Terms

Business-to-Business (B2B)

What is B2B?

Business-to-business (B2B) refers to transactions between businesses, such as those between a manufacturer and wholesaler or a wholesaler and retailer, rather than between a company and individual consumer. B2B companies represent a significant part of the economy, particularly in firms with 500 or more employees, where it is estimated that as many as 72% primarily serve other businesses. The overall volume of B2B transactions is much higher than that of business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions.

Key Elements of B2B Relationships

  • Integral Role in Supply Chains: B2B transactions are critical in supply chains, enabling companies to purchase essential components and products for their manufacturing processes.
  • Growth of B2B E-commerce: The B2B e-commerce market is expanding, offering a robust platform for businesses to explore and understand various products and services, setting the stage for future business engagements.
  • Types of B2B Transactions: B2B transactions are divided into two types: Vertical B2B, oriented towards specific manufacturing or business needs; and Horizontal B2B, which targets the intermediate trading market.
  • Balanced Negotiating Power: B2B transactions typically involve comparable negotiating power between the parties, fostering a more balanced business environment.
  • Challenges in B2B Transactions: Despite the balanced power, B2B interactions face challenges such as slower decision-making processes, complex price negotiations, and complications within e-commerce supply chains.
  • Future Growth Projections: The global B2B e-commerce market is expected to reach $36 trillion by 2026, reflecting a significant trend towards increased digitalization and continued growth in the B2B sector.

Benefits of B2B Partnerships

  • Cost Savings: B2B partnerships can lead to reduced expenses through bulk purchasing, shared resources, and streamlined processes, which enhance operational efficiency and reduce overhead costs.
  • Shared Risks and Rewards: Collaborating with other businesses helps distribute risks and increase the potential for mutual success, making ventures less burdensome and more potentially rewarding for all parties involved.
  • Innovation and Creativity: Partnering with other companies can foster new ideas, leading to improved products and services. This collaboration often results in innovative solutions that may not have been possible independently.
  • Improved Customer Service: B2B relationships can enhance customer support by combining expertise and resources, which can lead to faster, more effective service responses and higher customer satisfaction.
  • Enhanced Reputation: Forming strategic alliances can boost credibility and brand image in the market, as partnerships with reputable companies can enhance perceived trustworthiness and expertise.
  • Competitive Advantage: B2B partnerships can provide access to unique resources, technology, and expertise, giving companies an edge over competitors by leveraging strengths that are otherwise unavailable in-house.
  • Long-term Growth: B2B collaborations can contribute to sustained growth by expanding market reach and fostering innovation, helping companies to scale effectively and enter new markets.
  • Knowledge Sharing: Partnering with other businesses facilitates the exchange of valuable information and industry insights, enriching each organization’s knowledge base and improving strategic decision-making.

B2B vs B2C Differences

One of the main differences between B2B and B2C transactions lies in the nature of the parties involved. B2B transactions occur between businesses, such as a manufacturer and wholesaler, or a wholesaler and a retailer. In contrast, B2C transactions involve a company selling products or services directly to individual consumers.

Another distinction can be found in the decision-making process. B2B transactions often involve a buying committee responsible for product selection and decision-making, which may include business and technical decision-makers, as well as influencers. Large purchases might require a request for proposal (RFP), where prospective vendors submit detailed proposals outlining their products, contractual terms, and pricing. On the other hand, B2C transactions typically involve individual consumers making decisions based on personal preferences and needs.

Strategies for Effective B2B Marketing

To create effective B2B marketing strategies, businesses should focus on a combination of tactics.

  • Email Marketing Campaigns: Utilize email marketing campaigns to maintain communication with potential clients, ensuring regular engagement and updates about your products or services, which keeps your brand top of mind.
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Implement search engine optimization (SEO) to ensure online visibility, making it easier for potential clients to find your business when they search for relevant keywords, thereby increasing web traffic and potential leads.
  • Hosting Webinars and Online Events: Host webinars and online events to showcase your expertise and foster connections. These platforms provide an opportunity to demonstrate your industry knowledge and directly interact with potential customers.
  • Influencer Partnerships: Develop influencer partnerships to expand reach and credibility. Working with respected figures in your industry can enhance your brand’s reputation and extend your marketing reach.
  • Account-Based Marketing: Implement account-based marketing for personalized targeting of high-value prospects. This strategy focuses on catering specifically to the needs and characteristics of key accounts, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
  • Trade Shows and Industry Events: Explore trade shows and industry events for networking opportunities. These events are crucial for making personal connections with industry peers and potential clients, enhancing your business network.
  • Referral Programs: Consider implementing referral programs to leverage existing relationships. Encouraging satisfied customers to refer new clients can significantly increase your customer base at a relatively low cost.
  • Utilize Analytics and Data-Driven Marketing: Utilize analytics and data-driven marketing to optimize campaigns. Analyzing performance data helps refine marketing strategies, ensuring resources are used efficiently and effectively.
  • Invest in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools: Invest in customer relationship management (CRM) tools to streamline the sales process. CRM systems help manage customer interactions, track leads, and automate sales activities, enhancing overall sales efficiency.

