audience is young people, a generation interested in buying comfortable clothes.
Customer Information. We are looking for a place with a lot of traffic, putting up an attractive banner, organizing interesting promotions.
Atmosphere. The interior, stylized as the “Wild West,” is complemented by comfortable furniture and free drinks, so that a casual guest will soon become a client.
Seller preparation. We are looking for a young seller who is interested in the product, we teach how to select clothes, how to treat clients, and we motivate them by receiving a percentage of sales.
Product or service. We are looking for the brands that are most in demand among young people and supplementing them with attractive but cheaper options.
After sales services. We provide instructions on how to care for clothes, discount cards linked to a phone number to inform you about new arrivals, and warranty service.
Statistics:
How do B2B and B2C sales differ?
It is a mistaken opinion that for a skilled specialist it makes no difference which product is sold and to whom it is organized. The difference is especially noticeable when moving from B2C sales to the B2B sector for an inexperienced participant. The basic sales mechanisms are the same, but “the devil is in the details.” They are the ones who influence the activities of the sales manager.
Let's look at the B2C segment, sales in which have their own characteristics.
First of all, B2C clients identify 5 parameters.
Purpose of purchase
Why will the B2C product be purchased? For personal consumption, of course. Resolution using the purchased product, its consumer properties, and some problems. The satisfaction from this drives demand in the B2C segment. What makes B2B sales different?
The difference is in the qualities of the product, the ability to satisfy certain needs. The company acquires them in order to increase sales conversion and increase income. The following products, commonly involved in B2B sales, can have an impact on a business's revenue:
- information and communication products;
- stationery;
- Office equipment;
- services of outsourcing companies;
- commodities;
- production equipment.
How? Some are directly involved in production or streamline it, others allow you to save resources. This means that they are reflected in the income of the enterprise.
B2C sales differ from B2B sales in the following basic parameters:
Of course, it is difficult to find pleasure in a dental clinic, but the result of treatment (elimination of the disease) brings it. The printer cartridge itself does not affect income, but if it is empty at the wrong moment, it will not allow you to close a deal.
"Buyer-consumer"
In B2C sales, more often the buyer himself consumes the purchased product, naturally, excluding general use or, say, gifts. Nevertheless, the purpose of the purchase (to get pleasure) is the same for the buyer and the consumer. The B2B buyer is an enterprise, but the costs are managed by an employee with a vested interest. This means that there is also an opportunity for kickbacks.
Only “rollback” is not the main deciding factor when choosing suppliers. B2B sales are influenced by thousands of little things that are not tied to the product: a friendly atmosphere, your own ambition, etc. Therefore, it is often not primary circumstances that contribute to sales. Whereas it is much easier to increase B2C sales based on customers’ emotional responses to the seller and product presentation than on attention to the consumer properties of the purchase.
Decision making methods
In B2B sales, the number of decision makers is directly proportional to the transaction price and the number of employees whose interests are served by the purchase. The emotionality of buyers, their attitudes, and beliefs about the properties of the product work for the B2C segment. Sales to legal entities are based on the first of the parameters - the benefits of the acquisition for increasing income and compliance with the operating concepts of the enterprise.
Naturally, an ordinary consumer can analyze the feasibility of a purchase no worse than inspectors from an audit company, and the head of an enterprise can choose a supplier based on a beautiful logo. Still, B2C sales are more successful taking into account the emotionality of clients (which is confirmed by the abundance of advertising banners on the Internet and in real life), and enterprises analyze their costs in order to function successfully. This means that you need to influence the decisions of B2B and B2C clients in different ways.
Communication methods
The number of ordinary consumers is much higher than that of enterprises, and the profit from an individual sale in the B2C segment is incomparably lower. B2C sales mainly use mass communication tools. It is not always advisable to organize contact with individual clients. For example, calling operators to the customer base using scripts is not an easy and expensive option for B2C sales. And, on the contrary, the specificity of B2B sales is that there are not so many enterprises, and sometimes there are only a few who purchase a certain product.
