The B2B model has changed dramatically in recent years. Today’s top sales professionals need to be prepared to deal with non-linear B2B sales funnels, longer sales cycles and more complex decision-making than ever before.
In this article, we’ll cover the B2B sales definition, break down how it differs from B2C sales, walk through the B2B sales process and funnel and share the strategies and tools that help modern sales teams close deals.
Key takeaways from B2B sales
B2B (business-to-business) sales involves selling products or services directly to other businesses rather than to individual consumers.
B2B sales cycles are typically longer and more complex than B2C, involving multiple stakeholders and decision-makers.
A clear understanding of the B2B sales funnel helps sales teams identify bottlenecks and prioritize high-value opportunities.
A CRM like Pipedrive makes all of this manageable by helping your team track deals, automate workflows and forecast more accurately.
What is B2B sales?
B2B sales refers to companies that sell products and services to other businesses.
This sales model typically comes in three main types:
Wholesale/distribution sales. Selling raw materials or retail stock to other businesses. For example, a convenience store may sell stock purchased at wholesale.
Supply sales. Selling consumables, such as office supplies and equipment, to another business.
Service/Software sales: Providing software to businesses to support their daily operations. For example, a startup may pay a monthly fee to subscribe to a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform.
The type of B2B sales your business operates in will largely determine your sales cycle, your pricing strategy and the relationships you need to build.
What’s the difference between B2B sales and B2C sales?
Business-to-consumer sales, or B2C, is another common sales model. The main difference between B2B and B2C sales is the target customer.
While B2B companies sell products and services to other businesses, in B2C sales, businesses sell products and services directly to individual consumers.
Examples of B2C sales include an e-commerce store selling clothing, a convenience store selling to local residents or a food stall selling to passersby.
Here are a few other ways B2B sales are different from B2C sales:
Higher average transaction value. B2B sales typically have a larger average transaction value with a higher price point than B2C sales.
Longer sales cycles. B2B sales cycles are longer and more complex than B2C sales cycles. Lead generation, lead nurturing and more complex negotiations all add time to the buying journey.
Higher sales volume. B2B sales are typically larger in volume than individual consumer purchases.
More decision-makers to convince. B2C sales typically only involve one decision-maker. In B2B, there are more stakeholders involved in the purchasing decision, and this number rises on average to between six and 10, according to Gartner.
More consideration by buyers. B2B buyers consume an average of 13 content pieces before deciding on a vendor. B2C customers may purchase items on impulse or with less consideration.
Heavier focus on customer service. B2B companies allocate more resources to customer service to increase customer lifetime value and retention. Even in business-to-business, salespeople are still talking to people, so the relationship matters just as much as the product.
Here’s a quick side-by-side view of how those differences stack up:
B2B sales | B2C sales |
Sells to other businesses | Sells to individual consumers |
Long, complex sales cycles | Short, often immediate |
Multiple stakeholders and decision-makers | Usually one decision-maker |
High transaction value | Lower transaction value |
Long-term relationship focus | Often transactional |
High sales volume per deal | Lower sales volume per deal |
13+ content pieces consumed before deciding | Minimal research before purchasing |
Understanding these distinctions helps sales teams make smarter decisions at every stage of the buying journey – from initial outreach to closing the deal.
Other business models
B2B and B2C sales tend to get a lot of attention as the most common sales models. But there are other important approaches:
B2G (Business-to-government). Businesses selling to a government body, also known as business-to-public-sector or business-to-public-administration.
B2B2B (Business-to-business-to-business). Businesses selling to companies that, in turn, sell the product/service to a final company.
B2B2C (Business-to-business-to-consumer). Businesses partnering with other companies to reach new customers.
B2C2B (Business-to-consumer-to-business). Businesses selling to consumers who will then take the product to their business, where it is adopted across the board.
The lines between these models are becoming increasingly blurred as businesses find more creative ways to reach their end customers.
The B2B sales funnel
A B2B sales funnel is a framework for the steps involved in selling your product or service. It starts with the customer learning about the company, product or service and typically ends with the buying or evaluation process.
The primary purpose of the sales funnel is to give sales teams a clear roadmap for moving potential leads from awareness to closed deals.
Understanding the stages your B2B customers go through will help salespeople visualize the customer journey.
This allows them to see customer pain points, identify bottlenecks in the sales process, shorten onboarding time for new customers and prioritize high-value opportunities before they stall.
The number of steps in a B2B sales funnel can vary by company and industry, but most follow a similar pattern:
Awareness. Potential customers learn of your product or service.
