FAQs

B2B stands for Business to Business. It means any interaction, usually a sale of some kind, that happens between a business and another business. For example, a software business selling their product to another business.

This free download gets you started with understanding the basics of B2B sales.

B2C stands for Business to Consumer. If you are a business selling candles to individual customers online (not other businesses), you are B2C. This is also sometimes called D2C – Direct to Consumer.

A sales cycle is the length of time it takes to close a deal. Some people measure this from the first contact, others start measuring it once the deal is qualified.

You can find out more about this in our free download: Lingo & Metrics

Qualifying a deal is how you confirm that you want to work with that customer. This is done by asking questions early in the sales cycle so you don’t waste time working on an opportunity that will never, or should never, close. You want to qualify for budget – that is check that they have enough money for what you are selling. You also want to qualify that you are speaking with the right person. Depending on your product, you may have other qualifying factors, for example, technical requirements.

In our B2B sales courses, we teach you how to qualify your opportunities and help you build your qualification questions.

This free download on the sales process will help you to get started.

In a sales context, a discovery call should be when you meet with your prospective customer to find out all the things you need to know, so that you can suggest a really great solution.

This means that you need to understand their challenges really well. So discovery is when we ask a lot of questions.

This free download on the sales process will help you get started.

In our B2B sales courses, we help you build a script for your discovery calls, so you know what questions to ask.

A lead is someone who shows interest in what you do. They are someone that you hope to connect with further, and develop a qualified opportunity with them and their business.

For example, if you are at a networking event and you meet someone who is interested in what you do, they are a lead.

This free download about the sales process will help you get started.

In our B2B Sales Courses, we explain how to find leads through direct outreach, including networking.

In a B2B sales context, we usually call something an opportunity when we have qualified them. That means, we have asked the right questions to check that we want to sell to them.This includes checking that they have the money for what we sell and that you are speaking with the right person.

You will often hear people refer to 'qualified opportunities' to make the status of the opportunity clear.

This free download on the sales process will help you get started.

In our B2B sales courses, we coach you on how to qualify opportunities.

Your B2B sales presentation should focus on your customer's challenges and how you will solve them.

This article provides more detail on how to structure a B2B sales presentation.

In our B2B sales courses, we coach you on how to