For example, is it worth advertising equipment for mobile operators by placing videos in advertising blocks of TV shows? It is better to involve management professionals so that they find clients, show them presentation material and persuade them to make a purchase. It turns out that the influence of the seller on the buyer, whose opinion is formed by the company’s advertising techniques, the company’s reputation, and the recommendations of friends, is minimal for B2C sales.
A talented and competent consultant is able to influence the decision of a B2C client. But in B2B sales, the actions of the manager negotiating with the buyer significantly affect the success of the transaction. PR work and advertising of a company are less important in B2B transactions than the strategy implemented by a sales employee. It is natural that sales talents go to B2B so that their work is not influenced by the factors on which B2C sales are so dependent (customer traffic, brand popularity, purchasing power of the target audience).
Sales process
Based on the above, we conclude that the overall success of B2C sales is based on the following factors:
- advertising;
- consumer qualities of the product;
- comfort when making a purchase;
- coherence of the service system.
Unlike B2C, in the B2B segment it is more important:
- productive activity of the manager;
- increase in income due to the purchase of a product.
So, let's draw conclusions. The experience and personal characteristics of a sales manager and his communication skills significantly influence sales in the B2B sector and interaction with the purchasing organization.
For B2C, B2B sales experience is not so important. B2C gets results from setting up a service system and interacting with the average consumer.
Basic B2C sales techniques
For example, let’s take one of the forms of work in B2C sales – creating an emotional response.
Formulation of the problem
Often marketing manuals advise B2C sales to look for the target audience's "pain" to offer an opportunity to resolve that internal conflict. A number of products with their qualities provoke or help determine the “pain” of clients. How will this work out in practice? If you have not communicated with sales representatives of the Kirby company, you will not know about harmful insects in your apartment (in furniture, on the surface of the walls), which only vacuum cleaners of this brand can handle. At the same time, you will be enlightened that these wonderful vacuum cleaners will also help in painting walls! Every time you go to bed, you will feel a terrible itch, look at the dirty walls and regret that you did not buy this miracle of technology, since something in the house certainly needs to be painted.
Before communicating with a sales representative, you did not suspect the presence of such difficulties; some people buy the product under the impression. Here, as in the dilemma about the egg and the chicken, it is not clear whether the “pain” arose first or its resolution. Determine in advance, when entering the B2C segment, will sales of your product solve the cultivated “pain” of your customers or will you begin to calculate it?
Information about you
We carefully read the marketing guru - F. Kotler. In B2C sales, it is important for clients – with identified or possible “pain” – to make themselves known. The target audience is now easily determined using the Internet. Calculating target queries and targeting will help you.
B2C advertising is placed in places with high traffic (store entrance, metro). Non-targeted advertising (in the media) is expensive and ineffective for B2C sales: only a few of the entire mass of recipients will even perceive it in the flow of surrounding information. The word of mouth method in B2C sales takes longer, but is more effective. Having completed the sale of a first-class product, expect that the client will notify his friends about you.
Atmosphere
B2C sales, as you know, depend on the emotional state of the buyer. Having formed an idea about the product, the visitor may immediately leave, rejecting your solution to his problems, and may demand details. The design of an office, sales area or online store is important for the B2C segment: it is easier for the client to part with money, get additional pleasure from the place where the transaction is made, and feel important. An incorrect design of an online or offline store (excessively flashy or untidy) will distract the visitor from thoughts about purchasing. Nice little things like free drinks and comfortable furniture increase B2C sales. Training of managers, unfortunately, does not always focus on such effective and easy techniques.
Seller preparation
B2C and B2B sales set different pay for managers: work with corporate clients is paid more generously. Often in retail trade, sellers have almost no influence on the transaction, they only formalize it. But there are options where B2C clients make a choice under the influence of a consultant. The best example is a comparison of the results of a retail outlet owner and a self-employed salesperson. The effectiveness of B2C sales is reflected in two components: quality of service and motivation of the seller.