Other terms

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Network Monitoring

Network monitoring is the continuous process of tracking a computer network's performance and health to detect and resolve issues proactively.

Network Monitoring

CRM Integration

CRM integration connects your CRM software with other tools, creating a unified system for all your customer data and business processes.

CRM Integration

Responsive Design

Responsive design is an approach where a website's layout adapts to the user's screen size, providing an optimal experience on any device.

Responsive Design

Webhooks

Webhooks are automated messages sent by an app when a specific event occurs. They push real-time data to another app's unique URL.

Webhooks

Brag Book

Learn about brag book, including crafting your outstanding brag book, essential components of a brag book, & brag book vs. resume: unveiling the differences.

Brag Book

Accounts Payable

Accounts Payable (AP) is the money a company owes its suppliers for goods or services bought on credit. It's listed as a current liability.

Accounts Payable

Workflow Automation

Workflow automation uses rule-based logic to run a sequence of tasks that would otherwise require manual human effort to complete.

Workflow Automation

Marketo

Marketo is a marketing automation platform used by B2B marketers to manage lead generation, nurturing, email marketing, and analytics.

Marketo

Call for Proposal

A Call for Proposal (CFP) is a document that solicits proposals, often through a bidding process, for a specific project or service.

Call for Proposal

Sales Acceleration

Sales acceleration refers to strategies and technologies designed to speed up the sales cycle, enabling reps to close more deals, faster.

Sales Acceleration

Audience Targeting

Audience targeting is the process of segmenting consumers into specific groups to deliver more personalized and relevant marketing messages.

Audience Targeting

Objection Handling in Sales

Objection handling in sales is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns about a product or service to move the deal forward.

Objection Handling in Sales

Buyer Intent Data

Learn about buyer intent data, including sourcing and interpreting buyer intent data, & key metrics in buyer intent analysis.

Buyer Intent Data

Elevator Pitch

An elevator pitch is a short, memorable summary of what you do, designed to be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator.

Elevator Pitch

Target Account List

A Target Account List (TAL) is a focused list of high-value companies that a business specifically aims to convert into customers.

Target Account List

Net New Business

Net new business is revenue from customers who have never purchased from your company before. It’s a crucial indicator of sustainable growth.

Net New Business

Personalization in Sales

Personalization in sales means tailoring outreach to a prospect's specific needs, interests, and context to make communication more relevant.

Personalization in Sales

Intent-Based Leads

Intent-based leads are potential customers whose online actions—like searches or content engagement—signal a clear interest in buying a solution.

Intent-Based Leads

Sales Dashboard

A sales dashboard is a visual tool that centralizes and displays key sales data, metrics, and KPIs to help teams track performance and goals.

Sales Dashboard

B2B Data Erosion

Learn about B2B data erosion, including causes of B2B data decay, strategies to combat data erosion, & measuring the impact of data erosion.

B2B Data Erosion

Regression Testing

Regression testing ensures that new code changes don’t negatively impact existing features. It's a key step to maintain software quality after updates.

Regression Testing

Competitive Intelligence (CI)

Competitive intelligence (CI) is the ethical gathering and analysis of market data to inform strategic business decisions and gain an advantage.

Competitive Intelligence (CI)

Customer Buying Signals

Customer buying signals are the actions, behaviors, or statements a prospect makes that indicate they are moving towards a purchase decision.

Customer Buying Signals

Sales Kickoff

A sales kickoff (SKO) is an annual event for a sales team to celebrate wins, align on goals, and get motivated for the upcoming year.

Sales Kickoff

Sales Lead

A sales lead is a potential customer—an individual or organization that has shown interest in your company's products or services.

Sales Lead

Sales Prospecting Software

Sales prospecting software automates the process of finding, contacting, and tracking potential customers to help sales teams build their pipeline.

Sales Prospecting Software

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is the percentage of recurring revenue kept from existing customers, including upsells, downgrades, and churn.

Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

Sales and Marketing Analytics

Sales and marketing analytics involves measuring and analyzing performance data to maximize effectiveness and optimize return on investment (ROI).

Sales and Marketing Analytics

Channel Partner

A channel partner is a company that works with a manufacturer or producer to market and sell their products, software, or services to customers.

Channel Partner

Sales Enablement Content

Sales enablement content refers to the materials and tools that empower your sales team to engage prospects and close deals more efficiently.

Sales Enablement Content

Marketing Attribution Model

A marketing attribution model is a framework for assigning credit to the marketing touchpoints that lead a customer to convert.

