How to Improve B2B Customer Experience?
Table of Contents
Often inspired by the B2C market, Customer Experience plays a crucial role in the B2B market. Most people think that B2B is just an automatic and already planned out route for retailers already have their wholesalers planned out and every product line is pre-determined to buy. In reality, most retailers change their wholesalers for many different reasons one being their experiences with the wholesaler.
1. Understand the B2B customer journey
Before jumping into the world of the B2B Customer Experience you should know that the customers in the B2B market differ from the B2C customers. B2B customers are highly attached to their wholesalers but they can easily detach from them in a variety of ways. Just because they do business with you that doesn’t necessarily mean that they are dependent on you.
When B2B buyers make their purchases, they take into account many different factors and must consider various things. Primarily, profitability is often seen as the most important factor, but equally important are their relationship with you, the ease of transitioning to the solution phase, and the customization of the solution for the customers. For B2B customers, many points and events that need to be decided from the initial stage of the order to the final stage are always regarded and perceived as some of the most important events in the world.
To satisfy a B2B buyer, they first seek to receive tailored solutions and recommendations, delivered uniquely to their needs and problems. They want to know that their specific needs are being met.
2. Designing a B2B CX strategy
It’s crucial to establish an image that always prioritizes the customer and makes efforts to meet their specific needs. One of the most important points to remember is that customers may have worked with other B2B wholesalers in the past, and these wholesalers may have provided them with tailored solutions, developments, and improvements. Always try to act as if your previous competitors were the best in the world. While the B2B market may seem limited, remember that many options are available, and you could be replaced at any moment. So you should always act accordingly. For a deeper dive into these concepts, you might find our article, B2B Customer Service: What It Is and How To Do It Well, particularly beneficial.
3. B2B customer experience examples
First, you need to understand your customer’s needs and adopt an adequate strategy.
When a customer has a problem with anything related to your services you should be able to fix the problem and get to the core of the problem to never encounter it again.
When a customer offers you a solution you should consider the customer’s solution with a little bit of company identity without really making it obvious to the customer.
For a better customer experience, you should be able to understand the customer’s need and act accordingly to it with the mindset of a customer. After all the data and the needs of the customer are determined and implemented your solution will fit perfectly with the customer’s needs.
4. What are the top B2B customer experience trends?
Personalization
Contrary to popular belief B2B customers want to be treated special. Most people think B2B customers are not like B2C customers. B2C customers seem to like to change sales habits more frequently than B2B customers, as a matter of fact, B2B customers are more likely to change their wholesalers more often because of the profitability and competitive pricing options. Logistics also plays an important role in the B2B market. Timeframes and agreed delivery times become so important in
Digital Transformation
Digital e-commerce solutions prioritize the orders and create a mess-free seamless experience. Companies invested in e-commerce solutions generally increase their orders and profit. Thanks to AI implementation and recommendation engines, e-commerce solutions create a personalized experience for each customer. Data-driven analytics and insights provide customers with a whole new e-commerce experience.
Knowledge Database and AI-Assisted Support Services
Support services play a crucial role in the B2B market. Especially for Customer-Centric wholesalers. As we mentioned before B2B customers have special needs and solutions created especially for them. A great inclusive Knowledge Database will provide them with the necessary information they need. If that database is supported with AI-assisted support services and live support, customers navigate easily in the e-commerce platforms.
Although customer experience trends can be evaluated individually, understanding wholesale trends is equally important. For a deeper look into these evolving dynamics, we invite you to explore our article, B2B Wholesale eCommerce Ready Trends Guide.
5. B2B brand visibility
Content Marketing
Creating content can be seen as a no-go for the B2B market but content marketing creates customer respect and satisfaction. With blog posts, social media posts, and case studies, wholesalers can create Brand Visibility for interested customers.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Being the first search result shown on the search engine results always creates a very formal and respectful visibility to the customers, and also can improve new customers looking for a better B2B solution. We have written a more comprehensive article on this topic to help elevate your business and online presence while enhancing your SEO within the wholesale community. Discover it here.
Social Media Presence
Being active on social media improves the visibility of your brand. In the B2B market, it could be seen as a waste of time but it actually is a great opportunity to promote your brand and your company vision. In a niche environment such as the B2B market, likes and shares are not that important. The most important thing is visibility, in this social era everything shifted to social media you should keep posting as long as and frequent you can.
Email Marketing
Even though email marketing is an old way of marketing people in the B2B market still check their emails very often. By doing so they keep themself updated and have an idea of the market thanks to the latest improvements.
Participate in Industry Events and Conferences
The B2B market is all about networking and presence. Most of the retailers and wholesalers meet each other at local events and conferences. In this perspective, events and conferences play a crucial role in brand visibility and networking.
Networking and Relationship Building
By participating in events and conferences you can meet a lot of amazing people in the B2B area and can generate leads and networks which can improve your customer count and profitability.
Guest Blogging and Publications
Contribute guest articles to reputable industry publications. Sharing your expertise through these channels can expose your brand to a broader audience.
Online Advertising
Advertisements and marketing are a cornerstone for brand visibility. Customers and related people in the B2B market should find your company more easily thanks to personalized advertising.
Customer Testimonials and Case Studies
Sharing your customer stories with confidence will always bring you more respect. Talking about your case studies will also be an informative documentary for your future customers.
