Do you know why some of your B2B customers buy from you and others don’t? It’s a question we routinely ask prospective B2B CEOs and CMOs. More often than not, we get a thoughtful expression in return, followed by, “That’s a great question!”
We agree.
Because B2B brands that can truly and thoughtfully answer that question have a distinct advantage over their competition. They can focus all of their resources to better engage a clearly identified customer. They can clone others and confidently drop those who will never buy from them. They can move forward with a clear message strategy because they know the most relevant, compelling connection between their brand and best customer. This saves time, money and a quite a bit of sanity.
B2B brands that don’t know the answer are at a very real disadvantage. They typically lack focus, trying to be all things to all people, and waste valuable resources selling their products or services in a shotgun fashion.
So, if you don’t know the answer, how do you get there?
Consumer insights.
The goal here is to understand the point of view of your B2B customer. Fortunately, in today’s marketing landscape, we have plenty of resources that allow us to engage our customers directly. We no longer have to guess what they are thinking or feeling. We just have to leverage the powers at hand. Whether it’s a qualitative group study or quantitative research study, we can gain the knowledge we need to begin to answer the larger question.
See, the key to selling success is relevance. In this brave new technical world, the consumer is now in control of how and when they get their information. If your message strategy isn’t relevant, you will never engage them to start a relationship.
The successful brands of the next decade will not only know why they are appealing to a customer, but will continually keep their finger on the pulse of that customer’s interests. Life isn’t static; and we have to stay relevant to our best customers as their lives evolve.
The B2B Bbrands that figure this out will sell more, keep customers longer and grow their market share faster.
