B2B sales representatives play a different role than B2C sales representatives. B2C sales reps generally follow the organisational sales playbook to align with the sales processes, search for prospects’ backgrounds, and pitch solutions that address potential customers’ challenges. 

B2B sales reps are responsible for building and nurturing connections with corporate decision-makers to sell various products and services. They do so through channels like sales calls, video conferencing and emails.

Why B2B sales are “complex sales”

Business-to-business sales is all about selling products and services to other businesses instead of directly selling to customers. B2B sales is different from B2C sales as the sales cycle is longer, involves multiple touchpoints, and decision-makers, and the product being sold tends to be of higher value. As a result, one may need up to 3 months or longer to close a B2B sales deal.

Since B2B sales involves multiple decision-makers, each with their unique needs, the reps must handle every key stakeholder objection and allay their concerns to close the deal. Hence the term "complex sale" is associated with B2B sales.

For example, suppose a B2B sales development representative is selling project management software to the C-suite of a company. Different stakeholders in the prospects’ buying team (for example, the technology team, finance team, etc.) have different requirements and concerns regarding the software. 

For instance, the finance team may care about budget-friendly pricing. The integration team may ask questions are the various channel or platform integrations. The projects team may want to know if it accommodates up to 100 users. 

In such a situation, B2B sales representatives can successfully close the deal by building a package that matches the diverse requirements of various stakeholders. To do that, the sales representatives should have a clear idea of the key decision-makers and their requirements. 

The Role of a B2B Sales Representative

Business-to-business sales representatives are responsible for end-to-end management of B2B sales funnel, starting from lead generation to lead conversion. Some of the major responsibilities associated with B2B sales representatives include: 

• Researching the target industry to discover prospecting opportunities 
• Planning and executing cold outreach in the form of emails and calls to attract new leads 
• Reaching out to prospects through calls or emails to assess their needs
• Nurturing the leads and understanding their issues inside out 
• Conducting product demos and handling questions, rejections, objections 
• Relationship management with multiple decision-makers and stakeholders to add value
• Negotiating and closing multiple sales deals to achieve high revenue
• Managing all B2B selling operations and activities within a particular territory or zone or industry