Marketing Attribution Model

Trigger Marketing

Trigger marketing uses customer actions or events to automatically send highly relevant, personalized messages at the perfect moment.

Trigger Marketing

Sales Partnerships

Sales partnerships are strategic alliances where two companies co-sell products to expand their reach, generate new leads, and increase revenue.

Sales Partnerships

Applicant Tracking System

An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) is a software application that manages your entire hiring and recruitment process from a single dashboard.

Applicant Tracking System

SAM

Serviceable Addressable Market (SAM) is the portion of the market your business can realistically serve with its current products and sales channels.

SAM

No Cold Calls

No Cold Calls is a sales strategy that replaces unsolicited calls with warm outreach to prospects who have already demonstrated interest.

No Cold Calls

Customer Relationship Management Systems

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system is a tool that centralizes customer data to help manage interactions and nurture relationships.

Customer Relationship Management Systems

Feature Flags

Feature flags let you remotely control features in your app without new code. This enables safe testing, gradual rollouts, and quick rollbacks.

Feature Flags

Cold Calling

Cold calling is a sales tactic where reps contact potential customers by phone who haven't previously expressed interest in their product or service.

Cold Calling

Sales Calls

A sales call is a real-time conversation between a salesperson and a prospect, aiming to persuade them to purchase a product or service.

Sales Calls

Rollback Procedures

Rollback procedures are a set of steps to restore a system to a previous, stable version after a failed update, ensuring minimal disruption.

Rollback Procedures

Data Security

Data security protects digital information from unauthorized access, corruption, or theft throughout its entire lifecycle.

Data Security

Account

An account is a company or organization that you're targeting for sales. It can be a prospective, current, or even a past customer.

Account

Precision Targeting

Precision targeting is a marketing strategy that uses data to identify and reach a highly specific audience most likely to convert.

Precision Targeting

Chatbots

Chatbots are AI-powered programs that simulate human conversation. They interact with users via text or voice, typically for customer support.

Chatbots

Buying Criteria

Buying criteria are the specific requirements and standards a customer uses to evaluate products or services before making a decision.

Buying Criteria

Demand Generation

Demand generation is the process of creating awareness and interest in your products to build a pipeline of qualified leads for your sales team.

Demand Generation

Sales Operations Analytics

Sales operations analytics is the practice of analyzing sales data to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire sales process.

Sales Operations Analytics

Customer Data Platform (CDP)

A Customer Data Platform (CDP) centralizes customer data from all sources to create a complete, unified profile for each individual customer.

Customer Data Platform (CDP)

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) is the predictable, recurring income a business expects to receive each month from all active subscriptions.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

Enterprise

An enterprise is a large-scale organization, often a corporation, defined by its complex structure and substantial number of employees.

Enterprise

Social Proof

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation.

Social Proof

Stress Testing

Stress testing is a type of software testing that determines a system's robustness by pushing it beyond its normal operational capacity.

Stress Testing

Contact Discovery

Contact discovery is the process of finding accurate contact details for potential leads, including names, emails, phone numbers, and job titles.

Contact Discovery

Customer Acquisition Cost

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost a business spends to gain a new customer. It includes all sales and marketing expenses.

Customer Acquisition Cost

Programmatic Display Campaign

Programmatic display campaigns use automation to buy and sell digital ad space in real-time, targeting specific audiences across the web.

Programmatic Display Campaign

Marketing Operations

Marketing Operations (MOps) is the engine of a marketing team, managing the technology, processes, and people to run campaigns effectively.

Marketing Operations

Application Performance Management

Application Performance Management (APM) monitors and manages an application's performance, availability, and the experience of its end-users.

Application Performance Management

GDPR Compliance

GDPR compliance means following the EU's strict data protection laws to ensure the secure and lawful handling of personal data.

GDPR Compliance

No Spam

“No Spam” is a commitment to sending only relevant, solicited messages. It means avoiding bulk, unwanted emails to respect the recipient's inbox.

No Spam

Direct Sales

Direct sales involves selling products directly to consumers in a non-retail setting, such as at home, online, or person-to-person.

Direct Sales

Consumer Relationship Management

Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy for managing all of a company's relationships and interactions with its customers.

Consumer Relationship Management

Business Continuity

Learn about business continuity, including understanding key components, steps to ensure continuity, common challenges, & best practices.

Business Continuity

Email Marketing

Email marketing is a digital strategy where businesses send targeted emails to prospects and customers to build relationships and drive sales.

Email Marketing

Account-Based Sales

Account-Based Sales (ABS) is a focused B2B strategy where sales and marketing teams treat high-value accounts as individual markets of one.

Account-Based Sales

Lead Generation Software

Lead generation software helps businesses automate finding and capturing potential customers' contact information to build sales pipelines.

