Very few B2B professionals that I’ve worked with have owned a business. It matters in that this inexperience may truncate an understanding of the volatility inherent in small business. As Phil Knight wrote, “For an entrepreneur every day is a crisis.” That’s an important thing to keep in mind. It should change the way you sell. When you ask for a customer’s time you’re asking them to not do something else–and there’s a cost associated with that detraction. Talk a whole lot less. Listen for understanding and respect that their agenda (stay alive and grow) may be different from yours (buy my products). Don’t ask glib questions. Ask well-prepared questions and take excellent notes. Follow through like your life depended on it and honor 100% your commitments. Don’t show up empty-handed to a meeting. Swag does not a meeting make. Share provocative content that improves their business in some way. Be incredibly easy to do business with. Learn how your customers make money. Thicken your value by deepening your empathy and improving the quality of your engagement. Go on the roller coaster ride with them instead of standing on the sidelines. That may not having anything to do with features, functions, or benefits. But it will eventually.
