Article · ~8 min read

Selling to SMBs in India: it's difficult but not impossible

Aditi Puri Batra · LinkedIn Free Intermediate India

Most ICP advice assumes a clean B2B buyer, which is exactly what breaks when you sell to Indian small businesses. This piece grounds the question in the real texture of that market: price sensitivity, relationship and trust before any order, and how needs shift across retail, manufacturing, and services. Treat it as a starting point for who your customer really is, not a definitive segmentation.

• Indian SMB buyers rarely subscribe cold online, they need face to face contact and word of mouth before they trust you
• Every vertical (retail, service, manufacturing) runs differently, so you have to meet many of them before you can name an ICP
• Localisation and empathy for immediate pain beat product or technology pitches with this audience