Lead Generation Software

Lead Scoring Models

Lead scoring models rank prospects by assigning points for their behaviors and demographics, helping sales teams prioritize their outreach.

Lead Scoring Models

Data Enrichment

Data enrichment is the process of enhancing raw data by adding missing information from other sources, making it more complete and actionable.

Data Enrichment

B2B Data Platform

Learn about B2B data platform, including key benefits of B2B data platforms, choosing the right B2B data platform, challenges in implementing B2B data platforms.

B2B Data Platform

Sales Territory

A sales territory is a specific group of customers or a geographic area that a salesperson or sales team is responsible for managing.

Sales Territory

Sales Development Representative (SDR)

A Sales Development Representative (SDR) is a sales specialist who finds and qualifies new leads, building a pipeline for the sales team.

Sales Development Representative (SDR)

Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface

A Representational State Transfer (REST) API is a web service that uses a simple, stateless architecture for systems to communicate online.

Representational State Transfer Application Programming Interface

Sales Coach

A sales coach is a mentor who trains and guides sales reps to enhance their skills, boost performance, and ultimately close more deals effectively.

Sales Coach

API

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other and exchange information.

API

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Single Sign-On (SSO) is an authentication method allowing users to access multiple applications with one set of login credentials.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

B2B Intent Data

Learn about B2B intent data, including how B2B intent data enhances sales strategies, sources of B2B intent data, leveraging B2B intent data for competitiveness.

B2B Intent Data

Messaging Strategy

A messaging strategy defines what your brand says, how it says it, and where it says it to connect effectively with your target audience.

Messaging Strategy

Process Builder

Process Builder is a Salesforce automation tool that lets you create 'if/then' business processes with a user-friendly visual interface.

Process Builder

Account-Based Marketing

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a focused B2B strategy where marketing and sales collaborate to target and convert high-value accounts.

Account-Based Marketing

Marketing Qualified Account

A Marketing Qualified Account (MQA) is a target company that has shown significant engagement, indicating it's ready for the sales team to pursue.

Marketing Qualified Account

Closed Opportunities

Closed opportunities are potential deals that have concluded. They are categorized as either 'closed-won' (a sale was made) or 'closed-lost'.

Closed Opportunities

Talk Track

A talk track is a script that guides sales reps during calls. It ensures they cover key points and maintain a consistent message with prospects.

Talk Track

Sales Coaching

Sales coaching is a process where managers help reps improve their skills and performance through personalized feedback, training, and guidance.

Sales Coaching

Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing is a strategy where businesses set flexible prices for products or services based on current market demands and other factors.

Dynamic Pricing

Account-Based Marketing Software

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) software helps teams coordinate personalized marketing and sales efforts to land high-value customer accounts.

Account-Based Marketing Software

Expansion Revenue

Expansion revenue is the extra money a business makes from its current customers via upgrades, new products, or additional services.

Expansion Revenue

Lead Qualification Process

The lead qualification process is how you determine which prospects are most likely to become customers by evaluating them against specific criteria.

Lead Qualification Process

Product Champion

A product champion is an internal evangelist who drives a product's adoption and success by ensuring it solves real problems for their team.

Product Champion

Objection Handling

Objection handling is the process of responding to a prospect's concerns or hesitations about a product or service to move a deal forward.

Objection Handling

Content Management System

A Content Management System (CMS) is software for creating, managing, and modifying website content without needing specialized technical skills.

Content Management System

Use Case

A use case is a detailed description of how a user interacts with a system to achieve a specific goal, outlining the steps from start to finish.

Use Case

De-dupe

De-duping, or data deduplication, is the process of eliminating duplicate copies of data within a dataset to improve accuracy and save space.

De-dupe

Consumer

A consumer is an individual or entity that buys products or services for personal use, not for resale. They are the final user in a supply chain.

Consumer

Technographics

Technographics is data that outlines a company’s technology stack, helping B2B teams identify prospects based on the software and hardware they use.

Technographics

Docker

Docker is a tool that packages applications and their dependencies into isolated environments called containers for easy deployment and scaling.

Docker

Cold Email

A cold email is an initial outreach sent to a potential customer with whom you've had no prior contact, aiming to introduce your business.

Cold Email

Sales Enablement

Sales enablement provides sales teams with the necessary tools, content, and information to help them sell more effectively and efficiently.

Sales Enablement

Simple Object Access Protocol Application Programming Interface

A Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) API is a web service that uses XML to exchange structured information between different applications.

Simple Object Access Protocol Application Programming Interface

Letter of Intent

A Letter of Intent (LOI) is a document declaring the preliminary commitment of one party to do business with another, outlining the chief terms.

Letter of Intent

User Interaction

User interaction is any action a user takes within a digital interface, like clicking a button, scrolling a page, or filling out a form.

User Interaction