Let’s talk about different types of selling models and sales processes as they relate to different businesses in the “B to B” sector. First of all, let’s talk about the enterprise selling model. The enterprise selling model is characterized by high level of complexity. Typically, decision making cycles are long, there are multiple constituents involved in multiple locations at multiple levels of the organization. This means that deploying a sales organization in order to meet the needs of the enterprise selling model are complex, expensive, and require a heavy level of investment.

If your company is considering selling to the largest enterprises, you’re going to need to organize your sales force around this reality and make the necessary investments and have the long term perspective that’s required in order to be successful in this arena. Many companies make the mistake of trying to target the largest enterprises when they don’t truly have the resources necessary in order to build a sustainable and repeatable sales process that will allow them to penetrate large enterprise accounts and win over the long term. Enterprise selling model requires deploying a multi-tiered sales force, including inside sales, field sales, as well as major account personnel who are stationed close to or can get themselves close to the various constituents throughout the targeted enterprise that need to be approached and developed in order to maximize account penetration in the large enterprise account.

In an enterprise selling model, it’s a very consultative approach where advanced needs analysis is being done throughout the organization in order to truly adapt and design the sales process around the account objective. Many companies don’t have the capabilities to go this deep into the selling process in order to have a chance at success and they often end up frustrated and don’t achieve their sales objectives as a result despite multiple attempts to gain access to the enterprise.

Companies that succeed at the enterprise selling model are those that have truly a national, if not global reach, and have the resources deployed and targeting the different areas of the enterprise prospect in order to be able to maximize their account penetration. Account coordination and sales management is extremely important in the enterprise selling model since the coordination of multiple constituencies in the organization in order to orchestrate as a sales process is what’s required. We’ve seen many companies, particularly startups, that target the enterprise and have a product that is best suited for the enterprise but don’t have the staying power or the resources to fully maximize their coverage of their target major accounts and as a result, they run out of money before they actually have a chance of penetrating those accounts.

By contrast, many companies choose a transactional selling model, which is quite different from the enterprise model. Whereas, enterprise is multi tiered, multi-locational and very consultative and strategic in approach, transactional selling model lends itself towards commodities products, where the buyer is not nearly as sophisticated, the decision making cycle is not nearly as long, and the sales cycle, as a result, can go very, very fast. Companies that are involved in a transactional selling model include everything from companies that are doing telesales and closing deals over the phone, such as shrink wrapped software companies, through to purveyors of commodities services, where going for the close on the first or the second call is easy.

Transactional selling model is very good if you’re product is well understood by your target audience, already in demand, is purchased by a large percentage of your target, and where the decision making and sales cycle and switching costs in order to purchase your products are relatively low. Typically, a transactional based selling model does not require a sophisticated sales organization, in the sense of it’s location, it’s mix of field and inside a major account, sales people – it typically lends itself towards a telesales model or a straight field sales or a hybrid model, where there is no hand off between in side and outside sales, between lead generation from the telemarketing perspective and inside sales.

So, many companies choose a transactional selling model when they’re in a very competitive market and the sales cycle are short, the average selling price of the product is low, and the actual sales process is simplified down to its lowest common denominator.