Customer Dialogue in the B2B Sector

Business to Business Marketing

Customer dialogue in the B2B sector

Defining the sector

Business-to-business (B2B) describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer. Contrasting terms are business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-government (B2G). The volume of B2B (Business-to-Business) transactions is much higher than the volume of B2C transactions. The primary reason for this is that in a typical supply chain there will be many B2B transactions involving different components or raw materials, and only one B2C transaction: the sale of the finished product to the end customer. Business and individual customers share concerns about price, quality, convenience, service, reliability, and expertise. But there some differences are to be expected in the behaviour of business customers. For instance they rarely buy on impulse. Their buying behaviour is directly influenced by their industry’s behaviour, and the final purchasing decision does not necessarily rely on them but more likely on their managers, owners, or others.

Selling in B2B

In order to successfully sell to business, one must have great organization. The kind of clients to be targeted must be clear, and one should always get information about the company before dealing with them. Basic information like turnover, number of employees, years in business, industry, location and etc. are obviously needed. But some further information is useful as well. Like getting to know how they deal with their suppliers, and how many do they have? Or how is the purchasing department composed and how does it buy in bulk and from whom? Getting to know your customer will help in future ventures, as one will be able to respond better to their demand and thus do business with them. One of the first problems as we can see, arises from the gathering of the information needed. Is time-consuming and if your company is not well known, it...