First, the principles that will guide managers are determined. The problem is solved quickly, since the B2C segment conducts sales mainly with simple goods, and the reactions of B2C customers are also easy to predict. You can control the level of service using audio and video surveillance, as well as secret shoppers. Maintaining the standard at a high level should be tangibly rewarded so that such activity becomes almost a reflex for the seller.
Product or service
A bright candy wrapper does not guarantee the quality of the sweets wrapped in it. Marketing tricks will not yield results if the client does not receive the desired quality of the product. For the B2C market (as well as for B2B), a necessary condition is a focus on the tastes and wishes of the target audience and the desire to organize a competitive offer.
After sales services
Recently, the shared or joint economy (from the English sharing economy) has become a real boom: these terms are heard, but in reality not everyone knows what it is. Let's find out... Collaborative consumption is an economic model based on the collective use of goods and services, as well as on the principles of barter, bypassing large service companies. It is thanks to the development of the Internet and social networks that this type of service is becoming increasingly popular. The user is motivated to participate in the exchange by simplicity and the possibility of significant savings.
Scientists from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands believe that people are driven to share goods and services not only by economic benefits, but also by the desire to become “more social” and to receive positive recommendations from previous users of a particular service. That is, a kind of “word of mouth” - people can share their experiences, and due to this, trust in the performer grows. Against this background, services providing services from user to user, or C2C (from the English Consumer to Consumer), both large (for example, Airbnb, Uber platforms) and smaller ones, and not yet so popular, are becoming especially valuable. You can find everything you need there and save money at the same time.
Among the total number of C2C platforms, there are also those that are slightly different from their analogues, for example, EtiUslugi.ru. This platform allows users to find a specialist in almost any specialty, and specialists, in turn, can find orders here. The service is not well-known to everyone, like big players like Uber, but it has existed for six years and is of particular interest. After all, it works not only in large cities, like its analogues, but also in the regions. Moreover, it does not take a commission from those who place orders and from those who are going to fulfill them. Therefore, there are plenty of customers and performers here - on the site you can find a plumber, tutor, animator, speech therapist or delivery driver. “LG TV needs repair”, “Urgently need a nanny for a five-year-old child” - the order feed is full of orders.
The service uses one of the fundamentals of the sharing economy - reducing the cost of searching for information and reducing associated costs (saving on office and logistics). There is one more advantage for the recipient of the service: it is not enough for the contractor to simply accept the application; under conditions of healthy competition, he will have to compete for the order with other users who are ready to provide the same service. The main argument here, of course, is the reduction in price. Thus, here it is not the client who is looking for a performer, but on the contrary - service sellers offer their work to the buyer. And since we are talking about the concept of a shared economy, which is inseparable from the concept of environmental friendliness, we note that on the website the customer has the opportunity to choose a contractor who is geographically closest to himself and optimize logistics costs. In addition, platforms such as EtiUslugi.ru facilitate access to the market for private players, allowing them to offer their services on an equal basis with service companies, find part-time work and build a reputation. The key factor is the degree of cost reduction: with such ease of exchange, users do not need to spend any time or money searching for orders. It is also profitable to take on very small, piece orders, since the cost of searching for an order tends to zero.
What effect does this approach have on the overall economy? During a period of protracted economic crisis, the sharing economy opens up additional opportunities in the consumer services market and contributes to the formation of reasonable pricing, which means it helps to get through the crisis with fewer losses. Moreover, it contributes to the formation of social capital - in simple terms, people learn to trust each other and be positive. Today, this figure, unfortunately, is not at all high in our country, and the emergence of similar services makes it possible to change the situation for the better.
B2C sales – what does it mean? (B2C, b cost to the consumer) - marketing activities, the purpose of which is direct sales of goods and services to the consumer.
B2C (business-to-consumer) is a term denoting the commercial relationship between an organization (Business) and a private, so-called “final” consumer (Consumer). The consumer buys a product to satisfy individual needs. The object of interaction is a product or service, and the subjects are: a company selling a product (providing a service), on the one hand, and a private buyer, on the other hand.
