Sales no longer rely on luck: revealing the growth rules of "The Model" of Japanese B2B
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Thanks to Taisa Hsu for hosting the “Re-understanding of “[The Model](https://www.amazon.com/THE-MODEL-MarkeZine-BOOKS-%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B1%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3% E3%83%B3%E3%82%B0%E3%83%BB%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A4%E3%83%89%E3%82%BB%E3%83%BC%E3%83%AB%E3%8 2%B9%E3%83%BB%E5%96%B6%E6%A5%AD%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AB%E3%82%B9%E3%82%BF%E3%83%9E%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B5%E3%82%A F%E3%82%BB%E3%82%B9%E3%81%AE%E5%85%B1%E6%A5%AD%E3%83%97%E3%83%AD%E3%82%BB%E3%82%B9/dp/479815816X)》——Japanese style “Secrets of B2B Growth” online book club, I was inspired by it.
When Yasutaka Fukuda was first sent to work at Salesforce’s US headquarters, he discovered something that completely subverted his perception - it turned out that when doing business in the United States, there was no need to meet customers at all. He just sat in the office and made phone calls every day. He was very confused at first, but later he realized that in the vast land of the United States, if the business had to go out to visit customers every day, he would not meet many people at all.
Having said that, the geographical conditions of the United States dictate that businesses must find more efficient ways to reach customers, so the division of labor between Inside Sales and Field Sales came into being.
Yasutaka Fukuda was born in 1972, graduated from Waseda University, and later joined Oracle Japan. In 2001, he was assigned to work at Oracle’s U.S. headquarters. In 2004, he joined Salesforce USA. The following year, he moved to the company’s Japanese subsidiary and spent the next nine years leading growth in the Japanese market. After serving as Executive Vice President and Senior Vice President, he joined Marketo in 2014 as Representative Director and President. In October 2017, he was promoted to Representative Director and President, and concurrently served as President of Asia Pacific and Japan. After Marketo was acquired by Adobe Systems, he became Adobe Systems’ executive vice president and head of Marketo business in March 2019. In January 2020, he became a partner of Japan Cloud and serves as the representative director and president of Japan Cloud Consulting Co., Ltd.
Yasutaka Fukuda has been working in the Japanese software industry for eight years and has a thorough understanding of Japan’s business model. But this experience in the United States opened his eyes. It turns out that business can be developed just by making phone calls, and it may be more efficient than traditional door-to-door visits.
When he brought this American sales method back to Japan, he faced a very practical problem. This method is called Data-Driven Sales Process in English, but this term is too long and complicated for Japanese people, making it difficult to remember and promote it. So he thought of an extremely simple name, called “The Model”, which translated into Chinese is that model. Although the name is simple, it has successfully created a revolution in the Japanese B2B market.
Through Taisa’s introduction, I understood: It turns out that in B2B sales, the most basic unit is not an individual, but a company.
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Everyone is accustomed to using the term Account to refer to a company or organization, and under Account, there will be many Contacts, that is, various contacts in the company. It may include bosses, ministers, section chiefs or general employees, each of whom plays a different role in the decision-making chain.
Next, there is the concept of Campaign, which is marketing activity. For example, if we hold a seminar, this seminar is a campaign. Participants in the seminar will leave their contact information, which are leads. Simply put, a lead is a list of potential customers, which contains names, contact information and some basic information.
After we get these Leads, the next thing to do is to judge whether this Lead is really valuable? First of all, you need to confirm whether he is from a real company? At the same time, you should also check whether his contact information is complete. What is his position in the company? If these conditions are met, we can convert this Lead into Contact and put it under the corresponding Account.
When one day this Contact indicates that they have budget, need or intention to purchase a product or service, this creates an Opportunity, that is, a business opportunity. Simply put, Opportunity represents a specific sales opportunity, which has a clear amount, estimated closing time and probability of closing. Business personnel will track and promote each Opportunity, and through steps such as proposals, quotations, and negotiations, they ultimately hope to handle the deal smoothly.
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Next, let’s talk about the four stages mentioned in the book “The Model”.
The core concept of “The Model” is very simple and easy to understand. It is to break down the sales process, which is traditionally handled by one salesperson from beginning to end, into four stages of professional division of labor. These four stages are Marketing, Inside Sales, Field Sales, and Customer Success.
