How to Grow as a B2B Seller and Not Become Another Failure
It’s difficult to keep customers when you’re a B2B seller. A study from the Accenture Interactive’s Service is the New Sales found that 4 out of 5 frequent buyers are always switching, or plan to switch. There are many reasons for this, including pricing that doesn’t compete, lead times that are long, failed delivery dates, a lack of functionality in commerce, and so on.
Sellers that do thrive manage to use digital and human sales interactions, which allows them to personalize the customers’ experience. By doing this, almost every business surveyed said they had higher profits and reporting gains.
As the expectations of buyers go up, here are some ways to meet those expectations. If you can tackle these common criticisms, you may be able to sweep up some competition. Here’s how.
You Need the Right Tech
You need to have customer data if you want to have a good picture of what your customer needs and how they behave. By doing this, you can continue improving relationships and optimizing your service for them.
One way is to use emerging tech. A business is almost 20 percent more likely to break barriers when they use new technology and have the customer data sets ready to go.
B2B sellers that lead the market are much, much more likely to latch onto emerging technologies and try to abandon legacy tech. Think about how many commerce businesses have failed because back in the 1990s, they thought online selling was a joke.
Another thing leading businesses do is realize they are works in progress, and that their customer service is never perfected.
Both Human and Digital Interactions Need to Be Implemented
Going all digital is important, but some overdo it. Failing B2B salespeople have sales channels have no salesperson you can speak to, and ironically enough, others don’t use any newer digital tools.
You need a balance. Digital services bring convenience and streamline the process, but if there isn’t a person your customers can speak to, that can be a problem as well. One example is implementing chatbots, but also having humans a customer can speak to as well.
As seller engagement grows, there’s going to be more digital transactions. Buyers want the best of both worlds, with easy digital tools but also being able to speak with customer service as is tradition.
Your Business Needs To Focus on Success in Customer Service
B2B sellers that have made it like to flaunt their customer service, and for a good reason. This keeps customers engaged and gives the business an image of caring. If you want your business to do the same, it can be a commitment and you may need to reorganize, have a team that can collaborate, and add new tools to your arsenal.
Succeeding companies managed to get talent more and rewarded employees who innovated. Also, these companies were likely to have marketing functions that were fully integrated, especially in regards to marketing and sales.
The Takeaway
Look at the leading sellers and learn from them. By personalizing your service and increasing the quality, you can lock in your customers and prevent them from taking their business elsewhere.
