Most Broadband Service Providers (BSPs) know how to win the household. You’ve nailed speed, price, bundles, and basic service. But when it comes to selling to businesses—especially small and home-based ones—the same playbook just won’t work.
It’s not a failure of capability.
It’s a failure of strategy.
Selling to businesses isn’t just a bigger version of residential sales. It’s a fundamentally different go-to-market motion—and getting it right can unlock a powerful new growth engine for your BSP.
You’re Not Selling to Business Users—You’re Selling to Business Owners
Consumer sales are often emotionally driven. Businesses, on the other hand, are solution driven. They buy to solve problems: productivity drag, lost revenue, compliance risk, or employee frustration. They expect ROI, reliability, and real support.
That shift requires BSPs to evolve in four key ways:
- Sell benefits, not bandwidth. Businesses don’t care about download speed—they care about seamless POS systems, secure customer data, and video calls that don’t drop.
- Target roles, not households. In a home, everyone’s a user. In a business, there’s usually one decision-maker (owner, office manager, or IT contractor) with different priorities than their staff.
- Enable outcomes, not features. That means solutions for productivity, security, and reliability—not just features like “Wi-Fi coverage.”
- Invest in relationship-building. SMBs expect a partner, not just a provider.
SmartBiz: A Launchpad for Selling With Confidence
SmartBiz is a great example of how BSPs can deliver what business customers actually need. It bundles secure, managed Wi-Fi with productivity-boosting features like mobile app controls, content filtering, and business-specific support.
It’s not just a product—it’s a signal to your local business community that you get them.
One of the simplest examples of value? Offering strong, secure guest Wi-Fi. As Business Insider reports, “62% of businesses said customers spend more time in their store or facility when Wi-Fi is offered”—a clear, quantifiable benefit BSPs can help enable. For small businesses, customer retention and time-on-site are gold.
SmartBiz can’t be treated like a residential upsell. It must be positioned as a business-class solution with business-class outcomes.
Rethinking Go-To-Market: The SMB Sales Motion
To succeed with SMBs, your BSP needs more than just a great product. You need a new sales and marketing motion designed specifically for business decision-makers—one that respects how they think, where they engage, and what drives their choices. Selling to a local business owner is not the same as selling to a household. It’s not about convincing someone to stream faster—it’s about helping them run more efficiently, serve customers better, and sleep easier at night knowing their network is secure.
Here’s how BSPs can retool their go-to-market motion to resonate with SMB buyers:
1. Segment Your Market With Intention
“Small business” is not a monolith. A home-based graphic designer, a 10-seat law firm, and a retail coffee shop all have radically different technology needs, operating hours, risk tolerances, and bandwidth requirements. Instead of lumping them together, break your business base into clear segments:
- Microbusinesses (1–5 employees) often need simplicity, mobile management, and affordability.
- Professional services (legal, accounting, medical) require security, compliance, and continuity.
- Retail and hospitality prioritize guest Wi-Fi, reliability during peak hours, and brand perception.
Once you have these segments, tailor your offers, support models, and marketing messaging accordingly.
2. Adjust Your Messaging From Lifestyle to Operations
Consumer marketing routinely focuses on lifestyle enhancements—work from anywhere,stream without buffering, game at top speed. That doesn’t translate to business buyers, who think in terms of productivity, security, and customer experience.
Effective SMB messaging may include:
- Protect your customer data and your reputation with secure, managed Wi-Fi.
- Eliminate downtime at your front desk, back office, and point of sale.
- Give your guests a fast, branded Wi-Fi experience while keeping your staff network safe.
Speak the language of outcomes, not just features.
3. Be Where Business Owners Actually Are
Facebook ads may reach households but small business owners are networking elsewhere. Develop a presence in the places they trust:
- Chambers of commerce and local small business associations
- Trade and industry events (especially vertical-specific expos like dental or legal tech fairs)
- Local publications and business journals
- LinkedIn campaigns targeted by job role and company size
More importantly, show up in person. Sponsor a breakfast for local entrepreneurs. Host a free workshop on “How to Protect Your Business Wi-Fi.” Don’t just advertise—advocate.
4. Train Your Reps for Consultative Selling
Your residential sales reps may be used to taking orders. But SMB sales is more consultative. Business owners want to understand how a solution will solve a problem—not just what it costs.
Provide your reps and CSRs with:
- Talk tracks for common business problems (“Are you experiencing dead zones in your office or slow speeds during peak hours?”)
- Objection handling that addresses business risk and ROI
- Tools to demo or simulate the SmartBiz experience, such as network control or guest Wi-Fi setup
Even better, consider creating a “Business Concierge” role—a specialized support contact for local business subscribers who expect white-glove service.
5. Bundle With Purpose—Not Just Price
The most effective SMB offers aren’t just about throwing in features. They’re about creating purpose-built solutions that align to business priorities.
For example:
- Retail SMB bundle: Managed Wi-Fi + branded guest portal + traffic analytics
- Professional office bundle: Static IP + secure staff/guest separation + data protection tools
- Home-based business bundle: Mobile app for control + parental/content filters + seamless backup connectivity
The key is to offer clarity and control—two things business owners value more than raw speed.
(For more on building differentiated offers, see: Winning with Value-Based Offers)
Avoid the Trap: Don’t Repurpose Residential Offers
One of the biggest mistakes BSPs make is trying to retrofit consumer packages for the business market. This often results in generic, feature-heavy offerings that feel like a poor fit to business buyers.
If your offer page looks like “Fast. Affordable. Reliable.” — you’re missing the mark. That language might work for a family choosing Netflix, but not for a vet clinic trying to secure patient data.
Instead, build offers that reflect the business mindset:
- Control: “Keep your customer network separate from your staff network.”
- Security: “Meet compliance requirements with protected Wi-Fi.”
- Support: “Priority assistance so your business never misses a beat.”
SmartBiz provides a foundation here—but the message has to be tailored and delivered through channels that reach business buyers.
What’s Next? Build the Business Line Your Community Needs
SmartBiz gives BSPs an on-ramp to the business market. But succeeding long-term means treating business as a distinct line of business:
- Dedicated business support teams.
- A separate and distinct web experience for business buyers.
- Sales enablement content and FAQs that answer business-specific questions.
- Offers and pricing structures that reflect the unique needs and scale of business customers.
The reward? Stickier relationships, higher ARPU, and stronger community reputation. In many markets, businesses will become your most valuable—and most loyal—subscribers.
The Takeaway: SMB Growth Starts With a Mindset Shift
BSPs that crack the SMB selling code will do more than increase revenue. They’ll elevate their brand from commodity provider to strategic partner—earning the trust (and business) of local entrepreneurs, professionals, and community anchors in the process.
Start with SmartBiz. But don’t stop there. Build a go-to-market engine that’s built for business.
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