5 Tom Walker

Ways to Get to Know Your Customer in Business-to-Business

(B2B) Sales

We call it business-to-business, but at the end of the day, there’s always a human being at the other end of every

B2B sale. That person—the human who is actually going to be using the product or service that you sell—

is your customer.

While no entrepreneur or company has the

resources to get to know every single customer

personally, the best entrepreneurs roll up

their sleeves, pick up the phone, and figure out

ways to get to know some of them.

“ “

1

Imagine a prototype of the ideal person to use your solution.

What jobs are they doing in which companies?

What are their hours?

What kind of education do they have?

Who do they report to? (Hint: These people are not the C-level managers of the business.)

2

Figure out ways to connect with six or eight of these individuals face-to-face.

The goal of these conversations is to make sure you understand the problem. You can bet you don’t have it even 70 percent right.

3

Remember that you came to ask questions and listen to answers, not to talk about how wonderful your solution is going to be.

You can’t walk just walk into Boeing and ask to meet with someone working on the production line, but you likely know people and have connections—through business, school, sports, or other social activities, or social media. Consider a Facebook or LinkedIn post. “Is there a design engineer out there who will tell me first-hand how having a stronger lighter material than steel could improve her prototype?”

4

Seek out the people who are doing the jobs today and that your solution will improve tomorrow—not the jobs that might disappear.

Companies implement new products and services because there are tangible benefits. Innovation creates jobs in startups. Innovation changes the way work is done and sometimes causes jobs to be eliminated.

5

Build relationships.

Companies implement new products and services because there are tangible benefits. Innovation creates jobs in startups. Innovation changes the way work is done and sometimes causes jobs to be eliminated.

People like to be on the ground floor of something new. They like to help “the little guy or gal” succeed. Your company will need early adopters. One or more of these early contacts could become the champion that helps you gain a foothold in a department or a company. If you’ve ever been anyone’s “first customer” you know how enduring that connection can be.

Companies aren’t customers. People are. Some of the

most effective investor presentations we’ve ever seen

were those where the entrepreneurs described

what they learned by talking to real people doing real work.