In the field of Business to Business (B to B), success lies in the strength of the relationships you create with your client companies. To maintain long-term B to B customers, you need to learn about the expectations of your prospects to meet them through the establishment of a human and personalized partnership. However, acquiring the knowledge necessary to establish such a connection can be a real challenge, especially considering that your customers’ needs may change over time.
How can you improve your B to B customer relationships? With trusted relationships that will last through time! Indeed, in the context of Business to Business, each of your clients presents a long-term business opportunity. In that sense, be sure to show your business customers how important they are to you.
Manage your relationships professionally and humanely, and then adapt your experience to the goals of your customers. This way, they will know that they’re always at the center of your priorities! Not sure how to solidify your customer relationships in B to B to ensure better retention? Here are 10 helpful tips to help you get started!
B to B, the acronym for the term Business to Business, is defined as the business relationship between two companies, specifically when a company provides the services/products and a customer company uses the products, services or solutions of the other company to achieve its objectives. In this context, B to B represents the relationship between the two companies together.
To this end, a customer relationship in the field of Business to Business is presented as a commercial exchange between two companies. For example, a company that buys the employee experience solution from another company in order to improve the performance of its employees has a B to B customer relationship with the developers of the solution.
This relationship, built on long-term trust and collaboration, will benefit both companies. One will improve the employee experience; the other will work with a customer who can provide feedback on the product being used. This is beneficial to both parties as this relationship will improve their respective performance.
As mentioned earlier, several players are involved throughout the decision-making process in a Business to Business context. To shed more light on the subject, here are four main players that impact an organization’s decision-making process before purchasing a product or service offer from another company:
Now that you know the characteristics and players involved in B to B, it’s time to improve the quality of your relationship and customer experience. However, this approach can be complex, especially since these relationships and experiences are long-term and involve many actors.
How can you improve your B to B customer relationships while providing an exceptional customer experience? To help you, here are ten best practices to follow to make you an expert in Business to Business.
In B to B marketing, customer relationship management is a key factor in the success of your business. In this sense, it is crucial to fully understand the objectives and expectations of each actor involved in the decision-making process of your client company.
Good customer relationship management allows you to target and segment the different personal needs of your customers. Keep in mind that you are not only dealing with companies, but also with human beings.
In order to ensure the quality of your B to B customer relations, contact your partners regularly to clearly identify the decision factors of each of the players involved. Analyze their concrete needs, price reluctance, and then show them that you are the solution to their current problem.
Use logical arguments to reassure your clients about the quality of your services. Explain how your product/service benefits their business, and then offer long-term support to ensure your solution is well integrated into their organization.
By understanding the exact expectations of each actor, you will be able to offer a complete and personalized offer according to everyone’s needs. This is a must-have for retaining your B to B customers!
A good relationship is based on mutual trust and clear and constant communication. Of course, B to B customer relationships are no exception!
To build a trusting relationship with your B to B customers, set clear, long-term goals with your businesses. Explain how you can help them achieve their goals and then support them through the various stages of the process. This understanding will greatly benefit your customer experience by showing them that their well-being is at the center of your priorities.
At every step of the way, also be transparent with your customers. Reiterate your goals to the players involved and develop a new plan if needed based on your client’s current journey. Continually provide relevant training to teams to increase their job performance. Finally, be empathetic and patient in managing your B to B customer relationships.
Remember that your clients are part of a collective of individuals. In this sense, you may need to repeat your plan several times during the process to ensure the proper integration of your product/offer within the client organization.
In short, regular communication with your B to B customers is the key to a great customer experience. By following this good practice, your business clients will quickly recommend your good services to other potential leads!
Want to simplify your customer satisfaction tracking? If so, InputKit is the solution for you.
With our fully customized and automated satisfaction surveys, you can track your customers’ satisfaction at every step of your process. In this way, you can save valuable management hours while giving your customers the necessary support. Interesting, isn’t it?
Following customer satisfaction surveys, you will be able to interview your dissatisfied customers to discover and understand the reason for their dissatisfaction. By personalizing your surveys and observing your customer reviews online, you can correct many dissatisfactions to turn your detractors into promoters. This is a must to increase your customers’ commitment to your business!
At the end of a customer satisfaction survey, our solution also offers satisfied customers to leave a positive review online. To this end, you can better adapt your experience to the needs of your customers, but also increase your online reputation. This is a must for improving your e-reputation while attracting new prospects in the B to B field.
Interested in our solution? Don’t hesitate to plan a free and personalized InputKit demo to improve your B to B customer relationships!
As stated earlier, many players are involved in the B to B decision-making process. In this sense, in order to stand out from the competition, it is important to properly equip your influencers so that they can convince decision-makers of the value of your products/services.
In order to build trusted B to B customer relationships, create clear, relevant and concise marketing content to better inform decision makers about the benefits of your business. However, throughout your process, keep in mind that decision-makers’ time is often valuable and limited. Create content that gets to the point. Here are a few examples:
These synthesized and effective content attest to the efficiency and return on investment of your product/service. By giving influencers such tools, they will convince their boss to sign up for your offer, which will reduce decision-making time. It is a must for acquiring new B to B customers.
