‘We were beaten on price’ is an excuse – and a lousy one at that
One of the key distinctions between business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) communications is the difference between marketing to an individual, and marketing to a group.
Group dynamics matter far more in B2B buying than individual preference – no matter how well you know John the QS or Jane the Director.
Building relationships remains crucial for getting a seat at the table, but sealing the deal? That’s a broader game.
When selling, tendering, pitching, whatever in B2B, you’ll encounter two sets of buyers: your direct targets (like Jane, the Director of Development if you’re a town planner) and the ‘hidden’ buyers from departments like procurement, legal, finance, even IT.
What do we know about buyer groups?
Both sub-groups (target and hidden) hold equal sway
Hidden buyers often make decisions driven by emotion
Brand recognition across the entire group is often more decisive than price or service quality
If you think “we only lose because of price,” think again. Being well-known and trusted by the whole buying group can easily outweigh having better services, or passionate (even expert) advocates within the client.
Why?
No one ever got fired for hiring IBM
Because no one wants to risk being blamed for a bad decision. The fear of failure far outweighs the fear of missing out, usually making well known, larger brands the safer bet.
Your target buyers crave features, transformational potential and innovation. But hidden buyers? They want reliability, peace-of-mind, proven brands, and assurance that their career won’t implode with a bad decision.
Neither buyer category will choose future business growth over personal career uncertainty.
Take Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). Specialist contractors in this sphere tend to get challenged on “price”. But the group buyers might not know MMC from a hole in the ground and fear making the wrong call, sticking to what the whole group knows, and going with the traditional method.
How can you get around this?
Make it easy for everyone to agree
Forget the excuse of being beaten on price. Hidden buyers equate strong, well-known brands with non-negotiables: reliability, trust, peace-of-mind, even if they don’t have first-hand experience working with that brand.
If you’re one of the biggest brands in your sector, congrats, that awareness is what’s winning you business. But what if you’re not (yet) a major player?
Help the buyer group agree
Accept that:
Buyer groups readily compromise on price or quality to expedite agreement
People are hugely unwilling to make a decision that colleagues don’t readily agree with
The expertise of your individual contacts does not reassure the more cautious of the group.
Okay, cool, that’s all well and good, how does it actually look? This sort of awareness is why you…
Sponsor events and get your logo everywhere worthwhile
Speak on industry panels. Expertise, please
Contribute to trade publications and become a reliable source
Garner some good press – no scandals, thanks
Build relationships widely within target organisations
Show up at key networking opportunities
And be absolutely consistent while doing it all
If you’ve ever been to an event and you thought someone was joking when they said they didn’t know you for one of your main services, you need better brand awareness – give Luma a call if you need help with that.
This blog was originally published on Place North West.