#41: Decoding The Difference Behind B2B and B2C Founder-Led Sales

#41: Decoding The Difference Behind B2B and B2C Founder Led Sales

Read time - 4 min

Big Announcement
Going forward, we will now run two founder-led sales cohorts concurrently. One will be focused on B2B mid-market/enterprise sales. The other will be focused on B2C / SMB transactional sales. We’ve made this decision as there is quite a bit of difference in GTM sales motions in both B2B and B2C. We are now onboarding founding teams for our next FLS B2B cohort, which will begin on March 6, and our B2C / SMB cohort will begin on March 28. 

These accelerators fill up extremely fast, as we have limited spots available, and we keep them very intimate. If you’re ready to level up, do not procrastinate. Go ahead and book a call with me here. 

Today, I'll explore the nuances of developing a B2B playbook versus crafting a B2C sales motion.

This is a big topic of confusion for many early-stage founders. I’ve traditionally seen a “one size fits all” approach, which can be catastrophic for many startups, as it accelerates burn rates on cash.

In the early stages, you want to prioritize actions that extend your runway. While many early activities may lack scalability, investing time and effort in understanding your ideal customer profile (ICP) and comprehending the intricacies of your sales approach will prove invaluable. None is more valuable than building out a proper playbook.

Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.

~ Warren Buffett

There is a lot of nuance here, but I’m going to keep this high-level and tactical.

Let’s start off by defining B2B, which means Business to Business, and B2C, which means Business to Consumer.

In B2B sales you are selling to larger companies where the decision maker is typically not going to be the owner of the company, but rather the head of a department. Deal sizes are bigger and sales cycles are longer. There are typically multiple stakeholders who will be involved in the DM process. Selling a product to the Head of Engineering at Meta would be an example of a B2B sale.

In B2C sales, you are speaking with small (local) businesses that are typically considered to be “mom-and-pop shops.” The DM is usually the owner and perhaps a few other stakeholders. The deal sizes are small, and the sale cycle can be very fast (transactional) - usually within 1-3 weeks. Examples of B2C companies would be service companies (HVAC, plumbers, electricians, etc.), restaurants, auto body repair, car washes, etc.

Looking at and defining both, you can easily see how the sales motion can be different.

When we look at the difference between B2B and B2C sales, it’s easiest to understand if we break it down into 4 categories. Let’s take a look.

1. Lead generation
   
   B2B - The most commonly used channels are cold email, LinkedIn, and content. 3-4 emails and LI messages dripped over 12-15 days.
   
   B2C - The most commonly used channels are cold calling (works incredibly well if done correctly), email, joining Facebook industry groups, and industry associations like a Chamber of Commerce and others. If you can get into a group or association and close a couple of deals, word will get around fast and it can transform your business. We had a client who sold software to help car washes. He became a member of a car wash FB group with thousands of members and closed a few of them — word got out to other members how well the product was, and it transformed his business.
   
   
   
   

2. Qualification 
   
   

   B2B - Step one is a discovery call to verify whether or not they’re an opportunity at revenue, followed by scheduling a demo on a separate call. There are multiple decision makers who are part of the DM process. Deal size, or ACV (annual contract value) are bigger. The framework we use to qualify is BANT (budge, authority, need, timing).
   
   B2C - Contingent on how big the deal size is, deals can be a OCC (one call close), or follow the same framework as a B2B qualification, which would be a discovery followed by a demo on a seperate call.
   
   
   

   
   

3. Sales Cycle
   
   B2B - Anywhere between 6 weeks to a year. It’s contingent on cost, how complex the technology is, how big of an integration it is, and how many stakeholders are involved in the DM process.
   
   B2C - Fast and transactional. Typically under 30 days. Deals can be a one call close (OCC). Again a B2C sales cycle is contingent on cost, the complexity of the tech / product, and how many stakeholders are involved. Most are monthly recurring subscriptions (MRR).
   
   
   
   

4. Deal Size
   
   B2B - Can be anywhere from 10k to Millions. I have a buddy who closed a 23 million dollar deal that took him over 2 years to close. Deals can be more mid-market than enterprise. There is quite a bit of nuance.
   
   B2C - Usually small. Can be anywhere from under a $100 a month to $400 to $500 a month. Again this can vary.
   
   
   

There’s a ton of nuance and variable in these 4 categories, but overall what I shared here is a good rule of thumb. When building out your sales GTM (go-to-market), and TOFU (top-of-funnel) these are 4 areas you want to take into consideration. Your process should reflect who your ICP (customers) are, where they live, deal size and sales cycle.

That’s it for today folks.

See you all next week!

Darren


P.S. If you’re ready to level up you can book a call with me here.