According to a 2020 Customer Engagement Consumer Survey by Rosette consulting, highly engaged customers spend 60% more, buy 90% more frequently, and have three times the annual value compared to other customers. With these stats in mind, building great B2B customer relationships can set your business on the right track to success. But how do you do it? Let’s look at who B2B customers are and how you can build your B2B customer relationship.
Who are B2B customers?
“B2B” stands for business to business. Then it stands to reason that your customers in B2B sales are other companies. You offer services and products to other companies who then produce goods and services for consumers.
Here are seven steps to building your B2B customer relationship for success
1. Listen actively
As with any relationship, listening actively to what another person is saying is crucial. Allow them the space to tell you about their industry or niche, business objectives and unique selling point. Give them the space to talk about the risks or hesitations they may have. By showing empathy and working towards actively solving your customer’s problems and exceeding their expectations you will build trust with your customer.
2. Show face
We often hear the phrase people do business with people rather than a particular brand. Therefore, it is important to know who you are dealing with in your customer’s business. What are their personal career goals and how can you help them to shine in their position? By building a good relationship with your contact in the business, they will trust you and if they move businesses, they may suggest your business to the new company.
3. Be available
Which are the key methods that your top customers like to contact you? Some people may like email and others may prefer a video-conference call. It is important to have as many channels of communication as you can. When choosing communication channels, you should also ensure you are able to monitor them and get back to your customers timeously.
4. Be consistent
Trust is built by offering a consistent experience to your customer. Your employees’ values should be in line with your business’. You should also have a document which highlights the tone of voice to be used throughout the business. It should be warm and authentic. The words you use should be positive and concise.
5. Encourage feedback
How can you know where to improve or where you are succeeding if you don’t get feedback? You can either ask your clients directly or ask them through an anonymous survey. When setting up your survey, you need to know what you want feedback about and how can you word the questions so that there is no bias.
6. Use technology
Another way to encourage consistency in your customer’s experience is to use a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. This is useful because your salespeople can keep notes about interactions with customers and the data can be used to highlight places in which they may need improvements. Another benefit is that no matter who the customer speaks to in your sales team, they have the history of the communication that has happened with your business. This can help your sales team to help the customer quickly and effectively.
7. Network
As your customers are businesses and entrepreneurs, you have a great opportunity to network. Host monthly or quarterly events where your customers get an opportunity to network and see what each other does. Not only will this help to build rapport with your customers, but you may get new opportunities or ideas through interactions with your different customers.
By implementing some of the tips you will be well on your way to excelling at your B2B customer relationships.
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