B2B Clients: Companies and Their Decisionmakers

We have 2 sales strategies we work. This first one, what we call B2B sales, where we complete lead generation activities and ask for referrals to small and mid-size business C-suite decisionmakers in knowledge services and consulting. We define small business as <250 employees; and mid-size as <1,000. The second sales strategy, channel sales, is listed on the next lesson.

Our People

Our sales and marketing efforts work diligently to find our people, meaning those who want to work with joy, innovation, compassion, meaning, and challenging the status quo with a focus on getting shit done. Admittedly when they first come to use, they need help becoming a Pro Troublemaker. But that’s why we’re here! However our messaging speaks them for a variety of reasons.

Here are some generalities that shape our marketing:

• Gen X-ers, in their early 40s to early 60s
• Grew up as the MTV Generation, loving hair bands, and the freedoms of a childhood where they played outside all day and had to figure out how to get along with others outside the confines of school and organized sports.
• They got a bad rap as the Slacker generation because they were unwilling to work to live as the Boomers had done. They generally are/were a dual-income home and trying to raise kids. A significant number of them graduating at the Dot Com Bubble was bursting in the early 2000s and so entered a tough job market with significant student loan debt. They were also the first generation to move away from their hometowns in significant numbers for their careers, leaving them to build community and outsource home duties in new ways. In previous generations, the nearby grandparents would have picked up these duties.
• There is a nostalgia emerging for Gen X childhood experiences: loving both rap and rock; old school toys and video games in the marketplace.
• While Millennials are known as digital natives, older Gen Xers matured into technology and created/invented/marketed much of the technology that Millennials enjoy. Between them and Baby Boomers, they’ve created much of the B2B tech.
• They are now in the Sandwich generation: sandwiched between the values and work ethic of the Baby Boomers and Millennials. They see the values from both sides and often feel pulled to honor both. They are frustrated with the Baby Boomer leadership and how long they are staying in the workplace, hindering their growth, income, and advancement.
  • They are also sandwiched at home: with aging parents needing care and the pressures of being a helicopter/intensive parent who is always on guard for their child and shuttling them to multiple organized activities.
• As leaders who are managers, directors, (senior) vice presidents, and in the C-suite, they struggle with creating clear expectations and focus, dealing with conflict in their teams so they have productive conflict, engaged employees, and productive days and years.
  • They are leading Millennials and looking for ways to engage them in learning in meaningful ways. Gen Xers were taught in limited ways from Baby Boomers and often lack emotional intelligence and adaptive leadership for what Millennials expect in the workplace.
  • The irony here is that teamwork emerged as a new corporate trend in the 80s. In response, the education system built curriculum to teach Millennials and younger Gen Xers how to be prepared for the future of work: collaborative team environments with on-demand feedback.
• When it comes to change, they seem to roll with the punches vs. guide, direct, and contain it. They need support creating clarity for themselves, their orgs, and their teams. They need skills for influence so they can guide change for those around them, while having self-awareness of their own emotional triggers. Embracing the Baby Boomers’ work style, they have become disassociated from their values, feelings, and needs at work.