B2c relationship system is one of the links in the chain of modern business processes, and this link builds direct, personalized business relationships: “Business-client”. B2C allows direct sales with a minimum number of intermediaries. Elimination of intermediaries makes it possible to set competitive prices locally and even increase them, eliminating the number of intermediaries, which naturally leads to an increase in trade margins.
B2C sales is a term often used to describe the activities carried out by a retailer. B2C companies use special trading and marketing technologies aimed at mass buyers, which are called retail technologies.
B2C Marketing characterized by the fact that:
- the company is a manufacturer of goods and services focused on interaction with the end consumer;
- the consumer buys a product that satisfies individual needs and makes decisions individually;
- the buyer is not an expert in the product;
- In addition to the rational one, the emotional component of the purchase is important;
- the sales process cycle is very short;
- relatively low importance for the business of an individual buyer, but at the same time, the effect of scale is significant due to the mass of sales;
- the need to use mass communications;
- Sellers use the same type of solutions and “marketing templates” in the sales process.
E-commerce - b2c form of sales, the purpose of which is direct sales to consumers through electronic means of commerce - online stores.
Number of impressions: 47614
More than one businessman has been burned by not taking into account the differences in sales models between commercial firms, government organizations and end consumers. We will not repeat their sad experience, but consider what b2b, b2c, b2g and c2c are, what is the difference between them, and how to organize a business in each of these segments.
B2b, b2c, b2g, c2c - what is it? The names of the business areas described in our article come from English-language business usage. These are sonorous abbreviations that allow you to literally describe an entire market niche in just three characters.
B2b – what is it?
The term itself is an abbreviation for the English “business to business”. This is a commercial activity in which the clients are other companies and entrepreneurs. This includes the notorious “production of means of production”, and services for business, etc.
B2B companies can be any size. For example, consumers of products from a large conveyor production of hair clippers and other similar equipment can be very small hairdressing salons. And a company consisting of ten programmers can supply entire corporations with exclusive software.
More detailed and illustrative examples will be below.
B2c – what is it?
This abbreviation comes from “business to consumer” - “business for the [end] consumer.” It refers to the sale of goods and services to individual clients for personal consumption. A food hypermarket, an online store or a small legal advice office for the public is all b2c. This area is characterized by a large number of clients with a relatively low average bill.
B2g - what is it
The term “business to government” refers to the sale of goods and services to government agencies and institutions. In Russia, commercial relations between the private sector and the state are built through the public procurement system. Each step of the supplier is regulated (depending on the customer) either by Federal Law No. 44-FZ (“On the contract system in the field of procurement of goods, works, services to meet state and municipal needs”), or by Federal Law No. 223-FZ (“On procurement goods, works, services by certain types of legal entities"). These documents describe in detail procurement procedures, their methods, capabilities and limitations. b2g is characterized by the following features:
- tender mechanism of business relations;
- high level of stability of cooperation (customer is reluctant to change supplier);
- complex decision-making mechanism for the customer;
- in competitive areas, administrative resources can be used (compiling orders for specific suppliers);
- specific methods and mechanisms of calculations (depending on the budget process).
C2c - what is it?
The abbreviation c2c stands for “consumer-to-consumer” (consumer to consumer). This includes both online sales and real-life trading, where individuals act as both seller and buyer. Officially, the seller is most often not an entrepreneur (except for cases where c2c imitates b2c).
A feature of the C2C segment is the participation of third parties - owners of trading platforms - sites on which the seller can display goods and the buyer can purchase, newspapers for free advertisements, etc. In Russia, these are Avito, Yula, “From Hand to Hand” and other similar resources.
How do sales areas differ?
The most popular types of b2b
The scope of “business to business” is very wide. The most popular directions are:
The most popular types of b2c
We use business-to-consumer services every day. Their range is quite wide:
- Stationary retail outlets– All types of stores fall into this category. And “Magnit”, and “Pyaterochka”, and “Auchan” with Ikea, and “Perekrestok”, and the cigarette stand on the corner - all this is b2c.
