It was a normal day in IIM Udaipur. It was the first trimester, and the students were getting used to the hectic IIM schedule. The classes were going on just fine. We were waiting for the next lecture to start, which was marketing management. The entire class was excited as there was a scheduled class activity, and mostly marketing class activities were fun! The lecturer, one of the best faculties of IIMU, entered the classroom, with some sheets in his hand.
He distributed the sheets to all the students. The sheet had the instructions for the class activity. We had to first sit together in our respective study groups. The activity was basically a demonstration of how Business to Business (B2B) pitching and procurement takes place. All the groups were divided into two sets. One set of groups were the buyer organization, and the other set was the seller organization. The product which had to be sold was the furniture requirements for the newly constructed swanky IIM Udaipur campus. The buyer team was the procurement team of IIMU, while the seller team was the key accounts team from some major furniture manufacturer.
The buyer team was supposed to discuss the furniture requirement for the campus, and the specifications for each requirement. These requirements were communicated to the seller team, who had to prepare a pitch for their organization so that their firm wins the bid. After giving time for preparation, the lecturer called upon two students from each buyer and seller group. They had to do a dummy pitching round. The seller team will vouch for their organization, and why they should win the tender, while the buyer team will question their claims, and clear all their doubts.
The simulation started, and first, the seller team started pitching about themselves, in the regular fashion, as all MBAs do. After the pitch, the questioning started with the buyer team. At first, everything was going on normally. But slowly, the questions started getting deeper and deeper. Although everyone knew it was a simulation, everyone was so much invested in it that they participated as it was all real. The buyer team grilled the seller team on each and every word they spoke.
That was the day I realized, the selling a product in the B2B market can be so tough. Till that time, I had a notion that B2C selling is tough, but B2B selling is not. This was the eye-opening day for me! That B2B also has its own and very challenging set of hurdles. And even if the person on the other side of the table is your friend, when it comes to B2B, only the value for the customer speaks, and not the relations.
Aditya Birla Group Company: I would like to work for Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited. My article may talk about marketing, but I am interested in operations and supply chain. As it is an apparel retailer, with major brand names under its belt, I would get ample opportunity, to explore myself in Ops and SCM.