The applications to the building of a distribution channel and to the design of an intelligent business app were the final confirmations of the use of functionalist principles and binary actions to build bestsellers in B2B markets.

This work provides the guiding idea to design B2B bestsellers. Designing a bestseller is an extreme exercise of empathy. Bestsellers are evident in nature by just observing the courtship of animals and alpha male behavior.

Thinking in terms of bestselling requires a full commitment with the needs of the user, being user friendly and avoiding that the value propositions work as unwanted mirrors when they are used.

This document is a synthesis of the abstract of the research on the functionality and design of bestsellers developed at The Unicist Research Institute.

The Design of B2B Bestsellers

The context of bestsellers

The design of B2B bestsellers requires being based on an existing trend. Bestselling implies surfing on waves, which allows arriving at the shore. It is not only surfing, but also evaluating if the surfboard is adequate, if the surfer has the necessary skills and has the criteria to know which wave will drive him/her to the shore.

The gravitational force of a B2B bestseller is the trend that drives the value proposition. This trend needs to fulfill several conditions. It needs to be an accepted trend that simultaneously includes innovative concepts that satisfy latent needs and/or implicit weaknesses of the present environment.

When the wave (trend) has been chosen, it is necessary to understand which are the competitive advantages of the value proposition that one intends to install as a bestseller. These competitive advantages require the inclusion of two points of view.

On the one hand, there must be an intrinsic competitive advantage that deals with the internal functionality of the value proposition, being it a product or a service. This implies a technological differentiation, using the word technology in the wide sense.

On the other hand, there must be an extrinsic competitive advantage that deals with the “aesthetics” of the proposition, which is basically driven by the subjective value that is defined by the use value, the referential value, and the opportunity value. These values are defined by the buyer and the user.

The B2B Bestsellers

The purpose of a bestseller requires that the value proposition needs to be desirable to have. This means that it simplifies the activities of a business, avoids risks and empowers the self-esteem of buyers and users.

To achieve this purpose, it is required that the needs of the users be completed. This implies that a B2B bestseller is only such if it does not propose a structural change. Completion implies that the functional needs and the operational needs are satisfied focusing on the satisfaction of the latent needs of the buyer.

When the completion can be achieved, it is necessary to ensure that the solution is harmonic. Harmony in this field requires that there is a shared purpose dealing with the use value of the proposition, driven by a shared ideal that drives the functionality of the solution, while the urgent needs of the customer are being satisfied.

Conclusions

Users, not buyers, make products become bestsellers. The design of B2B bestsellers is an art that requires a sound understanding of the functionality of the value propositions, their use and their buying processes.

The core of the success of a bestseller is strongly influenced by the contagiousness of the value proposition, which is defined by the smartness of the solution, its capacity to satisfy needs and by the possibilities it opens for the potential users.

Comparing this functional description with the document on book-bestsellers will help to understand the concept. Both cases are homologous:
https://www.unicist-school.org/future-research/bestsellers-are-an-indicator-of-conservative-cultures/

Martin Alvaro
Scientific Dissemination Committee
The Unicist Research Institute

NOTE: The discovery of the functionalist principles allowed managing the root causes of problems, the functionality of things, and the necessary binary actions to make things work. This is a new stage, we invite you to experience their use at a personal level. Download