38 | B2B vs B2C: Which is Right for Your Coaching Business?

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Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Hello, welcome to the 38th episode

of women in the coaching arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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This week, I held a free workshop to help

people get clear on their niche offer.

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And somebody asked me a brilliant question

that I thought I would cover today.

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So am I selling business to business or

am I selling to the individual client?

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This is especially a quandary

when you are doing executive

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coaching or leadership coaching.

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Because it's hard to know.

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Is it going to be that individual leader

who perhaps sees your social media posts.

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Or are you marketing to organizations?

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So that's what we're

going to dive into today.

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This is a critical decision that can

shape how your marketing pans out.

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Your entire message on your website.

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It really is pivotal to your

success in your coaching business.

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So first let's define these items.

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So B2B refers to transactions

between businesses.

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So this would be you as

perhaps a leadership coach.

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Selling to an organization and

they are your paying client.

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B to C on the other hand involves

a transaction between you as

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perhaps a leadership coach.

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And your individual clients.

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You talking to that client

in all of your messaging and

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that client paying your bill.

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So let's talk about the pros

and cons of each of these.

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Business to business coaching

often involves larger contracts

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and longer engagement periods.

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It means more stability, potentially

higher income per client.

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However, the sales cycle

is longer and more complex.

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A lot of the time requiring you to get

through those different layers of an

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organization to get to that decision

maker that can sign off your invoice.

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On the flip side, B to C coaching

allows for more personal connection

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with your individual client.

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There isn't that confusion

about who is my contract with.

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The sales cycle is usually shorter because

that individual can just make a decision.

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You've got that flexibility to mold your

services, to suit that exact client.

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If they want more, if they want less,

you can negotiate with them directly.

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However, the trade off is smaller

contracts, less money per client usually,

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and potentially more effort in gaining

that client in terms of the marketing

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it takes to get that one client.

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So, how do you decide?

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It starts with understanding

your strengths, your preferences.

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Do you thrive in corporate environments?

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Do you prefer one-on-one interactions?

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Are you looking for long-term

engagements or variety in your clients?

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Another key factor is market demand.

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You would want to research both

markets of your area of expertise.

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What are the trends?

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What are most people doing that are

out there doing what you're doing?

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What do potential clients in

the sectors need the most.

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Are they happy to

purchase this themselves?

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Or is it the sort of thing that

they expect their employer to fund.

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So, for example, I worked with someone

who is providing maternity coaching.

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And she was selling it to the individual.

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But most people who are employed going

off on maternity leave kind of expect that

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that's something that their employer might

fund rather than them payout when they're

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about to take that hit in their pay.

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So often it's about really thinking about

your ideal client and are they seeking

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your service themselves to invest in.

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How you want to market is also crucial.

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So in business to business, building

relationships with key decision makers and

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understanding their needs is essential.

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You would be more likely to want

to do things like networking.

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Attend conferences.

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Do in person events for

business to business.

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The sales process for business to business

is very different for business the client.

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So you are likely to need very

different revenue generating activities,

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different methods of lead generation.

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For example, social media doesn't

really cut it with business to business.

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You have a very different

conversion rates.

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If you are talking to organizations

your usually building that relationship,

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therefore you will gain higher

trust and higher conversion rate.

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Good deep long-term relationships with

a few really good potential leads.

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A lot of the marketing for

B2B is behind the scenes.

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So that may please some of you, because

I know visibility comes up a lot.

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That's not to say it's easy though,

because there is a lot of admin heavy work

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to do to gain those corporate contracts.

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It's about sending a lot of cold emails,

a lot of the time, making sure you have a

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really good system to follow up on them.

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Making sure that you're constantly

keeping in touch with people.

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So if you are thinking, it

sounds like the easy option

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there is still work to be done.

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It's just a different type of work.

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So you would need to

balance which you prefer.

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And if you are thinking

neither, I hear you.

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And all we need to do is really

shift it to how good you are going

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to feel when you gain that contract.

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For those of you who don't want to

use social media, that will please

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you that it's nowhere near as

relevant for business to business

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as it is for business to client.

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So B2B marketing involves thought

leadership, publishing articles,

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speaking at industry events.

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It's really about building your

credibility, showcasing your

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expertise to that business audience.

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They are less likely to be impressed

by your social media posts and more

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likely to be impressed by studies

that you've done in your area of work.

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And things that completely

raise your credibility.

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Let's move on to exploring B to C.

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With B2C expanding your personal brand,

connecting directly with potential clients

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through social media, really growing

that audience can be more effective.

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For B to C social media

marketing is a core part of

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your strategy most of the time.

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Blogging, email newsletters,

lead magnets, funnels.

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That kind of thing can be really

powerful to reach those individuals

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seeking personal development.

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That's not to say that

online is the only way.

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You can get out there

and your local community.

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Figure out people you can partner

with, who have your ideal client and

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might be able to come up with some

sort of referral arrangement with you.

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There are so many ways of building

those relationships and getting your

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message out there and the right way

will be the right way for you, because

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you need to enjoy it to ensure you

actually show up and do it regularly.

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The choice between B2C and

B2B isn't necessarily binary.

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Many coaches can blend both approaches.

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I would recommend doing a campaign,

for example, like the next six months,

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for example, I'm going all in on B2B.

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And everything I do is going to be

targeted at gaining that big contract.

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Maybe then once you have that big

contract, you might want to do B2C, and

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then you could kind of change things.

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I do think it's difficult

to do two at the same time.

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They're not impossible because the B2B

marketing is often behind closed doors.

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You will be probably cold emailing

or LinkedIn, going to conferences.

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It won't necessarily impact what you are

showing on your social media, for example.

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Nevertheless, I would still

always recommend making your

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life as easy as possible.

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And really going all in on one campaign.

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To sum up whether you

choose B2B or B to C.

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The key is to really align your business

strategy with your strengths, the

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market demands, personal preferences.

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The person, for example, who

asked about this on the workshop

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already has B2B clients.

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I think she was an HR consultant.

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So therefore it made perfect sense that

she would align her coaching in line

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with the rest of her business marketing,

rather than have that coaching as a B2C

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thing and then her HR consulting work as

B2B thing, and it would just get a bit

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confusing who her message was talking to.

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So let's share two client case studies.

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One doing business to business,

and one doing business to client.

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And see if it helps you

to gain clarity at all.

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So Zoe, my client was wanting to

work with leaders in agencies.

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Before she came to work with me, she

was focusing on business to clients.

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So she was talking to the leader

who has been promoted and he's

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lost and confused and stressed out.

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Rather than to the agency who wants that

leader to perform well in the business so

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they generate more profits, for example.

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So she transferred to business, to

business, and she has really thrived

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ever since, because she absolutely

loves going to industry events.

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She loves building relationships.

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She's way better in person

than she finds social media.

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So she really found business

to business, helped her.

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Saying that though one of my clients,

Kate is targeting the individual and

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she has done really well with that.

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Don't get me wrong she has

showed up every damn day building

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her business for entire year.

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So that.

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is why she is doing really well with it.

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So again, if you do want to gain

individual clients, It is going to

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take a lot more visible marketing.

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Both paths are exciting, have different

opportunities and challenges, and

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that right choice will depend on your

individual goals and the specific

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dynamics of your coaching niche.

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Thank you for listening

to today's episode.

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I hope this discussion has provided

a bit more clarity and direction

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for your coaching business.

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Remember your journey is unique.

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The right path is the one

that aligns best with you.

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Your vision.

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Your values.

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And as I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

who keeps on watering the seed.

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Thank you so much for listening to this

episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.