Every business has its own peculiarities that need to be addressed to grow over time. B2B enterprises are different from B2C as their operations are more nuanced, involve multiple stakeholders known as buying centers and have a longer sales cycle. Similarly, there should be some differentiating business practices that help them stand ahead of the competitors or industry peers.
Traditionally, businesses have been engaging in practices like trade shows or exhibitions for brand awareness and generating leads which are then targeted via cold calling or personally to convert them into industrial buyers. However, this is still in practice but the sales funnel has evolved and is more dynamic than ever. These are the top recommendations from Arslok India that would launch your B2B enterprise onto a growth vehicle:
1. Focus on CD > Only CX.
Businesses have their focus on attaining a near perfect Customer Experience (CX) at every touch-point. However with changing times and aspiration, other businesses look forward to value-adds and indelible service experiences that delight them. Where CX is the minimum requirement from a service provider, Customer Delight (CD) is going beyond, exceeding the expectations with quality, punctuality and cost-effective service delivery. It improves customer retention and a scope of upselling or cross-selling to existing buyers.
2. KAM or Account-Based Marketing.
Key Account Management (KAM) is a practice that firms practice by assigning a dedicated, experienced and diligent sales representative to a large customer with potential for growth. The metrics may differ from business to business but the objective is to see an account as a center for mutual growth, extra services, better focus and increased dialogues at every touch-point leads to a long-lasting relationship.
3. Interactive Content is Indispensable.
B2B businesses forge mutually beneficial relationships that lead to enhanced customer satisfaction, referrals to peers and quality testimonials for benchmarking. This is achievable only if your business development executives focus on after-sales service and not leave the buyers any chance for post-purchase dissonance. One must have regular e-mailers for prospects, quality inspection, cursory greetings and incentives to interact with key customers. This really helps you differentiate from other players.
4. Customer Testimonials and Creative Websites.
A social presence in terms of social media platforms is enough for a B2C business. But B2B being a complicated, quality-driven business with advanced product offerings; the social presence should be with a functional website where prospects can find your location, contacts, request quotes, raise queries and call for visits. Also, it is a great chance to showcase your happy clients’ testimonials speaking about your product or service.
5. Target, Qualify & Close Sales-Ready Leads.
Sales is a revenue-center for the business and lead generation is a cyclic activity. Businesses depend heavily on it, so it is imperative to have ample leads in your sales funnel who can be targeted and closed with sales regularly. Quality leads lower the customer acquisition cost (CAC) and improve the scope of retention for future opportunities. We will cover the sources of quality leads in our next article.
6. Increasing CLV & Client Retention.
CLV > CAC – Business experts unanimously maintain that it is easier, economic and advantageous to retain existing clients than acquire new ones. An existing client’s net-worth is measured by Customer Lifetime Value i.e. total worth to the business of a customer over the whole period of their relationship. If your business’ CAC is higher than the CLV, it is high-time to cut costs and save on operational overheads.
7. Traction of Geo-Fencing and B2B Social Media.
There is a rising trend of geo-fencing, aggregator listings and branding activity for businesses on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Indeed and glassdoor. Businesses are going more personalized, user-centric and value-adding for their business buyers.
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