Community Engagement
Creating or joining a B2B community is a great way to improve your company’s visibility and transfer your company vision to people all around the industry.
6. B2B vs B2C: How is the customer experience different?
1. Audience and Decision-Makers:
B2B: In the B2B market, people who decides what’s going to be changed, bought, or renewed are usually high ranking executives such as managers and directors.
B2C: B2C customers are individuals who wants to buy a product or service via their trusted retailers.
2. Complexity of Purchases:
B2B: B2B orders usually have high order volumes, they can be scheduled weekly or monthly and taken care of by a team of professionals.
B2C: B2C purchases usually have low order volumes and they usually don’t repeat.
3. Relationship Duration:
B2B: B2B customer relationships are mostly built on business deals and fulfillment loyalty.
B2C: B2C customer relationship has more main points than loyalty, there are many other factors, such as; Price, salesperson performance, accessibility to the store, and many more personal factors that can be considered as a business relationship.
4. Personalisation:
B2B: B2B customers expect a high level of personalization, tailored to their specific business needs and industry. Customization of products, services, and pricing structures is common.
B2C: While personalization is also important in B2C, it often revolves around marketing and recommendations rather than customized product offerings.
5. Sales Process:
B2B: B2B sales are usually multi-stepped and have many more steps than walking into a store and buying whatever you like. More paperwork and human power are needed for such an operation.
B2C: B2B sales are mostly focused on price and accessibility, more deals and better prices are considered a plus for the B2C environment.
6. Communication Channels:
B2B: Communication in the B2B market has many steps and many different approaches, even today some retailers and wholesalers use fax, phone calls, and written proforma invoices to clarify the orders. With Simplisales you can streamline your ordering process with a breeze. Check out our products page for more information.
B2C: B2C communication also has many layers to it but it is more modern and compact. Ranging from social media, online ordering, and e-commerce platforms.
7. Trust and Reputation:
B2B: Building trust plays a major role in the B2B environment. Salespeople mostly gain trust and do their best to solidify the deals and create a loyal customer base. Like everything above, B2B environment is more complex and requires people interactions all the time
B2C: As always, trust and reputation are important in the B2C environment, companies tend to change and update their brandings on social media, and a lot of online marketing happens on the background more than face to face interactions of the B2B environment.
7. Why does B2B CX matter?
Competitive Advantage
In the B2B marketplace, most of the products and solutions are similar to each other and can be seen as the same solutions. That’s why customer experience is way more important in the B2B area. A customer can use a service with less profitability but if they are happy with the customization and support services, they might stick around a much longer with a solution. We discussed these points in detail, and to further assist you, we recommend exploring our article, Proven B2B Communication Strategies to Engage Wholesale Customers.
Customer Retention
If a customer is satisfied with the services and products that a B2B seller provides, they are probably going the come back later in time with much larger quantities or orders.
Referrals and Word-of-mouth Marketing
The B2B market can be seen as a closed playground with pre-determined customers and sellers. That’s why creating a network around the market is such a great way to improve your business.
Brand Reputation
Businesses with credibility in front of their customers have always had advantages over other competitors in the market. A good reputation can open a lot of doors and new customers to a business.
Reduced Support and Service Costs
Reduced support and service costs always make the customers happy. In the messy and complicated world of the B2B market customers don’t want to invest their precious and limited time to problem solving. Instead, they demand high-quality and easy-to-learn support services.
Cross-Selling and Upselling Opportunities
If a company can create a positive effect on the customer they build up trust between the customer and their company. With that trust between the customer and the company leads up to cross and upselling opportunities.
Predictable Revenue Streams
When a B2B service provides their customers with a good revenue stream and suggestion system always get their customers to be satisfied with the service so they keep coming back.
Innovation and Adaptation
In a world that progresses every second B2B customers expect innovations from their B2B sellers. A progressive innovation and updates can create a loyal customer base.
7. What do B2B customers want?
Like every other customer in every different industry and market, B2B customers want to feel special in the eyes of their wholesalers. Customization and personnel improvements keep the customer up to date so that they do not have to keep up with the market’s innovations. Every customer is different from the other, which means personally tailored products for each customer.
For a long-lasting relationship between the customer and the seller, customers look forward to a reliable and quality product with a cost-effective solution.
Seamless and efficient processes are really important for B2B customers as they have to keep track of everything so that everything happens in the service itself.
Transparency in pricing, terms, and business practices is highly valued by B2B customers. They want to know what they are getting and what to expect throughout the business relationship.
8. What do B2B customers value?
Establishing mutual trust is very, very important for the B2B market. Customers who want a reliable business partner in every field and environment do not expect anything different in the B2B market, and providing them with special development and special support with a reliable service will greatly enable these customers to come back.
Conclusion
The future is bright for the wholesale businesses. Make it brighter with Simplisales, a simple and affordable B2B eCommerce solution for wholesalers.
In conclusion, improving the B2B customer experience has so many different but interconnected points with infinite opportunities and possibilities. Every customer journey is different from each other and should be treated as individually as possible for a better understanding of the customer’s needs and wants. The B2B market is open to so much flexibility for every customer and sellers should focus on how to personalise and update their customers.
At the end of the day, whether the customer is B2B or B2C oriented, they are customers. When thinking about an update or a customisation, sellers should treat each and every customer as if they were B2B or B2C.
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