Inside the minds of the B2B Customers

Catering to the different B2B Customers or Buyers

It is paramount for a B2B or B2C business or marketer to be customer oriented but when compared to B2C only 14% of B2B businesses are customer-centric. The major reason for this is most of the B2B marketers do not give prominence to or fail to understand the mindset of a B2B buyer. According to some of the well-known international marketing research companies, 58 to 59% of B2B buyers invest in online research rather than interacting with businesses or companies to buy products or services in B2B. It is very important to understand that this current mindset of the B2B buyer is due to the fact that most of the businesses or their sales representatives market or promote their products or services blindly without understanding the actual requirement of the B2B buyer or customer.

Decision-making and post-purchase anxiety of a B2B customer

Most of the B2B customers or buyers often face decision-making and post-purchase anxiety as a lot depends on or is at stake where their financial decisions are concerned. Sometimes it persists even after the deal is signed where the customer might reconsider their choice of vendor. This is because they consider several risk factors like damage to their professional credibility, loss of monetary investments, etc. With these factors influencing their mindsets, the buyers may opt for a different vendor on completion of the contract or expiry of the product or service. Hence, retaining a business as your customer would greatly depend on the kind of customer service your business offers.

Building the brand loyalty for your business by preventing your buyer from developing post-purchase anxiety is crucial in a B2B business transaction. The prime responsibility of the B2Bs is instilling confidence in the buyers pertaining to the product where they are assured of the positive impact it will have on their company’s brand and image. This also calls for recognizing the whole range of emotional and rational factors associated with the business purchase decisions; and using it to tailor the value proposition that would satisfy the different buyers. Rather than projecting one-size fits all service, taking up the role of an advisory like some of the best B2B consultancies that fulfill both rational and emotional factors garnering the buyer’s trust would, in turn, gain customer loyalty and a lasting B2B transaction.

The bottom line is, every B2B buyer has a set of unique needs and expectations which the B2B business can positively make use of in providing an experience that the buyer would appreciate. The key to retaining B2B customers is providing the best customer service before, during, and after the deal is signed and delivered like the top B2B consultancy in Bangalore. But to deliver the best customer service, one must understand that the right tactics that are successful in B2C may not work in B2B.

Acknowledging the Customer Bases in B2Bs

Contradictory to B2B, losing a few customers does not impact B2Cs causing terrible repercussions. Hence, optimal customer service is quite crucial in B2Bs. The fact is B2B garner 80% of their profits from just 20% of their customers furthering the fact that a lot of your B2B business would depend on quality customer service.

Establishing a complacent B2B relationship

Establishing a long-term association with the B2B customers would require the business to delicately tread or balance their customer relationships. This is because occasionally either the business or the customer will take the other for granted when they have collaborated and transacted for a longer duration of time. Sometimes, this long-term relationship would encourage the customer to seek your business despite one or two bad experiences they have had. The key is to understand the synergy your business has established with different customers.

B2B customers lay equal emphasis on product quality and the quality of customer service

B2B customers appreciate product innovation but at the same time are more inclined to businesses with impeccable customer service. This is to say that when your contemporaries also offer the same product that matches in quality and features, the customer would lean towards the brand that has better customer service.

Classic word-of-mouth still drives new customers in a typical B2B

The fact is, most of your B2B customers refer you when they are treated with satisfactory customer service. Thus, when you offer optimal or unique customer service, your existing customers will aid in driving new customers to your business. The same would be true when a B2B customer experiences a bad service which would prompt them to drive the new customers away from a business or brand.