When we moved to our new house, I had a choice to make. Do I pay someone to mow my lawn or do it myself? I was so busy at the old place that it made sense to hire a landscaping company and pay them $250 a month to mow and trim.

I tried a company here in North Carolina. It was $45 a week, and they did a decent job, but I was not thrilled with their attention to detail. So I decided to buy a mower and trimmers and do it myself. I found an electric mower at Lowe's for $300 that included a battery and a charger. Then the edger, string trimmer, and blower were another $300 with a battery and a charger. That means that in 14 weeks, the equipment would pay for itself. That was 2 years ago.

I found that the way the grass grows down here, I only needed to mow once every other week. The other thing I learned is that one battery was not enough to mow the entire 1/4 acre lot. I got by with the two batteries, but as they started to age, they started crapping out faster. I would have to recharge to finish the yard, which could take 2-3 hours, so I decided to buy another battery.

After a little research, I realized that the mower used a 6-amp battery, while the accessories utilized a 4-amp battery. Both worked on the mower, but that was part of the reason it was crapping out faster. So I priced out both—the 6 amp was $250 and the 4 amp was $180. Another charger was an additional $140 if I needed or wanted that. For reference, the best-selling brand EGO sells for $499, and its 6-amp battery sells for $389.

On the Lowe's website, I noticed that the same mower I'd bought two years ago was on sale for $250. The thing was, it included a 6-amp battery and charger. For the same price as the 6 amp battery, I could have a new mower and an additional charger at no extra cost… No brainer, right?

So why would Lowe's do that? They wanted that one sale. They know that once you start with one tool, you are more likely to keep the same brand (and in my case, they were right).

Marketing To That One Sale

I have often written and spoken about the differences between consumer and B2b marketing. Consumer marketing needs to appeal to a wide range of personas; it must be both generic and tailored to a specific group that needs what you sell. A friend is working on a website for a sandwich shop. As an independent business, they compete with national chains, but they appeal to people in specific areas who prefer small, local businesses. They have two main audiences, both broad in scope.

One eats one sandwich at a time, usually for lunch. This could include men, women, and children of all ages who like Italian subs.

The 2nd audience is catering. This could include businesses, associations, civic groups, and more, all of which share a similar demographic with the lunch crowd.

You may have thousands of prospects, but you have a few hundred people who may buy today. Each day brings new opportunities, and you must constantly remind customers that you are there for them.

B2b, on the other hand, has a much smaller and tighter demographic. An example is a friend's business that serves the manufacturing industry. They have two main products, with a subset that wants to buy parts. They build control panels and repair and retrofit press brakes (machines designed to bend metal). Not all control panels are for press brakes, and not all press brakes need a control panel, but they generally are repairing or replacing one or both.

Although thousands of companies use this technology, it's not consumable, and approximately 1000-5000 machines require repairs or retrofits annually. There are around 2000 companies that build control panels, but it's estimated that about half do custom control panel fabrication. Targeting that subset means you have to be visible at the right time to the right person in a company that would research and purchase those kinds of custom services. That means you are competing with 1000 companies for between 100-250 opportunities per month.

The sales cycle can take months to a year, but you have to be top of mind when the needs arise.

Case Study

When it comes to B2b, you have to connect with people where they hang out. In business, that is generally LinkedIn. LinkedIn (through its connecting algorithm and advertising) can help you target current and prospective customers in volume. That audience can be tweaked to target specific people with specific jobs at specific companies in your target industries. Unlike other social media whose algorithms target personal attributes (good for consumer marketing), LinkedIn is purely business-focused.

Unlike consumer marketing, where you appeal to convenience, cost, and culinary cravings, in B2b you are marketing to trust.

We have a favorite local sandwich shop with better ingredients and taste, but we occasionally visit Subway, which is right down the street, because it's closer and faster.

When it comes to B2b, companies are betting their profits, and even their jobs, on your business. Trust is something that has to be earned.

With the panel shop, we have created a blog series. The first one is an introduction to the company. The second is a deep dive into the technological and quality differences that the company brings to the table. The third will be about case studies where they zigged from one solution to the right one for the customer at that time. The final one will profile the owners and what they feel makes them the right choice for their customers. Each blog is part of the trust tree that we are trying to grow, but we have no idea which post people will see or read first.

Not only are they posted on staff profiles to reach current connections to remind them we are still serving their needs, but we also use LinkedIn ads to promote to a lookalike audience of prospects.

The bottom line is that each article is tailored to reach a single person to build or reinforce trust: the client who is researching and in need of their products and services at the exact moment they are searching for answers. In other words, they are focused on that one sale, not the industry at large.

Closing Thought

Lowe's used that one-person philosophy to attract me with a reduced price, effectively indoctrinating me into the Kobalt Club of lawn care. It worked the first time, and I was able to take advantage of the deal to get more than they hoped I would buy. I also got a great deal on a new mower for the price of a battery.

Price is not as much of an incentive in the B2b world. People often get burned by lower prices and lower quality outcomes. That is why building trust is so crucial in B2b marketing. It takes time, repetition, and quite a bit of interpersonal relationship building.

While I could recoup my cost in weeks, when you are dealing with a business, it can take months or years. Once trust is established, you often have a loyal customer for the long term.

GREAT? Now, I need a sandwich before I go and mow my lawn later today!

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Comment below and share your thoughts, ideas, or questions about business-to-business sales and marketing today! Do you have a sales or marketing communications strategy that works for you? What tips or techniques can you share that work for you and your business?

To learn more about this and other topics on B2b Sales & Marketing, visit our podcast website at The Bacon Podcast.