- Mobile retail outlets- This is most often a small business that sells on the streets in provincial settlements. We arrived in the morning, laid out the goods, packed up in the evening and moved on. In villages there are still auto shops that replace stationary trade.
- Public catering– this includes both fast food chains such as McDonald’s or Burger King, as well as all cafes, restaurants and canteens, including in industrial production. Wine bars and snack bars too.
- Services for the population– legal advice, notaries, consumer services from shoe repair and tailoring to key making, repair and setup of digital equipment, photo studio, and so on.
- Internet commerce– all official sales to individuals on the Internet. These are online stores, services of websites with advertisements, all paid online services for end consumers.
The most popular types of b2g
Since the main way of “doing business for the state” is participation in government procurement, types of b2g are determined precisely by competitive procedures:
- Sale of goods and services to state and municipal organizations. The range of government procurement is very wide - from consulting services to luxury cars, from organizing coffee breaks at conferences to school meals and medications.
- Rent of premises and land plots in state or municipal ownership. This is a mutually beneficial business: the state receives income from unused space and territories, and entrepreneurs do not have to invest in the purchase of offices and industrial facilities (renting is much cheaper).
- Public-private partnership - in the field of housing and communal services, road construction, education and other areas. Usually the state provides tax and other benefits, land plots and the opportunity to receive part of the income from the results of work. The business acts as a contractor and subsequently receives a share from the use of the facility established by the contract.
- Concession agreements are the use of state or municipal property by business on the terms of investing in modernization and repairs. Most often, concession agreements are concluded for the restoration of historical buildings, which are then used by entrepreneurs for the purposes of their business. The state also grants concessions to energy and utility capacities so that the concessionaire company invests in their repair, and in return receives the right to collect money from consumers.
The most popular types of s2c
The interaction of private individuals in the c2c scheme occurs through intermediaries, therefore the types of such commerce depend on the type of this intermediary.
- Electronic resources for organizing sales - the well-known Avito, Yula, Avto.ru, BuyProdai and many, many others. Here, the sellers are individuals who either sell a product or service one-time, or actually engage in business without registration. End consumers also buy – most often for personal use. We would like to specifically mention electronic resources that help in the provision of services in the C2C segment. For example, the famous BlaBlaCar service: a driver who wants to slightly reduce his travel expenses gives a ride to a passenger, who also saves time and money. And the service helps them find each other.
- Auctions (on the Internet or regular ones, with a hammer) operate on the same principle as ad sites, only the intermediary provides more services: product evaluation, sales support, security. The purchase and sale transaction takes place in a strictly defined place (in an auction hall or on an online auction site - for example, Ebay).
- Advertisement services in newspapers and electronic media are the simplest form of the C2C segment: the seller publishes an advertisement, the buyer contacts the seller directly, the transaction takes place in a place convenient for both parties.
A special feature of c2c is the ability to quickly change roles: today you are selling a car through Avito, tomorrow you are purchasing skis from yesterday’s buyer.
In the business-to-business segment there are several rules, without knowledge of which sales are unlikely to be effective.
Rule 1. The purchase of goods or services for business is usually caused by necessity (unlike the b2c segment, where the subjective desires of the client are more important). In b2b marketing, marketing is aimed at making a decision when a request has already been formed. What does it mean? The fact is that the purpose of purchasing a product or service is not to satisfy a subjective need, but to derive benefits later.
Rule 3. In the b2b segment there are very marginal niches that bring high profits. When organizing sales, it has at least equal importance with volumes, and often prevails. Sometimes it is more profitable to conduct one large transaction than a hundred small ones.
The algorithm for building a b2b business looks like this:
1 Analysis of the needs of potential clients.
To do this, you need to have experts in your company in the field where you plan to build a business. Or possess insider information received from friends, acquaintances, employees of key companies in the industry. Clients' development plans or problems that hinder their development need to be known with a high degree of certainty. An attempt to identify the needs of a partner business in a speculative, logical way often leads to mistakes, after which further actions turn out to be meaningless - they simply will not cooperate with you.
