Most people in management and sales know the difference between business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2C). We all know the definitions and probably also aware of differences in their segmentation approaches. However, when it comes to creating and selling new products and services, this knowledge is rarely put to use.
The briefest structure possible: if the person paying for the stuff is the same as the person using it, it's B2C. If the buyer and the user(s) are different, it's B2B. It's an oversimplification but helps enormously to pick the right mindset.
For example, selling to Freelancers is B2C when it comes to market dynamics, buying process, and patterns. The user and the "budget holder" are the exact same person. Detergents, clothing, food is classic B2C. I go shopping, I will make the decision (even if mom or dad will pay for it), and I will use the goods. Therefore the very same persona can be conveniently used for product development and sales/marketing processes.
Even in pure and classic B2C, you can see that some items are not designed with the user in mind. The displayed picture is popping up regularly in different user experience and design groups as an example of bad design.
That toy is a great design when you consider it has to be sold. In B2B or in any setting where your customer is not the same as the user, you always have to think about the budget holders’ considerations. Probably more than about the user. If you don't design for the decision-maker, your product rarely gets recognition in the market. Or, using a different perspective, no matter how good your product is, the baby has absolutely no say in what kind of toys she will get. If the parents like it, they will buy it — end of the story.
The above picture pretty much sums up the problem with B2B sales and product design. You either design for the user and no one will buy it, or you prioritize money and design for the decision-maker. If you want to survive, you have to include the decision-maker(s) in the design process.
Therefore, a design persona in B2B sales and marketing should be different from a B2C persona. The key difference is that you cannot use the user experience design personas to support your sales and marketing activities, as you would do it in a simple B2C setting. Using the same pattern, you cannot design solely with the user in mind, as this will make life extremely hard on marketing and salespeople in your organization.
Just by adding a decision-maker(s) persona to your design process will improve your chances of survival by orders of magnitude.
There is one exception to how you can use B2C tactics and still be successful in the B2B environment. And that is the recently emerging "product lead growth" strategy already executed successfully by companies like Slack, Dropbox. Special rules apply for such products, and these are (yet?) more the exception than the rule.
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