Some good things are happening out there for B2B sales people. At least for those inspired by start-ups and want to be a part of the start-up movement.
Just a few years ago there were very few opportunities for B2B sales people in start-up land. With the exception of ad sales, many of the “hot” start-ups were consumer oriented. Unless you had ad sales experience or wanted to sell ad space, there weren’t many opportunities to play in start-up land. Google, Myspace, Facebook, Yahoo, Ebay, Twitter, etc. are all consumer oriented. They didn’t offer many opportunities for the B2B guy.
This is changing and changing pretty fast. B2B is quickly growing in startup land. More and more Internet, Social, Mobile and Cloud startup companies are targeting business and this is good for B2B sales people. I am a mentor at TechStars Boulder and there are more startups selling B2B in this years group than there were last year. What is even more telling is a number of this years group came IN targeting consumers and have now pivoted to businesses. Foursquare just announced their B round and talked about improving their sales engine, which is B2B. Twilio, Groupon, Living Social, Foursquare, Gowalla, Yammer, Socialcast, etc. are just a few of the “hot” new start-up properties that sell B2B.
This trend is only going to continue as more and more mobile, Internet and social applications are developed for businesses. This is good for B2B sales people. We will now have a chance to play at the start-up table. Most start-ups are started by techies/developers. Many lack the expertise and knowledge of navigating and selling to businesses. Start-ups selling B2B can benefit big time from those who know how to build and execute against robust sales processes, know how to prospect, navigate the buying process, build relationships, etc. All this is new in the start-up world. It’s an opportunity for B2B sales people.
If you felt you missed the first round of start-up mania, that’s OK. The next round needs B2B sales and it’s going to be big.