2 Determining a product or service that will find demand among entrepreneurs.
Let's say you are going to sell computer software and provide support services. Your focus will be on companies whose development requires, say, the introduction of more effective CRM systems. Your task will be to shape the product in such a way that it can be used for different types of customers. Some will need both the software systems themselves and the work involved in installing and troubleshooting them. And most large companies have their own specialists in maintaining information and management systems; they will need software solutions and one-time staff training. Accordingly, your arsenal should have offers for both types of clients.
It is important that this is not just a list of works with a price list, but a package of services that is understandable to the consumer. This will also give you advantages: it will allow you to include higher-margin goods or services along with less profitable ones, and on average the package will give a good level of profitability.
3 Formation of a marketing strategy.
Options for promoting a product or service to the market depend on the product and your capabilities. Having a large sales department allows you to reach a large number of potential customers, group them by type of product in demand and target the product to a whole group of buyers. If there is only one sales manager on staff, it makes sense to focus on working with several large clients and not scatter resources.
Research your competitors. This is necessary to position your product and highlight its advantages. Keep in mind: in the B2B industry, uniqueness is valued less than functionality and reliability.
4 Organization of interaction with customers.
In b2b, clients are not found by advertisement. To build a reliable and stable business, you need to look for specific companies interested in your product and negotiate with decision makers (there is even a special abbreviation - LPR). Cold calling is not very suitable in this case. Finding clients at exhibitions, technical conferences and other specialized events is more effective. Here you can not only communicate with decision-makers in companies, but also understand the real needs of a business in a particular niche. Hiring specialists with experience (and, most importantly, connections) in large companies as consultants or as staff has a good effect. This will allow you to reach employees who are responsible for procurement budgets and make decisions on interaction. In some areas (for example, equipment sales), mailing catalogs, booklets and other promotional materials is effective.
Direct negotiations cannot be conducted without preparing for them. You need to clearly understand the decision-making mechanism in the company with which you intend to cooperate.
As the first transactions are completed, key clients will begin to be identified. They need to be provided with most favored nation treatment. The tools of this mode are:
- Discounts for strategically important partners are not just a one-time price reduction, but a system that encourages further purchases. For example, a percentage of the cost that increases with the volume of purchases from you. Or a personal discount on the least marginal product. Or free shipping. And so on.
- Personal service – the client will be pleased if you allocate a separate manager for him and provide an immediate response to any requests (including through automation of interaction).
- Customer training – if you supply, for example, equipment, you can organize staff training, seminars, webinars, online consulting, etc. for key customers. This will give you even more confidence.
- Branded gifts - promote and establish your brand among the client. Let you be everywhere - in workshops, in offices, on the manager’s desk.
- Successful cases of cooperation - if you cite a key partner company as an example of successful cooperation, this will prove your special relationship with the client and stimulate his loyalty.
How to effectively organize sales in the b2c industry
Products or services in this segment are purchased for personal consumption, and a sales strategy is formed on this basis.
Rule 1. The most important incentive to purchase a product/service is the consumer’s desire. Therefore, in b2c marketing approaches are considered decisive for success. The task is to convince the buyer that he wants to buy just such a product and right now. The emotional factor prevails over the rational. The buyer’s real need for a product or service, unlike b2b, is significantly less important.
Rule 2. There are several orders of magnitude more private consumers than businessmen (who are also end consumers). Therefore, b2c sales are aimed at mass demand and are as universal as possible; As an example, we can name large retail chains, where the assortment, merchandising, and staff work style are standard. There is no need to adapt to a specific buyer; adjustments are made to entire groups of consumers (for example, for pensioners, both products and marketing are different when compared with sales aimed at young people).
The algorithm for building a b2c business is as follows:
1 Business model positioning, brand development and promotion.
For an online store, a convenient interface, a simple order form, fast confirmation, reliable packaging and, of course, an ideal delivery service are important. Information spreads quickly on the Internet; if you miss several orders or send something that is not what the client wanted, then the stain on your reputation will take a very long time to wash off.