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The first stage: Marketing
The mission of the marketing department is to create stable and high-quality traffic entrances. Expressed as a simple formula, external traffic times conversion rate equals lead number. Key KPIs for the marketing team include: the number of external traffic (number of website visits, ad impressions, or seminar participants), number of leads (number of potential customers who leave information), and conversion rate (the proportion of visitors who convert to stay-lists).
However, the job of marketing is not just to generate a large number of leads, but the quality of the leads is more important. In B2B markets, marketing is tasked with creating a list of qualified prospects. This requires establishing a set of ICP ideal customer profiles, clearly defining the target industry, company size, role functions, and even the degree of digitalization of the other company.
There is a very important concept here called Lead Scoring.不要只看名单数量，而要有一套分级机制，让业务可以把时间花在真正有成交可能的高机率名单上。 Simply put, the KPI of marketing is not how many leads are generated, but how many high-quality lists are generated.
The second stage: Inside Sales back office business
The task of Inside Sales is to screen the list and confirm needs. Their key KPIs are the number of Leads (the number of lists delivered by marketing), the case conversion rate (the proportion of Leads converted into negotiation opportunities), and the Opportunity number (the number of negotiations converted into further follow-up).
Inside Sales serves as the bridge between marketing and the field, making sure the sales team doesn’t waste time on low-quality lists. They need to quickly confirm whether customers really have needs through phone calls, emails, and online meetings.
There is a very important framework here called BANT: Budget, Authority, Need and Timeline. A case must meet at least two of these conditions to be worthy of further follow-up. If a potential customer is very interested in your product, but he has no budget and is not a decision-maker, then no matter how much time is invested in the case now, it will be difficult to close the deal in the short term.
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Here, special mention should be made about the difference between BDR and SDR. BDR is the abbreviation of Business Development Representative, which is suitable for large enterprise customers. Their job is to focus on key targets and invest resources in cultivation. BDR will take the initiative to create trust and support through specific contact and continuous contact.
In contrast, SDR is the abbreviation of Sales Development Representative, which is suitable for small and medium-sized enterprise customers. Their job is to screen many lists to improve the success rate. SDR faces a large number of inbound leads, that is, potential customers who actively fill out forms, download information, and participate in activities. The SDR’s task is to quickly judge the quality of these leads and hand over qualified cases to field operations.
The third stage: Field Sales field business
Field Sales’ mission is to build trust, come up with solutions and close deals. Their key KPIs are opportunity number (number of negotiations), closing rate (ratio from negotiation to closing) or number of deals (number of signed cases).
Salesforce Japan defines eight standard business stages:
- Negotiation exploration: Decide which negotiations should be started first. The accuracy is 0%, and it takes about 7 days on average.
- Definition of demand: Grasp and confirm demand with customers, accuracy is 15%, average about 14 days
- Value appeal: Let customers recognize the advantages of the proposed solution. The acceptance accuracy is 25%, and it takes about 14 days on average.
- Decision-maker recognition: Obtain the evaluation and recognition of decision-makers, with an accuracy of 50% and an average of about 21 days
- Risk elimination: Reach a consensus on mutual concerns before placing an order. The accuracy of placing an order is 70%, with an average of about 40 days.
- Contract agreement: Obtain internal approval, 90% accuracy, average about 50 days
- Transaction operation: receiving order documents, the accuracy is 95%, and the average time is about 50 days
- Successful signing: the first day of becoming a customer successfully, the accuracy of the bet is 100%, about 50 days on average
These eight stages clearly present the complete journey of a B2B transaction from start to finish, with clear milestones and deliverables for each stage. The core of field business is not how many customers you have to deal with, but how to push the right business opportunities to close the deal step by step.
Phase 4: Customer Success Customer Success
The goal of this stage is to turn a transaction into a long-term relationship and further growth. Key KPIs for Customer Success include the number of transactions (number of signed customers), renewal rate (whether customers continue to renew), number of renewals (ARR, MRR, etc. reflect long-term revenue stability), Upsell and Cross-sell (number of additional sales and cross-sales).
