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Do You Really Understand the Culture of Small Business?
Knowing the culture can make the difference between delivering relevancy and missing the target entirely
Today, there areapproximately 12,000 large U.S. corporations, each employing more than 1,000 people. Typically, these corporations are publicly traded on Wall Street and market their products and services nationally with the principal objective of increasing shareholder value to keep their investors happy. For many enterprise-level firms engaged in B2B marketing, reaching small business is a major part of their strategic planning.
What divides the successful corporate marketers from those that are struggling? An understanding of what motivates a small business owner. Understanding a customer or prospect's objectives is key to successful selling. Most small businesses, whether they employ two workers or 100, are privately held companies with little or no accountability to stockholders. Typically,they are sole proprietorships committed to their community with an altogether different set of priorities than their potential corporate vendor counterparts.
Sales growth is "Priority 1"
Corporations that understand their small business customers' priorities and objectives will have a far better chance of translating the unique features of their product or service into a customer value. John Cicco, a marketing consultant, uniquely illustrates (see chart, left) this point, starting with most business owners' primary financial objective: sales growth\not profit maintenance or shareholder value.
Successful corporate marketers also empower their sales forces to negotiate with time-compressed business owners because they know that the final buying decision is highly centralized. It's a no-nonsense process because business owners simply don't have the time or patience for a great deal of back-and-forth negotiation.
While small business owners have different priorities regarding their own companies, they also have different needs from their suppliers. While large corporations tend to switch vendors based on price and consistent review, small business owners don't have that luxury. They place a premium on commitment and service. Business owners tend to seek long-term relationships with their corporate suppliers, in part because they need to know they can rely on those relationships working seamlessly, but also because they know how important commitment and service are to their own loyal customers.
Understanding the cultural differences between your company and the small businesses you're selling to can\and should\ drive your sales messaging and product promotion for more effective customer and prospect engagement.
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