If you organize online legal advice or other online services, make sure that users receive answers to their requests within the specified time frame. This requires a functional system for recording applications, and it is not always possible to use Excel tables.
How to effectively organize a business in the b2g field
Since all trade with state and municipal organizations is carried out using the government procurement website, you will need a specialist who knows the functionality of this resource perfectly.
The essence of b2g is to search for suitable tenders, quickly analyze notices of planned purchases and draw up applications. Organizing a business in government procurement includes several stages:
1 Determination of procurement selection strategy. This could be participation in as many tenders as possible (you’ll be lucky somewhere) or a strict selection of the most profitable lots.
2 Selecting a tender based on your physical capabilities as a supplier. If it is possible to supply stationery from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, then providing catering services over long distances without organizing a branch of your company on site is unrealistic.
3 Determining the minimum possible delivery margin(in simple terms, you calculate how much you can reduce the price by participating in the auction). It is important to make these calculations in advance, since in the hustle and bustle of an electronic auction you can make a mistake and then have to work to your detriment.
4 The most accurate calculation of the cost of work, goods or services in the selected tender. This must be done before submitting an application in order to understand, taking into account the minimum margin, whether there is a chance of winning or not. It is better if an experienced professional economist calculates the cost.
Separately, we note that business in the b2g segment requires a very careful and responsible approach. Failure to fulfill the contract will automatically put you on the list of unscrupulous suppliers, and you will no longer be able to participate in government procurement - only if you close this company and open a new one.
How to effectively organize C2C sales
As already mentioned, a C2C business usually involves a third party - offline, or more often - an online resource where the seller meets the buyer. The organization of C2C sales depends on the functionality of the chosen trading platform and on what task the seller sets for himself.
1 One-time sales of your own belongings/car/real estate. In this case, the most important thing is to correctly compose an ad and place it on sites like Avito, Yula, and social networks. Competently means clearly identifying the benefits of the product, its characteristics and noting that you are not an intermediary, but the owner. Since goods in this segment are usually sold second-hand, the seller’s task is to maximize the value of the item in the eyes of the buyer. On Avito there are often advertisements in the style of “I’m selling my car because I don’t need it. I bought it as a cart for transporting goods to the country, it has been sitting idle for three years, I thought for a long time whether to take it for scrap, but decided to sell it.” Such texts do not motivate to buy, but they are very motivating to reduce the price: if the seller could easily do without this car for three years, then, having given it away for next to nothing, he probably won’t worry either. There are many ways to present an item as meaningful to a buyer. If these are used clothes, you can appeal to the quality (“they don’t do this now”), to the brand, to a rare design, or to the difference in purchase and sale prices (“the shoes were bought a year ago for 10,000 rubles, I wore them a couple of times, I’ll give them back for 2,500 "). The positioning of used electronics can also be based on the higher quality and reliability of previous generations of gadgets and devices, on a significant reduction in price, and on the opportunity to get a copy from the top series for the price of a new budget laptop or smartphone.
As a rule, administrations of services or groups on social networks strictly monitor user texts for compliance with the “one ad – one product” requirement, so this rule should not be violated (otherwise the service may refuse to publish any ads from the violator’s account). Since the flow of posted ads is large, yours will quickly leave the first page, and it is not a fact that the user will scroll to it. “Raise” an ad (re-display it on the first page of the search) or pin it (determine a permanent place at the top of the list for a day or a week) – this is usually a paid service. It makes sense to use it if there is a demand for the product (there were calls after the first placement) or the cost of the product is significant compared to the cost of the service (sale of real estate, car).