In the field of Business to Business, it can be difficult to convince some companies of the usefulness of your offer. To get there, why not send them a testimonial or a Return on Investment (ROI) calculator that proves the value of your solution/service?
With this argument, you can let the company calculate the return on investment it will earn by doing business with you. In addition, some synthesized testimonials can briefly explain their increase in revenues since the implementation of your solution or service. This is a great way to build new B to B customer relationships.
As previously mentioned, the decision-making process in Business to Business can take several months. Why? Because the many players involved in the purchase are looking for the best possible tool to achieve their goal.
To this end, your product is not just a transaction: it is a long-term partnership, an element that will help them better accomplish their company’s mission.
To maintain the quality of B to B customer relationships, take the time to inform your customers and prospects about the use and benefits of your product. Your customers will be happy that beyond the purchase, you care enough about them to offer them free content. This will be well received and will be favorable in terms of loyalty. Keep a blog with many articles related to your area of expertise, and then explain how your services could help your prospects stand out from the competition. On social media, educate Internet users about the importance of having a solution like yours.
Finally, why not organize webinars to better inform your clients about your upcoming developments? These small attentions will be greatly appreciated by your customers and will not fail to attract new prospects within your company. These are excellent examples to follow to better educate your B to B customers and maintain quality relationships.
Did you know that customer support efficiency is one of the main factors impacting customer satisfaction? Indeed, according to Hubspot’s study, 79% of customers expect a response within 24 hours. Moreover, according to the same source, 39% of Internet users are not satisfied unless they get support in less than an hour.
To this end, take care to provide your business clients with the support they need. Form teams entirely dedicated to customer support. This strategy will allow you to provide quick and effective support to your customers as soon as the need arises. This is a significant asset for building a relationship of trust with your clients.
No business likes to be left on their own after a new solution or service is implemented. In this sense, it is important to provide them with the necessary support for the proper functioning of your product/service within their organization.
To optimize your B to B customer relationship management, it is important to have good, state-of-the-art tools. For example, implementing a CRM, otherwise known as the Customer Relationship Management System, can be extremely beneficial for your business. It is essential today to implement a good CRM platform to simplify the management of your customer relations in B to B,
Such a platform centralizes your customers’ data and allows your employees to access their history. Such a feature is an excellent tool for B to B loyalty: it allows your teams to adapt their advice and training to your customer’s current needs. This will have a positive impact on your Business to Business relationships, as your customers will know that reaching their goal is at the center of your priorities.
In addition, these records are regularly updated with new contacts and details related to your customers’ progress in order to provide your employees with the most accurate information. Accompanied by an internal chat, the CRM greatly facilitates communication between your company and its customers. Keep this in mind to create a successful B to B customer experience!
In the context of B to B customer relations, trust is a key factor for the success of your business. It is through it that you can maintain quality relationships that endure through time. However, this confidence is as hard to gain as it is easy to lose.
In that sense, be transparent with your business clients. Communicate with them on an ongoing basis, especially during plan changes. Minimize delays as much as possible to meet your commitments and reduce customer dissatisfaction. Finally, if certain delays are inevitable, show empathy to correct the situation.
Apologize to the company and then look for a suitable solution to address customer dissatisfaction. Remember: by being proactive and respecting your agreements, you will certainly maintain your B to B customers.
In the field of B to B, it is crucial to know how to adapt to the needs of your customers. In this sense, a customer satisfaction and assessment solution like InputKit can help you better personalize your customer experience to your customers’ current needs.
With our fully automated and customized satisfaction surveys, you’ll get valuable feedback at every step of your onboarding process. This feedback will allow you to tailor your products and services to your customers’ concrete needs. This is a significant asset for improving your B to B customer experience. Thus, on a recurring basis, it may be appropriate to regroup as a team and learn about the feedback collected in the customer surveys. You may notice some findings, such as that your delays are too long or that your product is complex to use. This will clearly guide your next targeted optimizations.
In addition, our centralized management with a filter for non-responded reviews will allow you to quickly access feedback from your customers online. In this way, you will be able to better correct your customer dissatisfaction, but also to find out about potential flaws in your customer experience. This strategy is an excellent B to B loyalty tool, as it will show your customers that their satisfaction is at the center of your priorities.
Have difficulty identifying your clients’ current needs? Don’t hesitate to plan a customized demo of our solution with our customer experience experts to benefit from our customer satisfaction survey!
While improving your B to B customer relationships can be a real challenge, it is possible to optimize your practices by following our best practices to maintain strong relationships that will last through time.
Take care to inform the various stakeholders in the decision-making process of the benefits of your service offer through relevant marketing campaigns and tools that will convince decision-makers. Throughout the implementation of your products, communicate consistently by relying on the information of a CRM and offering excellent customer support. Constantly educate your audience by creating quality webinars, trainings and relevant articles.
Finally, remember that the implementation of InputKit can be of great benefit to your B to B customer relationships. Our easy-to-use solution allows you to send fully automated and personalized satisfaction surveys that will save you several hours of management. With these surveys, you will gather valuable information that will allow you to better adapt your service offering to the real needs of your customers.
Are you interested in the many benefits InputKit can bring to your business? If this is your case, don’t hesitate to plan a free and personalized demo of our solution with our team of customer experience experts. We will be very pleased to improve the management of your customer relationships in B to B!
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