Enterprise is a buzz word that we have all heard before but what does it really mean? In simple terms, enterprise relates to a set of activities undertaken by an organization for the collective purpose of making revenue. Examples include large corporations employing hundreds or thousands of people to produce goods and services or families having custom-designed products made for them. In fact, enterprises range from small businesses to governments and are involved in virtually every aspect of daily life.

As any entrepreneur will tell you, the key to being successful in today’s marketplace is to be able to penetrate your chosen market with quality enterprise products that are also popular with enterprise customers. To do this, you need to understand both the characteristics of an enterprise customer and the transactional sales model that they expect from your enterprise. While traditionally the enterprise buyer has traditionally been an individual person who purchases your product either for themselves or as part of a larger set of enterprise customers, in today’s marketplace there are two main alternatives. First, you can offer your enterprise customers a self-service, or direct sales delivery model.

While a self-service delivery model will allow you to take advantage of the full potential of your enterprise sales system, this option also means delivering fewer products at faster speeds. The second alternative, a traditional, slower selling sales cycle, is ideal for many enterprise sales professionals because it gives them the freedom to design their own sales cycles, depending on the current circumstances, and to test different marketing messages to see which works best. As an added benefit, both the self-service and slower selling sales cycle models tend to provide a higher return on investment than the traditional transactional model. If you have an enterprise that consists of many different products and services, you should consider both models and consider what your unique position in your market actually is. If you have a highly diversified product portfolio, self-service sales may be the best option for you.