Selling to Corporates is something many shy away from. There’s a worry it’s complex or challenging to sell to Corporates - and in many ways, that’s true. But it’s also a significant way for you to grow and scale your business. Corporates tend to be more expensive, and you can charge more.
I’ve recently been talking with Jessica Lorimer over on my podcast. Jessica specialises in helping entrepreneurs sell into Corporates and can help you see how adding selling to Corporates can become a revenue stream for your business.
A Corporate is an organisation that has multiple permanent employees on its books. They work to provide their end-users and customers with a specific service, product or experience. They aren’t defined by how much they earn. A solo entrepreneur can sometimes earn more than a Corporate! It’s the staff component that makes the difference between a solo entrepreneur and a Corporate.
The reality is that it gets you more money for less work. The average Corporate deal in the UK is worth £10k to any business, whilst the average B2C sale is worth £1,500. B2B is much more targeted, and it’s easier to find who’s going to be responsible for the area you want to sell to or improve. They pay you more, and it’s easier for you to get resells and upsells when working with a Corporate.
As an external supplier to the Corporate world, the working life is better too. You work fewer hours for more money.
Because the oxygen mask has to go on you first. Working with Corporates has to be profitable and commercially viable for you financially. The oxygen mask has to go on your first! Unlike B2C work, Corporates don’t expect you to speak for exposure, offer free training etc.; they will pay you for it all.
If you’re a solopreneur selling a service that impacts people, you should be adding in a Corporate revenue stream, even if that’s only to fund your B2C work. It doesn’t have to be your primary income source.
When you work with a large Corporate, you can positively impact every person you train. They’re then taking that home, and you’re then impacting their families and friends. If you train one team, you also impact another. Your training could be keeping those people in jobs!
You pay more taxes as you earn more, but you’re working less to earn more. You can do more with your money and always give back elsewhere, such as volunteering or sponsoring. You can always give back somewhere.
The biggest reason people don’t work with Corporates is it seems like a complex process. They don’t understand how it works.
When you’re looking at B2B, you’re not looking to get a large volume of people into your funnel to whittle down. You choose and target particular stakeholders and industries, and you have conversations with them. It’s quicker to get to the sales. The process tends to look like this:
You can sell anything to anyone! There is no specific money industry to target with Corporates. Understand it’s OK to pick whatever industry pops into your head, one you like and are interested in. Know it’s not your forever niche. Pick a niche and roll with it for 90 days. Assess if it suits you and whether you like working with that kind of company or industry.
LinkedIn is the easiest and cheapest way of doing this. Search ‘HR manager’ at your target company/industry to get back a list of them. Drop them a nice transparent message saying why you’d like to connect with them and what you’d like to discuss. The aim is to get them on a business development call with you.
When selling to Corporates your first job is to ensure everything is mutually beneficial. You’re not wasting their time, and they’re not wasting yours. Your second job is to understand what problems they have in your remit. Ask the right questions - the impact of that problem, what it costs them, etc. Thirdly, get them to a point where they’re ready to fix that problem and want to know how to do that with you.
Talk about the solution you want to provide, the features and benefits, and how it will help them reach the transformation they desire. And let them know your price. Also, include a scope of work so they know what your boundaries are right. You’re then very clear on what you are and aren’t doing.
It’s then up to you to deliver, do it well and take pride in that. You can then ask them what’s next and establish how else to help them.
If you’re interested in retaining money and making a profit, you want to maximise your potential and limit the upfront costs. B2B will help do that for you. Ultimately, your job is to be a salesperson and make money. If you’re not making a profit and have an expensive hobby, something needs to change. So why not look into shaking those fears and getting started with Corporate clients!
Listen more to my podcast with Jessica Lorimer on Selling to Corporates.
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The Pricing Queen podcast is produced by Decibelle Creative
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