Interest. Potential customers recognize the product or service as potentially relevant to their business.
Decision. Potential customers conduct research to inform their decision-making and evaluate their options.
Action. Potential customers take action by either purchasing or opting out of the sale.
Evaluation. Customers assess whether the product or service delivers on its promise, informing future purchasing decisions and retention.
A tool like Pipedrive’s sales CRM gives you insights into how prospects navigate your sales funnel and where they may be hitting road bumps.
It allows you to track deals all along the funnel, generating automatic reports on data like average deal value, close rate and time to win deals.
Coupling this data with visibility into the number of open deals and the funnel stage they’re in will help you identify which leads to focus on.
Why and how have B2B sales changed?
The “old school” B2B sales process was much simpler. It involved a predictable, linear sales funnel.
Businesses traditionally relied on cold outreach (cold calling, email marketing, etc.) for B2B lead generation. Marketing teams would collect quality leads and pass them to salespeople to close.
Alternatively, decision-makers looking to solve their pain points would contact a vendor (often in person) to discuss solutions. Account executives and sales managers would then work to close deals with potential customers.
This process has changed for two reasons:
Consumers have greater access to information
Brands have more opportunities to engage directly with customers, from websites to social media channels, throughout the journey
Traditional in-person sales have given way to online and remote sales interactions.
B2B buyers now have access to more data and more ways of engaging with the brand. They also spend more time researching potential solutions.
Sales teams need to be prepared to engage at any point along the journey to nurture customers through to conversion.
To offer the best support, B2B selling requires a hybrid approach between sales and marketing teams.
According to Pipedrive’s 2025 State of Sales and Marketing Report, only 57% of salespeople hit their personal sales targets in 2024—the lowest figure in five years. Misalignment between sales and marketing is one of the key factors holding teams back.
The two teams require effective communication and a synchronized strategy to cater to these new buying behaviors.
B2B sales techniques
To close deals consistently, B2B sales teams need the right techniques.
Here are the top B2B sales strategies and methodologies to help you boost sales performance and zero in on the perfect marketing strategy.
1. Smarketing (sales and marketing alignment)
Sales and marketing alignment is no longer optional. To better nurture B2B sales leads through the process, these two teams need to be aligned on messaging, personas and target audience.
That means agreeing on who the decision-makers are, how to sell the solution to the buyer’s pain points and what a qualified lead looks like.
Use the following five-step process to ensure both teams are pulling towards the same goals:
Assess your current level of alignment and look for opportunities to cooperate
Promote smarketing to get everyone on both teams on board with your efforts
Encourage consistent and open communication
Create a service-level agreement (SLA) that clearly defines the services and responsibilities of each team
Integrate your software to make collaboration and data sharing easier
When sales and marketing teams work in sync, lead quality improves, sales cycles shorten and more deals close.
2. Social selling
Social selling is a modern B2B sales technique that uses social media platforms to build relationships with potential buyers before pitching.
It starts with finding out where your target audience spends time online and making sure you have a presence there.
Depending on the industry and your focus, you may maintain accounts on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok or Facebook.
The key is to post more than ads and product-related content, but also educational, entertaining and people-first content – including testimonials and customer stories – meant to build relationships with potential buyers over time.
3. Solution selling
Solution selling is a B2B sales methodology that puts the buyer’s pain points first. Rather than leading with product features, sales reps consider a prospect’s challenges before recommending a solution.
It requires sales reps to have a good picture of the ideal customer. The better the understanding, the more effective the technique becomes.
This methodology is regularly used in industries that rely on customized solutions to meet specific needs.
Here are the steps for solution selling:
Prospect. Search for a buyer with pain points that your product/service solves.
Qualify. Learn how decisions are made in the company.
Discover. Understand the buyer's needs and recommend your company’s products or services as solutions.
Add value. Access key decision-makers and create a positive impact.
Present. Create a customized solution that demonstrates ROI through product demos, case studies or tailored proposals.
Close. Make a deal and close with custom deliverables.
The more thoroughly you work through each stage, the better positioned you’ll be to present a solution that feels built specifically for that buyer.
Download your ideal customer profile template
4. The Challenger Sale
The Challenger Sale is a model built around taking control of the buying experience through teaching, tailoring and leading.
According to its authors, Dixon and Adamson, sales reps can be categorized into one of five distinct profiles:
The Hard Worker
The Relationship Builder
The Lone Wolf
The Problem Solver
The Challenger
To take control of the deal, a sales rep should adopt the Challenger profile: someone who understands the prospect’s business, pushes the prospect out of their comfort zone and loves to debate.
