Investigating communication and access strategies within B2B sales

The aim of this working paper was to explore business-to-business (B2B) buyers’ preferences when initially communicating with salespeople. The paper focuses on salespeople’s’ current access strategies to initiate the sales cycle within the B2B environment. Twelve in-depth interviews were conducted with industrial buyers from the UK representing a variety of sectors. It was found that buyers were using a range of different media when contacting and being contacted by salespeople; however, newer media (social media) has not become as commonplace as previous research claimed. This may be due to industry specific factors that need to be considered by salespeople. Furthermore, buyers are now able to use online technologies for information and supplier search that is game changing in terms of what is expected from a salesperson. Salespeople today need to understand how they can effectively communicate value when gaining access to B2B buyers.