Remember those interviews where they do a one-on-one with a prominent movie director and it becomes a sort of resource for fans for possible speculations?

Things like that are actually big reasons why you can’t just rely on mass marketing tactics to have a conversation with an entire target market. It’s one of the most clear-cut differences between B2B appointment setting services and B2C advertising firms. Both work in the marketing industry but the flaws of the latter are often the reason why the former is so bent on taking its time talking one-on-one.

Here’s one example. With the recent conclusion of Game of Thrones Season 4, Entertainment Weekly tapped the finale’s director Alex Graves on why they didn’t include a particular character that book fans were dying to see on-screen.

You can read his justification here. But frankly, letting the speculation run out of control among fans is really just more real-life proof that processes like appointment setting are a necessity among B2B organizations. It’s good for generating buzz among consumers but you can’t let loose ideas run around forever if your organization relies on directly winning over prospects to produce large sales.

Asides from that, here are other ways that going one-on-one helps fill in the information gaps for B2B buyers:

  • They’re hearing straight from the source – Media interviews don’t even cut it. Imagine you’re researching CRM software for the first time and you end up reading about new developments in SalesForce. Unless you’ve got a heavy IT background, a lot of the stuff you’ll find could just make your head spin. Wouldn’t it be better if you just spoke one-on-one with someone who actually works there?
  • You have fewer representatives – One more reason why speculation gets out of hand is because you have one too many representatives. Chris Abraham talks about a similar problem about the ephemeral nature of digital advertising. Sure you get exposure and coverage but only as long as you’re paying. You’re not as involved when you have too many parties representing your products, your services, and your brand.
  • It leaves little room for second–guessing – When you’ve heard it straight from the source, it’s hard to second-guess. Besides, being overly skeptic al has its own drawbacks as a buyer. (You can’t make up your mind. You’re self-paralyzed with trust issues etc.) As impractical it may be for consumer businesses, going one-on-one has been the traditional MO of B2B organizations just for rapport reasons alone.

So instead of being the director that’s tight-lipped on the details, learn to love being the sales rep or the entrepreneur who’s keen on sharing ideas. Too much guesswork all the time can really be bad for some businesses!