The Real Differences Between Politicians and B2B Salespeople: What Every Sales Professional Should Know

In the world of influence and decision-making, understanding the distinctions between politicians and B2B salespeople can elevate your strategy and results.

There are many negative stereotypes about politicians and salespeople, and some of them are similar. For example, both groups are sometimes thought of as self-interested, unethical, and dishonest. Here will prove that many politicians deserve this bad public image, and we will defend salespeople, who deserve a better reputation. For our purposes, we will compare the typical high-profile politician and the successful B2B salesperson.

1. Primary Goals
   • Politician: Seeks to gain and maintain political power through elections and governance. To do this they tell their voters what they want to hear, despite knowing they have little chance of passing any laws to put their policies into action. (It’s convenient that they can just blame the other party for stalled bills.)
   • B2B Salesperson: Aims to close deals and build long-term relationships with businesses to drive revenue. To win their business, a poor salesperson may tell their client what they want to hear. A better salesperson tells their client what they need to hear, even if they would rather not face the truth.
2. Decision-Making Process
   • Politician: Decisions are often influenced by public opinion, political parties, interest groups, and their ability to hold onto power. The politician has the problem of trying to please the donors who fund them and all of their voters.
   • B2B Salesperson: Decisions are guided by client needs, market conditions, and the client’s goals. The salesperson has a number of stakeholders they need to help with a problem. In some large, complex deals, selling can resemble politics, with contacts fighting over the solution or the sales organization they will choose.
3. Target Audiences
   • Politician: Engages with a broad electorate, including diverse demographic groups. The electorate and other groups try to influence the politician to do what they want, like lowering taxes, raising taxes, or some other outcome. Oftentimes, these groups may have conflicting goals.
   • B2B Salesperson: Targets specific businesses, often focusing on key decision-makers within an organization. The salesperson can find themselves in a similar scenario to the politician when decision-makers are at odds. You may need to use diplomacy to overcome office politics, build consensus around a solution, and win the client’s business.
4. Communication Styles
   • Politician: Uses rhetoric and broad messaging to appeal to a wide audience, often focusing on values and vision, while telling their constituents what they want to hear. The word rhetoric means persuasive. Some politicians are persuasive, while others struggle to change minds. I once met a presidential candidate who focused on me alone, ignoring the throng surrounding us. It made an impact on me because getting that level of attention is rare.
   • B2B Salesperson: Employs persuasive, data-driven communication tailored to the specific needs and pain points of a client. The salesperson doesn’t need to be capable of rhetoric. Instead, they use insights to make their case for why their client must change. The best strategy for a salesperson is to master both speaking and, more importantly, listening.
5. Accountability: Who Answers to Whom
   • Politician: Accountable to voters, political parties, and often the media. One of the reasons politicians have a bad reputation is that the governing process requires Congress, the Senate, and the executive office to work together and compromise to make a law. (For a refresher on how a republic is designed to function, watch that Saturday morning cartoon about how a bill becomes law.) It may be true that the politician is effective when they are able to acquire the numbers they need to do something.
   • B2B Salesperson: Accountable to the company and its clients, as measured by performance against revenue targets. The salesperson must work for their company and their goals. They must also work for their client to succeed. Achieving these two outcomes must result in net new revenue. Occasionally, you might discover a conflict between the company and the client, threatening the deal and the revenue. You may need to be more like a politician and negotiate with both parties to move forward.
6. Relationship Building
   • Politician: Relationships with constituents can be cyclical, tied to election periods. You are likely to receive a four-color brochure or an email from your local congressman to remind you that they need your money to win the race. If you give a significant amount, you might be invited to a private dinner, featuring chicken, salad, bread, and a small dessert. You may believe you have a relationship, but don’t expect a call between races.
   • B2B Salesperson: Builds long-term relationships with clients that often extend beyond single transactions. A poor salesperson will treat the client as a wallet they can pull revenue from. A better salesperson knows that the relationship is more valuable than any single transaction. Unlike a politician, you keep in touch with your clients.
7. Trust Building
   • Politician: Builds trust through public image, speeches, and political promises. Many of these promises will not be pursued, let alone delivered. We don’t trust politicians because they go whichever way the wind blows. Politicians are incredibly opportunistic, something that breaks trust.
   • B2B Salesperson: Builds trust through consistent delivery of value, meeting client needs, and fulfilling commitments. Unlike the politician, the salesperson is trusted because they deliver on their promises. A poor salesperson makes a promise and fails to deliver the client’s desired results.
8. Managing Stakeholders
   • Politician: Manages a wide array of stakeholders, including voters, donors, lobbyists, and colleagues. You and I may learn something from politicians. They work very hard to manage a large number of stakeholders, even if they treat some of these people as wallets they can access when needed.
   • B2B Salesperson: Manages stakeholders within client organizations, such as procurement, finance, and technical departments. This management of stakeholders resembles that of a politician. Most of us could use our CRMs to maintain our relationships and communicate more often.
9. Data-Driven Decisions
   • Politician: May use polling data, demographic information, and political analysis to guide campaigns and policies. In today’s modern political environment, things like voter rolls are important, as is other demographic data in their county, city, or state.
   • B2B Salesperson: Relies on market research, sales analytics, and customer insights to drive sales strategies. Large sales organizations tend to have the data on their territories, making it easier to help the salesperson succeed. Smaller sales organizations would do better to acquire the information they need to improve their time management and their results.
10. Ethical Challenges

• Politician: Faces scrutiny over ethical behavior in areas like campaign finance, lobbying, and transparency. The politician must work within the laws of campaign finance or, once they've won their election, lobbying.
• B2B Salesperson: Must adhere to business ethics, including honesty in sales pitches, respecting client confidentiality, and avoiding conflicts of interest