Top 10 Reasons You Shouldn't Take B2B Sales Advice From B2C Sales Courses

Have you ever been frustrated after you've asked a salesperson specifically whether a product/ service would work for you... only to buy it and find out that it actually won't despite them telling you it would?

We've all been there. And it is irritating. Particularly when you're a product/ service creator that wants to sell to a specific audience base or market.

You see, I speak to a lot of people each week who've bought programmes and courses that have promised the world. Or at least, on a very basic level, have bought courses/ programmes that they believed would work for their own niche.

And whilst this article isn't to 'bash' course creators, it is to put out a very clear message to those of you looking to sell products and services to corporate clients:

Stop buying sales and marketing courses that are designed to help with B2C sales... if you want to sell to corporate companies.

Buying courses that aren't designed to help you specifically sell to corporate clients mean that they're much less likely to help you get the results you want. And that (controversial opinion incoming!) is not necessarily the fault of the course creator.

We all need to take more accountability for buying the right solutions - so here are the 10 simple reasons that you shouldn't be buying a B2C sales/ marketing course if you want to be selling to corporate companies.

1. The sales process is very different: B2C vs B2B sales are two very different things. They require different revenue generating activities, different methods of lead generation, a different method of relationship building and they have very different metrics. (For example, only 1-2% of a B2C audience is likely to buy during a launch... whereas B2B sales, has a 25% close rate on average.) Expecting a course that has the primary focus of teaching you how to sell to individuals, to help you navigate the B2B sales process is like buying a bicycle and expecting it to arrive with four wheels and hit 0-60mph in under twelve seconds.
2. Audience means something else... In the B2C world, your audience (size) is everything. Mainly because only 1-2% of your B2C audience will convert during a launch period. Which means if you have 100 people in your audience? You're likely to get 1-2 buyers. In the B2B world, we don't focus on building an audience in the same way... we a) focus on building a core database of qualified leads who are responsible for our area of specialism and hold budgetary responsibility and b) focus on consultative relationship building vs social media influencing. That means that if you're selling B2B, you're creating less public content, have a smaller audience and have a clearer / more measurable route to hitting your sales goals.
3. Content creation is irrelevant: Alright, let me phrase that slightly differently. Social media content creation is completely irrelevant if you're selling B2B. Which means you don't need weeks 3-7 of a business coaching course that focuses on all the different social media platforms. I promise you that corporate decision makers are not going home and scrolling TikTok at 10pm, hoping to find their next external supplier! Instead of constant content creation on socials, anyone looking to sell B2B should be focusing on strategic outreach content, designed to book sales calls. (And yes... only strategic outreach content, designed to book sales calls!)
4. Metrics matter: B2C sales is difficult because it's hard to find consistent metrics to follow. When selling B2C, you're at the mercy of the social media platform(s) that you're using - and their ever-changing algorithms which can make it tough to figure out how to sell successfully and replicate your sales success unless you're using a paid traffic strategy. B2B sales however, have organic metrics that you can easily track and measure in order to troubleshoot your sales process and continuously make it more effective. (Interested in optimising your B2B sales process and learning more about the metrics that really matter? Click here to access my free mini-series on B2B sales process optimisation!)
5. Offer Creation is different: B2B offer creation does not involve creating a generic offer with a lengthy sales page and hoping that it'll sell. B2B offer creation is about having successful business development calls with corporate decision makers, understanding their problems and co-creating a solution that is genuinely designed to help them get the transformation that they want. If you're buying a B2C sales/ marketing course, you're often going to be taught to create and price an offer plus write a sales page for it... before you've actually spoken to any clients. Which isn't a problem selling to individuals - but is a huge waste of time and effort when you're selling to corporate organisations!
6. There's a clear pricing formula for corporate companies: Operating in the B2B space is not about 'finger in the wind' pricing. If you want to work with corporate companies, it's not about 'charging what you're worth'... instead, we need to look at both the practicalities and levels of transformation that can be achieved (plus market rates and our own margin expectations!) to create standardised pricing that is simple for us to figure out and makes sense to our clients. Most B2C courses don't cover the complexities of standardised pricing or the importance of margins - so it's important to factor those extra skills in!
