My first major B2B client did not join my portfolio because of a price spreadsheet. He came after many visits on days of fatigue and the feeling that I could hear one more 'no'. I knocked on his door multiple times, called when it would have been easier to give up, returned to listen instead of pushing product, and insisted on building trust before discussing volume. It was there that I learned that discounts might open a conversation, but it is the relationship that closes the sale and sustains revenue.
I started serving corporate clients in 2006, dealing with smaller accounts, solving day-to-day demands, and learning that selling is about being present. I came to understand in practice that a portfolio is not inherited; it is earned. In large banking institutions, I eventually managed one of the largest portfolios on the platform. There were asset targets, a selection process, profile tests, and performance pressure. And yet, what kept me among the bank's top performers was not a great sales pitch technique. It was listening.
When I entered commercial representation, I thought I needed to start everything from scratch, and I did. I left the banking world and moved into baking and later confectionery. Always from zero, with no portfolio, just my experience and the certainty that I could succeed. I called, knocked on doors, photographed storefronts to call later, used Google as a radar, and understood that the right approach was not to talk about price. It was to ask how operations were going and what I could adjust together with the client. The results came when I stopped being a salesperson and became a bridge.
In the last two years with this new portfolio, I have closed months with over 600,000 reais in sales and opened strategic accounts with major market brands. One of my clients reported revenue of 740 million reais in 2024, according to figures released by the group itself, and projects double-digit growth for 2025. When a client of this caliber agrees to pay more for a supply because they trust the product and the service, there is a clear message to the market: loyalty is worth more than individual margin.
This trend is not isolated. A global McKinsey survey showed that 71% of consumers expect customized interactions from companies, and 76% get frustrated when this doesn't happen. In Brazil, 68% say personalized experiences significantly influence their purchasing decisions, according to the CX Trends 2025 study by Octadesk with Opinion Box.
Although the surveys are more focused on retail, the message resonates strongly in B2B: relationship and personalization have become central to commercial strategy, not just a nice “extra.” Recent reports on B2B marketing in the country point to customer experience and relationship quality as priority challenges for account acquisition and retention.
I see this every day in the field. A client asking for a discount today may need support tomorrow. And when urgency arises, they don't look for whoever offered the lowest price; they look for whoever built trust. In many cases, I accepted reducing margin in the short term because I saw loyalty in the medium term. That's how a chain that bought a thousand reais a month from me started buying over a hundred thousand. Simply because they decided to bet on who was close by.
The B2B market remains predominantly male. I entered this environment with two young daughters, a street routine, and no ready-made safety net. What guided me was the belief that relationship is an asset. Today I have over one hundred and twenty active companies in my portfolio and I continue prospecting because that's how the sector moves. Recent studies on B2B marketing in Brazil show exactly this direction: content, trust, and constant presence as the foundation of the journey, with technology assisting but not replacing face-to-face interaction.
I learned this logic at home, before learning it at the bank. My mother was also a manager. She left early, came home late, studied at night, and built everything we had on the foundation of work and trust. She showed me, in practice, that relationship is not a salesbook speech. It is a daily commitment to the person on the other side of the table. That's how I understood that the client trusts the person first. Then the product. When trust exists, price ceases to be a barrier. It becomes just one item in the negotiation of a long-term relationship.
The recovery of B2B sales has already begun. And it is not in discount catalogs. It is in the return of the scheduled visit, in asking for an opinion, in a client referring another, and in the ability to listen before offering. If the relationship is solid, sales grow. If sales grow, the brand endures. That's how I made B2B not just a market. I made it a possible journey.
*Fernanda de Freitas is a specialist in commercial management, sales, and consumer experience in the B2B market. She works with major retail chains, connecting industry to point of sale with a focus on expansion. Representing food sector brands, she built portfolios from scratch, achieved monthly volumes above six figures, and maintained minimal delinquency, performance that led her to secure strategic clients such as Sodiê Doces, Dona Deola, and Hipermercado Andorinha networks. Her trajectory combines resilience, method, and sharp market insight, sustaining significant results in a competitive and predominantly male segment. She has become a reference for her performance and her ability to strengthen commercial relationships, representing a new generation of professionals who turn adversity into strategy and deliver real value to clients and partners.
