What are the chief differences between consumer marketing and business marketing

To sell products successfully, you must have a clear understanding of the type of market you are serving and the reasons customers buy. There are key differences between the consumer market vs. business market.

Selling to consumers is known as B2C, or business to consumer selling, as noted by Inc.com. This refers to selling to consumers, who buy products for personal or family use. Selling to businesses and other large organizations is known as B2B, or business to business selling (Inc.com). This refers to businesses that purchase products or services from one business, to then use as part of an existing product or create new products for resale to their own customers.

Each of these methods for the consumer vs. business product have different aspects to consider for successful sales.

Selling to Consumers and Business

Sales representatives sell directly to both consumers and businesses. However, direct sales are less common in consumer markets. Although sales reps play an important role in the sale of complex or higher-value consumer products, such as cars, financial services or electrical goods, they may be working for a dealer or retailer rather than the manufacturer. That makes it difficult for manufacturers to build relationships with individual consumers.

In business markets, sales reps play an important role in all sales with large organizational customers. Skilled sales representatives usually have a good feel for the difference between B2B and B2C buyer behavior.

Large Customers, Large Accounts

In B2C sales markets, companies typically sell to large numbers of customers, with each customer accounting for a small proportion of the company’s sales. In business markets, companies deal with smaller numbers of customers; in some situations, large customers may account for a high percentage of sales. Where large customers dominate a business, companies focus sales and marketing efforts on their key accounts.

Working with Purchasing Managers

When you sell to consumers, you are often selling to the individuals who will use the products. In business markets, the person who makes the purchase may not be the end user. Companies usually employ purchasing managers to deal with sales reps and buy products and services on behalf of other users.

They may buy raw materials for the manufacturing department, for example, or tools for the service department. In some companies, purchasing departments authorize users to buy their own products or services directly, but the purchases are typically low value. These sales techniques are pretty common in B2B sales.

Group of Decision Makers

In business-to-business markets, the decision to make a corporate purchase may involve a number of different people, notes B2B Marketing Strategy.com. Simple low-value products, such as stationery or office supplies, may involve only a sales call to the purchasing manager and an office manager. The more complex the product, the more people are involved.

Tech products are a good example. A computer system is both a consumer vs. business product product. To sell this to a business, a sales person may need to influence the chief information officer, finance director, IT manager and departmental managers who will use the system, in addition to the purchasing manager. In consumer markets, an individual or several members of a family will often make the decision.

Ramping Up the Sales Cycle

The time between an initial decision to buy and the final sale, known as the sales cycle, can be lengthy in business markets. Companies identify a need to purchase a product or service, put together a specification, identify potential suppliers and request bids, evaluate the offers, negotiate prices and terms, and finally select a supplier.

At each stage, the sales team must supply information and try to influence all the decision makers. In contrast, consumer purchases typically require a single transaction. When consumers have carried out initial product research and decided to buy, they visit a store or place an order by phone or online.

Need help in selling to your business-to-business audience? Check out these great tips from Business2Community.

One of the most common mistakes people make, when it comes to commercial transactions is thinking that business markets (B2B) are the same as consumer markets (B2C). This is quite an unfortunate mistake as the two, though similar in concept, are very different. One fact you should always remember about business markets is that it is a business to a business transaction where one company buys products from another business for resell or to facilitate the production of other goods.

Table of Contents

• Here are some differences that will help you distinguish between these two markets;
• Difference between business markets and consumer markets due To The Nature Of Purchases
• Difference between business markets and consumer markets on the basis of demand
• Differences of business markets and consumer markets based On A Global Perspective

Here are some differences that will help you distinguish between these two markets;

The most important thing that you ought to remember about business markets as mentioned earlier is that it is a business to business type of transaction. It involves companies transacting with each other not for their consumption but in some cases to facilitate production, in other cases to supply the products to other firms or directly to resell the purchases to the consumers.

The procurement of the two markets also presents a significant distinction. For B2B markets, the purchasing process is quite complicated as the process is mostly influenced by a business’ executive and management depending on the type of purchase. Persons making purchasing often require authorization from these groups before making any purchasing decisions.

B2C markets, on the other hand, presents a very simplified procurement process because influences are not as complex as it is with B2Bs. The most common factors that affect consumers purchasing decisions include; reference groups, tastes and preferences, marketing campaigns and economic conditions.

The payment structure for these two markets differs significantly. Large sums of money are involved in B2B markets as compared to B2C markets. This is because the former often involves large volumes of purchases unlike in B2C where purchases are only made as per the consumer’s needs.

In this regard, B2B markets employ a more complex payment structure where a business makes an order and arranges for delivery through logistic procedures. After delivery, the seller then sends an invoice to the buyer business within which the buyer company can then make an official payment for goods delivered (based on the agreed terms of payment). In the consumer market, customers choose their product of interest and then pay for the product using cash, credit or checks.

Also, unlike in the consumer market where consumers buy products at the same price, in the business market buyers can negotiate for special terms depending on their volume of purchase, business relationship enjoyed with the selling business, etc.

Another distinction between these two market lies in how each market promotes their products and services. In the business market, products are sold to other companies, and thus the method of advertisement will slightly vary from that of the consumer market. Here, companies do not involve media advertisement to market their products and services. Instead, they use more formal channels like magazines, newspapers, and direct emails to concerned businesses.

Consumer markets as we now know targets the customers as the end user. Here, media advertisements are usually a large part of the promotions strategy that businesses use to market their products.

Throughout the years, B2B markets have dependably been behind the operation of B2C markets. Be that as it may, as the years wore on and improvements on technological have been seen, it has been harvesting popularity in light of the increased development.

Companies in the B2B market today aimed at boosting their shareholder value in these markets. So, while their promotion techniques are not as aggressive as with B2C markets, branding of products and services in this particular market is always top-notch. Moreover, businesses operating in a B2B market often work purposely Towards building up the business and giving it a strong position in the industry.

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