Why is B2B customer retention so effortless for some companies? More importantly, what do they do that makes their customers never even consider buying from another supplier?
Answering these two aforementioned questions is ultimately about assuming the role of a B2B customer. Start by focusing on how you would want to be treated if you were a customer of yours. Follow that simple principle and the rest will follow.
The Companies That Excel in B2B Customer Management:
The companies that keep more customers don’t spend an inordinate amount of time reading about the most recent innovative and mind-blowing customer management strategies. They don’t need constant refreshers on how to stay ahead of competition.
These companies naturally understand what it takes to keep customers because they focus on why they themselves stay loyal to their best vendors. They take what they like most about their best vendors and then transfer that same strategy over to how they manage their own customers.
1. Rebate, Rewards and Incentives
Give your customers a reward for their loyalty. Start by giving them a rebate and or reward for every product they purchase. Make it simple and straightforward and do it without them asking. Rebate plans are great for keeping more customers and they also provide you with quick information on market pricing from competitors.
2. Proactive Online Reputation Strategies
When customers want to voice their displeasure with your company, they don’t want for you to provide a reasonable solution. Instead, they’ll just jump online and make their voices heard on social media, blogs and forums. Don’t let that happen. Managing your company’s customer relationships goes hand-in-hand with taking a more proactive approach to online reputation management.
Your customer's can influence your brand in real-time.
3. Managing Customer Expectations
Customers become disappointed when they’re caught off guard. This is often because the customer’s expectations haven’t been properly managed. In a B2B market, a company’s service abilities aren't always the same as it competition. As such, your salespeople must become adept at managing customer expectations based on what your company can and can’t do. Speaking with your customer upfront may help you uncover some potential synergies in service you weren't aware that your customers value.
4. Talking About Issues and Providing Solutions
It’s amazing to think about how many times an upset customer is simply allowed to just walk away. Yes, they’re upset. Yes, they may have stated that they’ll never purchase from your company again, and yes, you may feel that the issue can't be solved. However, that’s no excuse not to engage your customer and work out a reasonable solution.
Customers give up when you give up. As long as you are willing to work out issues, then that customer can never claim you didn't try. More often than not, these issues are resolvable and you can move past this short-term issue.
5. Being Flexible While Remaining Steadfast
Is it possible to be flexible with customers while also remaining steadfast on certain company-wide core principles? Absolutely. Just because your customer demands longer payment terms doesn't mean you absolutely have to give it to them. Instead, maybe you tell them your net-30 terms are fixed but that you can give them a bigger price reduction, or throw in some low-cost ancillary support items, and or offer them a fantastic price on dead stock.
Understand where you can be flexible and where you can’t and then make sure you properly assert your position while working out long-term solutions. Make it easier for customers to stay with you as a vendor. Focus on how you can simplify their business. Provide workable solutions and don’t be afraid to be proactive.
Companies selling to B2B customers are always worrying about leaving money on the table and about maximizing gross profit on sell prices. Granted, maintaining robust profit margins are important and essential to your business’s long-term viability. However, there is nothing wrong with giving your customer a price reduction without having them constantly demand one.
Try and find a happy medium between balancing gross profit objectives with being more proactive with customers on pricing. The first tip listed here can help when you know exactly when a competitor has dropped pricing in the market. The moment one customer advises you of a new price reduction – be proactive and stop your other price-sensitive customers from calling and complaining.