In SaaS and B2B models, signing a contract is just the starting point, and the real challenge is how to make customers successful. Customer Success execution priorities include:
- Import support: Ensure that customers can really use it and quickly realize value
- Regular review: Conduct regular effectiveness review meetings with customers to confirm return on investment ROI
- Extended value: When customers use it smoothly, they can promote Cross-sell or Upsell
- Transformation into successful cases: Write customer stories into successful cases and turn them into the best material for the next round of marketing and sales.
Generally speaking, we tier services based on the value and size of our clients. In a typical customer segmentation pyramid, the top is the High Touch layer (large customers, requiring highly customized services), the middle layer is the Low Touch layer (medium-sized customers, requiring a certain degree of standardized services), and the bottom layer is the Tech Touch layer (small customers, requiring large-scale automated services).
Seeing this, I wonder if you will be curious: Why is “The Model” particularly suitable for the Japanese market?
Taisa further explained that this is because Japanese business culture has several characteristics:
The first is to value long-term relationships. When Japanese companies choose suppliers, they not only look at product functions and prices, but also value the supplier’s reputation, stability, and service quality. They want to find a long-term partner, not a one-time deal. This means sales cycles are often long and can take months or even years to build trust. The customer training mechanism and customer success concept of “The Model” are exactly in line with this characteristic.
The second is that the decision-making process is complex. Decision-making in Japanese companies usually involves multiple levels and departments and requires a rigorous review process. This is a big challenge for business people because you not only have to convince one person, but an entire organization. The eight-stage business process of “The Model” is designed to deal with this complex decision-making process.
The third is to pay attention to documents and records. Japanese companies are accustomed to recording all communications and decisions to ensure the inheritance of information and the attribution of responsibilities. “The Model” requires that all business activities be recorded in the system, which coincides with the habits of Japanese companies. And when all records are in the system, Japanese customers will also feel that your company is professional and reliable.
The fourth is to pay attention to details and quality. Japanese customers usually have very high requirements for products and services. They will carefully examine every detail and ask various questions and requests. “The Model” ensures a high-quality experience in every aspect of sales and service through the professional division of labor in Field Sales and Customer Success.
From the core KPIs of the four major departments to the daily activities of each colleague (such as making phone calls, sending emails, and arranging meetings), everything can be presented in detail to avoid business advancement based solely on feelings. The value of this system is that it is not only a recording tool, but also a management tool and forecasting tool.
When all data is recorded in a structured manner, we can use the data for analysis, prediction, and optimization. For example, we can analyze which marketing channels bring the best lead quality, which Inside Sales has the highest conversion rate, which Field Sales has the best closing rate, and which customers have the highest renewal rate. These analyzes help us identify best practices and then roll them out to the entire team.
So, how to start importing “The Model”?
If you are currently working for a small and medium-sized enterprise, your company may not have the resources to establish a complete four-stage division of labor at once, so what should you do? Taisa’s suggestion is to start small and gradually optimize and complete the entire process.
The first step is to establish basic customer profile management. No matter what tool you use, whether it’s Excel, Google Sheets, or a free version of your CRM, organize your customer data first. There must be at least three basic information: Account, Contact or Opportunity. After every interaction with a customer, remember to record: when, who you talked to, what was discussed, and what the next steps are. This habit is very important and is the basis of all data management. The second step is to define your sales process. There is no need to go through eight stages in detail at the beginning. It can be simplified into four to six stages, such as initial contact, demand confirmation, proposal, contract signing, delivery, and contract renewal. Each stage must be clearly defined and the conditions under which it can advance to the next stage must be agreed upon with the team.
The third step is to set basic KPIs. It doesn’t need to be too complicated. Let’s start with the core indicators, such as how many leads are added every month, what is the conversion rate, how much Opportunity there is, what is the expected transaction amount, and what is the actual transaction amount. Track these numbers each month and you’ll start to see some trends and issues.
The fourth step is regular review and optimization. Have a monthly or quarterly meeting to review the numbers and discuss what went well and what needs improvement. As your company grows, you can gradually improve the system, introduce more professional tools, establish more detailed processes, and add more indicators. The important thing is to get started and not wait until all conditions are perfect.
