original equipment manufacturers, employee recognition providers, event managers—the list of businesses that sell goods and services to other businesses is lengthy.
B2B companies typically have a very limited audience that they need to reach, which can pose a signifi cant challenge. A company that provides payroll services, for example, might be able to serve a company with tens of thousands of employees. However, only a few of those employees represent the target market—the handful that work in the Human Resources department, in particular, the department director.
Because B2B sales are more relationship-based, and the sales cycle can be fairly long, B2B sites typically do not have e-commerce functionality. B2B companies tend to focus their Web resources on achieving the following goals:
• Reinforcing their brand name
• Establishing that they understand their clients’ “pain points”—the
critical issues faced by potential clients in their particular industry
and those faced by the decision-making individuals within those
companies
• Proving that they can deliver the products and services necessary
to ease the aforementioned pain
• Showing themselves to be leaders in their industry
• Moving potential visiting clients to take action by contacting a
sales representative