7. Delivery methods are key: In the B2C world, there are a few standardised offers that sell well / deliver well to individuals; courses/ memberships (semi-passive income) coaching/ consulting or 'done-for-you' (e.g. web design/ virtual assistance etc). In the B2B world, there are many more delivery options including; automated trainings, licensed trainings, retainer opportunities, consulting, speaking, training, lunch and learn sessions, workshops, courses/ memberships, passive resources/ resource packs and more! It would be unfair to expect a B2C sales/ marketing course to be able to cover off all the different delivery options and pricing capabilities... so if you want to sell to corporate clients? You need to make sure you're learning about offers and delivery methods that they'll buy.
8. Sales activities are transparent: I know... the dream is to 'sell without being sales-y'. But actually I think that does you (and sales in general!) a disservice. You see, sales conversations and interactions are simply designed to help someone come to a clear decision. They're not designed to force a prospect to buy something they don't need! The problem however, is that when individuals are making buying decisions for themselves, they're factoring in; their disposable income, the risk factor(s) of purchasing, their family (and how a financial investment may impact them) and the transformation/ result they'll get. Which creates an emotional decision making process that isn't solely focused on the result/ ROI. Whereas corporate stakeholders; it's not their money! So they're focusing solely on; whether or not the problem is important enough to be fixed - and the transformation that you can provide... meaning that your sales conversations and activities are able to be transparent and transformation focused, rather than feeling responsible for the weight of individual emotions around the buying process.
9. Scope creep: B2C courses often don't teach how to pre-empt and avoid scope creep working on B2B projects... because they don't often call it scope creep. Typically 'over-giving' or 'going above and beyond' are more common phrases in the B2C world - and often coaches or consultants will go way above their initial scope to help an individual - often at the expense of their own time for lead generation/ business development. In the B2B world, it's important to address scope during the sales process so that you're genuinely charging for the work you're going to complete - and so that you can reset any boundaries politely later if a corporate client would like you to give extra on a project. Making sure that you purchase a course which teaches you how to do this politely is key for maintaining positive relationships with your stakeholders and that gets you paid for the work you do.
10. Strategic options: In the B2C world, most coaches/ course creators have developed their own way of social selling. This usually means that they've got one way of marketing/ selling that works for them - and they're teaching people who want to be like them. Which is fine - unless the person being taught doesn't have the same personality/ time available/ proclivity for posting on social/ product or service that is 'easily' marketable to a similar audience... In the B2B sales space, there are strategic sales options (if you choose to follow them!) that can be tailored to your personality, the time you have available to work on revenue generating tasks and your area of specialism. So you never feel like a failure for not being able to follow the crowd!

Now, I know a lot of great course creators - and I'm friends with some of the best in the online marketing space. But they know as well as I do, that B2B is a different kettle of fish. So if you're thinking about buying any sales / marketing course from an online marketer and applying it to B2B sales, please just ask;

• Can you give me clear strategies that you teach that have been proven to work in a B2B setting?
• Can you give me examples of businesses like mine that have implemented your B2B sales strategies and been successful?
• How much time will it take me to implement your strategies?
• Have they specifically been designed and proven with corporate clients in mind?

And then listen carefully to their answers. Remember, YOU are responsible for the solutions you buy. So make sure that you're troubleshooting your B2B sales process correctly - and getting the right support!

If you want to learn how to successfully and sustainably sell your services to corporate organisations, check out the?Selling to Corporate ? podcast here ?where you can find B2B sales tips, techniques and trends every fortnight. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and all major podcast players.

Jessica Lorimer is the UK's leading sales coach for entrepreneurs selling their services to corporate organisations. Jessica regularly provides insights on sales strategy and techniques on her award nominated podcast;?Selling to Corporate ?and has been featured in Forbes, City AM and We Are The City.