B2B: The Ingredients of Success

Let's do an exercise in imagination, and compare the B2B department -sales to companies- with a renowned Cocktail Bar, and we'll turn our sales advisor into the trendiest bartender in town.

Now, we ask him to make us the perfect cocktail that guarantees us success in selling to companies. What ingredients do you think he would use? Ones that, in addition to being effective, are honest and truthful.

This is how we see it..., Perseverance and Tenacity as the main ingredients, Method and Time, to give it body, and all of it, accompanied by large doses of Attitude.

It's that simple, there's no need to adorn it with magical colorful formulas in the form of "little umbrellas" or other ornaments that distract from the main focus we need to work on.

This fable describes the reality of any "bartender" selling to companies at a car dealership. We all know what to do, but in most cases, we are not capable of making the "right mixer".

The causes and those responsible are diverse, although the most common ones stem from not having the ideal profile that enjoys their work, not knowing how to properly manage the ingredients, or not having enough patience for them to mature. There are no shortcuts, which is why the main reason for failure lies in the lack of continuity from dealerships in maintaining a structure that starts to become profitable from the sixth month onwards in the most successful cases.

Incomprehensibly, dealerships let sales opportunities slip by, and in our opinion, this happens with the market of SMEs, Self-Employed Professionals, and Groups. A market niche that can be accessed with a complete range of services and, above all, by applying a great deal of social intelligence to the relationship, turning a commercial relationship into a personal one. Once this degree of intimacy and trust is achieved, we will be ready to meet the client's needs and, definitively, "serve" them the right cocktail.

With current mobility trends, where usage is gaining ground over ownership, CIF registrations are growing notably. In this context, purchase uncertainty, mainly driven by environmental regulatory measures, boosts the Rental channel – (Payment of a monthly fee, with all services included) as the preferred channel when acquiring their vehicles, both for SMEs and Self-Employed Professionals, increasingly attracting private individuals who opt for long-term leasing as a valid option compared to a binding direct purchase.

Now let's reflect on our current situation and get moving. If we have a strong department, let's reinforce it, and if, on the contrary, we don't, let's create it.

If a dealership invests all the necessary resources to integrate a Business Sales department with the right means, it will increase its bottom line in almost all business areas: margins per unit, billing hours in after-sales, sale of non-core products, a considerable increase in financing invoices, etc. (Cross Selling). The Business department is therefore an independent department that generates cross-business with all the other departments in the dealership.

Let's go back to our bar! We have named our formula for achieving the perfect cocktail the Auto-Pyme SESME Program, putting people at the center, specially created so that our "bartenders" find the necessary ingredients to achieve success.

Millán de Juan
Consulting Manager
millan.dejuan@dealerbest.com