For example, suppose a Taiwanese software company wants to enter the Japanese market. Their product is a production management system specifically for manufacturing.
In the absence of guidance from “The Model”, their approach may be to find a salesperson who speaks Japanese and ask him to go to Japan to participate in various exhibitions, exchange business cards, and visit customers. The business is very hard, and I may have visited dozens of companies in a year, but in the end only one or two transactions were completed. Moreover, the company cannot explain why these customers bought and why other customers did not buy. If this business leaves next year, the company will have to start from scratch again.
But if you adopt the approach of “The Model”, it will be completely different. First, the marketing department will conduct market research to understand the current situation, pain points, and decision-making processes of Japan’s manufacturing industry. They will then define the profile of their ideal customer, such as one with annual revenue between 1 billion and 10 billion yen, a need for digital transformation, or a dedicated IT department, etc. They then create targeted content, such as white papers, case studies, and webinars, to attract these target customers.
A lead is generated when someone downloads a white paper or signs up for a seminar. These leads will enter the system, and Inside Sales will contact them one by one to confirm their needs and conditions. For qualified leads, Inside Sales will arrange a preliminary online meeting to understand their specific pain points and needs. If the meeting goes well and the client expresses interest in learning more, the case is forwarded to Field Sales.
Field Sales will prepare customized proposals, which may require an on-site visit to the customer’s factory to understand their production process and then propose a complete solution. During this process, you may need to do a POC proof of concept to allow customers to actually try the product. Then entering a long internal review process, Field Sales needs to communicate with customers at all levels to deal with their concerns and objections.
In the end, if the contract is successfully signed, the case will be handed over to the Customer Success team. The team will assist customers to introduce the system, train users, and solve various technical problems. They will hold regular meetings with customers to review the usage and effectiveness of the system to ensure that customers really get value from the system. If customers use it well, the Customer Success team will explore expansion possibilities.
During the entire process, every step, every interaction and every decision will be recorded in the system. The company’s management can see the status of the entire Pipeline at any time, knowing how many Leads there are, how many Opportunities, when the transaction is expected to be completed, and what the amount is. If there is a bottleneck in a certain link, management can immediately discover and intervene. And because all the information is in the system, even if a business staff leaves, new business can take over. Conclusion
To sum up, “The Model” is not just a sales methodology, it represents a new way of thinking about customer relationships. In the past, we may have regarded customer relationships as assets of individual business people, but under the framework of “The Model”, customer relationships are assets of the company. In the past, we may have thought that a sale was the moment the deal was made, but today, the deal is just the beginning of a long-term relationship. It cannot be denied that in the past, many company bosses may have made decisions based only on feelings and experience, but under the guidance of this framework, we can use data and analysis to guide decisions.
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We are in an era of rapid change, technology is advancing, the market is changing, and customer expectations are also increasing. If we continue to do business the old way, we will soon be obsolete. The Model provides a framework that allows us to run our business in a more systematic, data-based, and customer-oriented way.
This concept has become a common language in B2B sales in Japan, and more and more companies are adopting this approach. If Taiwanese companies want to succeed in the Japanese market, understanding and mastering “The Model” is very critical. Because when your customers, your partners, and even your competitors are all using this language, you will be at a disadvantage if you don’t understand the secrets.
I am very happy to have this opportunity to learn with Taisa, re-understand B2B sales, and master the secrets of Japanese-style growth. I also sincerely look forward to working with you to create our own success story in this market full of opportunities and challenges.
In my opinion, the book “The Model” is not just a framework, it is a kind of thinking, a culture, and a pursuit of excellence. When we put customer success first, use data to guide decision-making, and optimize processes to the extreme, we will be able to create real value!
🚀 If you like this view, maybe our story is just beginning. 👉 Let’s see how I went from writing and teaching to AI empowerment?
Further reading
- Vesta Cocoon Diary: Nine Steps to Working for Yourself
- [“Thoughts and Challenges of Starting a One-Man Company” Recommended Preface: “Thoughts and Challenges of Starting a One-Man Company”] (/blog/thoughts-and-challenges-of-starting-a)
- “Self-home Entrepreneurship Bible” teaches you to develop multiple sources of income: take stock of resources and do things that you like and that are helpful to others
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