– Jason Sprenger – President, Game Changer Communications

Throughout my career, I’ve noticed that there’s a prevailing theory among the masses in my industry, and I’m sure it’s probably true of other professional service industries (law included) as well.  People seem to think that working with B2C companies is way more fun and interesting than working for B2B companies.

I’ve had the honor and privilege of working with many B2B and B2C companies, and this work has spanned the gamut.  On the B2B side alone, I’ve pitched toilet seat wipes to building trade magazines for consideration for potential news stories. I’ve helped large tech companies acquire, merge, build and sell business units – and most everything in between.  Sure, it’s not all glamorous work; explaining the science of toilet seat wipes to a bunch of reporters isn’t inherently sexy.  But when you go beyond the surface, there’s a lot more to it…and, frankly, it’s often quite fascinating.

There are two main ways that I think B2B companies set the standard for fun and interesting work:

  • Simplicity of Story.  B2C value propositions are often complex and hard to define, and that can make them difficult to rally around.  On the other hand, I learned long ago that B2B value propositions revolve around at least one of three things: saving a person or organization time, saving them money/resources or minimizing their risk.  No matter what company or product/service I’ve worked with, this has held true.  Consequently, a big part of my job as a professional communicator involves boiling a company and its offerings down to plain language that hits these points head on, and then getting the word out.  How does your work help a B2B company deliver on these value attributes?  Once you solve that puzzle, and achieve focus on what you find, it’s pretty remarkable what impact you can have.
  • Purpose.  There are exceptions, and it’s certainly true of many B2C organizations as well, but the B2B organizations I’ve worked with have had missions and visions that go well beyond making money.  They hope to build the next big thing and change the world.  They want to contribute to discoveries, and advance the sciences.  They’re trying to simplify the lives and minimize the stress of the burned-out businesspeople around them.  They’re devoted to their colleagues, and trying to find out how to make everyone more effective.  I absolutely love the altruistic attitude that I see from so many B2B organizations and executives, and it makes working with and advocating for them that much easier and rewarding.

No matter the organization, there’s always something about any particular organization that we can identify with and get excited about.  Sometimes it’s plain to see, and sometimes it’s harder to find.  But when we unearth it, it’s really exciting – and it opens up a whole new world of perspective and opportunity that I think is pretty wonderful.