B2B Sales in a Nutshell (for startups)

Why do businesses buy something from you? Because some decision-makers agree that the benefit of your product is worth the risk, cost, and effort.

But what is this benefit? It's simple: The most relevant potential benefits are money, time, and risk. In this order. 

• Money: You help them make significantly more money with a specific process. Or you help them save a lot of money. 
• Time: You help them save time in a specific process.
• Risk: You reduce the risks of a specific process. 

If you want to sell efficiently, show them: 

• How much money will they make (or save) with your help? 
• How much time are they going to save with your help? Because time is money. 
• How much risk are you going to take out of their business? Because risk is the potential loss of money. 

These categories (money, time, risk) are benefits.

Very often, businesses (especially startups) sell features, such as the functionality of the product. The simplicity of the user interface. The processing speed. The more convenient packaging. The transparency the product provides. 

However, decision makers cannot easily assess these features because they don't know how they translate into benefits. 

Help them: Show them how the features of your product translate to benefits. 

• How much time is this functionality of the product going to save the user? 
• How many more business opportunities will the salesperson detect and convert because of the more straightforward user interface? 
• How much risk will your solution take from the process because of the higher transparency? 

If you're a startup, you don't have that data. In this case, try to find studies that research the impact of this specific feature on business productivity. Very often, you'll find them. Use them and quote correctly: "The study XY has shown that the type of user interface we're using reduces processing times by AB%"

It's important to remember that businesses do not buy because they like startups (they don't) or because they like your product (they don't care).

Businesses buy because the potential benefit of your product far outweighs the cost and risks. In other words, there is a solid business case for them. So, it's your job as a salesperson to calculate and demonstrate this business case. 

It's about benefits, not features.