Similar to solution selling, Challengers tailor sales to specific pain points. They understand the customer’s needs and offer valuable insights into how the product or service could benefit them.
Here’s a more in-depth look at the Challenger Sales Model:
For B2B sales teams dealing with long cycles and hard-to-convince buying committees, the Challenger approach gives reps a clear framework for taking control of the conversation.
5. Value-based selling
Value-based selling is a consultative approach focused on communicating a clear value proposition – what the product or service delivers beyond its features or price point.
It involves emphasizing the positive impact a product or service will have on prospects.
This emphasis in the sales pitch helps people look beyond cost to consider the impact the purchase will have on their work and bottom line.
When done well, value-based selling builds trust, justifies higher price points and creates the kind of long-term customer relationships that drive retention, referrals and repeat business.
How Pipedrive helps B2B sales teams close more deals
B2B sales involve a lot of moving parts: multiple stakeholders, longer sales cycles, follow-up sequences and pipeline management across your entire sales team.
Doing all of that manually means your sales reps spend more time on admin than on actual selling.
Pipedrive’s CRM is built to streamline this process. It gives B2B sales teams real-time visibility into every deal in the pipeline, automates repetitive workflows and surfaces the data sales managers need to forecast accurately and prioritize high-value opportunities.
Here’s what that looks like in practice.
Spend less time on admin, more time selling
Workflow automation handles the tasks that slow sales reps down. It handles scheduling follow-ups, sending emails, updating records and triggering next steps.
Instead of wasting time on manual clicks, your team focuses on building relationships with potential customers and advancing deals.
Pipedrive in action: Key Search built 100+ automations to streamline client and candidate management processes, increasing workflow speed by 40%. “The time saving was immediately there,” says CEO Franziska Palumbo-Seidel. Read the full case study.
Know exactly where every deal stands
Pipedrive’s visual pipeline gives your entire B2B sales team a clear, shared view of every opportunity in progress.
Reps can advance deals through the stages of your pipeline until they reach a final outcome.
Deals move through stages that mirror your actual B2B sales process, so nothing slips through the cracks and every sales rep knows what to do next.
Forecast more accurately and hit your sales targets
Insights and custom dashboards surface the sales metrics that matter: average deal value, close rate, time to win and revenue forecasts.
Sales managers can spot bottlenecks, reassign high-value deals and make data-driven decisions without digging through spreadsheets.
Pipedrive in action: Boost Transport used Pipedrive’s workflow automations, insights and integrations to win $5 million in new revenue in just six months. “Workflow automations have been a game-changer,” says President Justin Smith. Read the full case study.
Whether you’re managing a small B2B sales team or scaling across new markets, Pipedrive adapts to your sales process rather than forcing you to adapt to it.
The future of B2B sales
The transformations we’ve seen in B2B sales over recent years are only the beginning. Buyer behaviors, technology and channel preferences are all continuing to evolve fast.
Here’s what the data tells us about where B2B sales is heading:
Sales and marketing alignment will remain important. According to Gartner’s May 2026 survey, buyers reported using an average of seven information sources during a recent purchase, and 45% used generative AI primarily to research vendors and products. Sales and marketing need to coordinate messaging across every touchpoint, or risk losing ground before a conversation even starts.
Digital-first buying is now the baseline, not the exception. Gartner’s 2026 data shows 67% of buyers prefer a rep-free experience, yet 69% still want to validate AI-generated insights with a sales rep at key decision points. The role of the B2B salesperson is shifting from information provider to trusted advisor.
AI is reshaping the B2B sales process from the inside out. According to Pipedrive’s State of Sales and Marketing Report, 37% of sales professionals have already integrated AI into their workflows. Among those who haven’t, four in five plan to do so soon. The teams getting ahead are using it to remove the friction that slows deals down and free up time for the high-value conversations that actually close business.
What’s clear is that the fundamentals haven’t changed.
Buyers still want to feel understood and confident in their decisions. The technology just changes how you get there.
Final thoughts
Business-to-business sales are constantly evolving. The line between sales and marketing roles is getting smaller, the buying journey is getting more complex and the bar for what B2B buyers expect from their sales experience keeps rising.
The right sales tools make all the difference. Pipedrive’s CRM helps B2B sales teams stay on top of deals, automate workflows, track every customer interaction and forecast with confidence.
Try Pipedrive free for 14 days and see how it helps you close deals and build the kind of long-term relationships that drive retention and growth.
