When B2B Go-To-Market Obstacles Come to B2C Markets

The challenge of motivating salespeople to embrace advanced new products is usually a B2B phenomenon.

A recent Washington Post article reveals how one B2C industry’s quest to capitalize on a once-in-a-lifetime technological breakthrough has it coping with obstacles that are more commonly found in the B2B world.

The breakthrough technology is electric vehicles (EVs). The article is provocatively titled, “Electric vehicles are hitting a roadblock: Car dealers.”

A link to the full article is below, but I’ll highlight a few key quotes that illustrate the similarities to B2B sales channel challenges.

“30% of all dealers surveyed (in 2022) said they wouldn’t offer an EV even if they could.”

How is this similar to B2B sales channels? Some sales channels have a strong tendency to drag their feet with new innovations. Some are taking a wait-and-see approach, while others simply prefer the status quo - and selling products they know. Given the profitability of maintenance services for conventional gas-powered drivetrains (that have 100 times more moving parts…) owners of dealerships have a strong inherent reason to keep delivering more gas-powered vehicles to our roads.

“So I’m volunteering to take a 75 percent pay cut — and no salesman wants to do that.”

How is this similar to B2B sales channels? Time is often a salesperson’s most valuable asset. New technologies require more research, consideration, and planning before buyers make decisions. The quote above reflects the reality for a car salesperson who may spend 4x more time in the sales process with an EV buyer - as the consumer learns about charging, explores a vehicle’s digital controls, and takes extra test drives to try out advanced features or adjust to one-pedal driving.

How ELSE is this similar to B2B sales channels? A salesperson experiences very different time pressures than other employees. While marketers and product managers may have annual plans and objectives, salespeople are measured very differently - usually in shorter, very well-defined time periods. This is especially true for car dealer salespeople, as their timelines are intimately aligned to the number of days remaining in the current month. Spending three hours longer to sell one car imposes obvious opportunity costs on a car salesperson.

“Frustrated customers told The Washington Post that dealers tried to redirect their attention toward gas cars, or gave incorrect or unclear answers to questions about charging and day-to-day electric vehicle use.”

How is this similar to B2B sales channels? Salespeople sometimes steer consumers toward conventional products. When selling new and different products alongside products they’ve sold for years, salespeople will always be tempted to nudge buyers toward the products they’re already comfortable selling. And it appears that the automakers are also falling victim to a trap that commonly befalls B2B companies – i.e., that marketers and product managers have a tendency to train salespeople on features and benefits. To the contrary, when a breakthrough product is introduced to a sales channel, it’s more important for training to focus on how salespeople will navigate the sales cycle – including anticipating questions or obstacles they’ll encounter – and what resources will guide them to success. Success builds infinitely more confidence than memorizing a list of features.

The fact that salespeople can act as gatekeepers - and sometimes redirect consumers toward conventional products - is even more problematic when commercializing breakthrough B2B products. Unlike the B2C auto market where consumers can readily find details about new products, B2B buyers have far fewer sources available to fact-check salespeople - making it even more important for companies to give their sales teams the preparation, resources, and confidence they need to advocate for new products.

On a final note… B2B companies eagerly invest in R&D and product development for new products but jeopardize ROI by underinvesting in go-to-market commercialization preparations for frontline sales channels. It appears automakers are making the same mistake with EVs… they’ve made massive investments to design EVs and set up new production lines – only to short-change the preparation of sales channels.

While this won’t hamper the viability of the entire EV market, it can radically affect automakers’ market shares and the speed with which they’ll achieve returns on their enormous investments.

Gift link to the full Washington Post article: https://wapo.st/46kv8Q1

Meet the Consultant:

James A. Craig has focused on growing B2B companies throughout his career, beginning in small regional companies and startups before following a traditional MBA path into corporate marketing – where he honed his skills empowering B2B sales teams around the world with confidence-building targeting, tools, and door-opening messages. He now enjoys applying the tools and experiences he's gained from world-class companies to help small- and mid-size companies punch above their weight and methodically outgrow their peers. Learn more at www.revulet.com.