2 Sales of your own services and handmade goods. This is closer to business and to the essence of the C2C segment. If you are a good plumber, electrician, or a master at making soft toys, why not use your skills for additional, or maybe main income? The sales strategy in this case should be as follows:
3 B2c business under the guise of c2c
Let's consider this scheme using Avito as an example. Let's say you decide to resell car parts - new and dismantled - on an ongoing basis under the guise of one-time sales. From a moral point of view, this is not entirely beautiful, but as a business it will do just fine. The development algorithm will be like this:
I. Open a private account on Avito. Let it be real - to your phone number, to control the process.
II. We are drawing up the first, basic ad, which will be posted on Avito throughout your sales. We select one of the spare parts that is in greatest demand. We write the text taking into account the analysis of competitors and our audience, insert keywords - everything is the same as when selling our own products. If you are selling new spare parts, it is possible (though not necessary) to come up with some kind of intelligible explanation for how this product ended up in your possession. “I bought it for myself, but had to sell the car,” “I was clearing out the garage and found it” – something like that. There is no need for a legend for used spare parts. At the end of the text, add a note: “I will also sell other spare parts for such and such a make of car.” Be sure to take beautiful photos (or take them on the Internet, but without watermarks and in an adequate interior - it’s like you’re selling yours).
III. We place an ad, select the “Quick sale” mode, or even better – “Turbo sale”. In the latter case, the product will hang on the first search page for a whole week. It is recommended to publish an ad on Monday morning in order to completely capture all segments of the audience we need within 7 days.
IV. Now we are faced with the task of maximizing sales. This cannot be done from one account - on Avito the system blocks mass publication of advertisements. So, you can go two ways. If you have an individual entrepreneur, or you are the founder of a legal entity (no matter in what area), you can open a commercial account for the company. To do this, you need to enter a company or individual entrepreneur. As a last resort, you can try to buy a commercial account - for example, on http://accounts.net/ or on any similar site. No one will check you. After registration, you are allowed to publish up to five free advertisements in one category.
Another way is mass registration of individual accounts. To do this, you don’t need to purchase a bunch of SIM cards - there are much less expensive SMS activation services. or each account activation will cost you only 4-5 rubles. It is enough to register 10-15 pieces.
V. We are making five more advertisements for the sale of other spare parts. If the account is commercial, use the same template so that the buyer understands that these are advertisements from the same seller. The advertisement here should not be similar to the one you advertised from your personal account: if Avito detects similar texts, it will display a message about possible duplication and reject new advertisements.
Texts from individual accounts will have to be made unique in each ad. If any of the accounts is blocked, a backup one comes into play. The biggest difficulty is to place all advertisements on one or at least two phone numbers. As an option, in some advertisements you can offer to write to your Avito account, and give your phone number in the response letter.
VI. We are starting to rotate ads. We periodically turn off some, and turn them on after a few days (at the same time they rise in the search), we invest money in others and order paid raising and securing. As the business model develops, we identify the most effective ads, invest specifically in them, and the rest of the advertising has a supporting function. You will have to put in a lot of work, but the result can be very good.
Conclusion
Depending on the seller and buyer, all business models can be divided into four main areas.
- b2b – sale of goods and services of one commercial company to another;
- b2c – sale of goods and services of commercial companies to individuals for personal use;
- b2g – sale of goods and services by commercial firms to state and municipal organizations;
- c2c – sale of goods and services by one individual to another
Each of these models has its own goals, supply volumes, average transaction amounts, and so on. If business representatives make purchasing decisions based on an accurate calculation of their needs, then individual buyers are more often guided by emotions. If in b2c the seller focuses on entire groups of end consumers, then in b2b it is important to determine the needs of specific customers.
Sales success depends on the right choice of a marketing strategy that is suitable specifically for your business segment. B2g does not require high-profile advertising campaigns (it is much more important to correctly prepare tender applications). For b2c, on the contrary, advertising is needed like air - massive and varied. And in c2c you need to skillfully combine advertising aimed at a specific group of buyers and technical methods of promoting a product.
Each business segment has its own pros and cons, in each you can earn good money (in a business oriented towards business or government agencies - more, in online trading through trading platforms - less), and in any one you can end up broke. We hope this article will help you define your strategy correctly and achieve success in your chosen market niche.
