Why B2B marketers struggle to be heard and what to do about it?
Why do marketing departments inside B2B organisations struggle to have a voice at the top table? Why don’t others inside their businesses treat the marketing discipline with more respect? Why do they get blamed for poor performance but rarely credited with success?
In B2B,m customers buy people not brands. That’s not to say the brand isn’t important, far from it. The name on the business card of the vendor is an essential part of the value proposition which, along with its communications, helps frame the customer’s expectations. But it’s the handshake that really matters as customers know it is the people they deal with that will determine their experience. This handshake is crucial to customers as most commercial contracts they enter into are “imperfect”; that is, there is an implicit understanding that the process may not go as planned so they expect reciprocity from providers in order to help extract the value they need. This can only come from the relationships they have with the people they deal with. As marketing departments rarely serve customers, their role gets sidelined into lead generation activities and provision of sales support materials.
However, customers relative satisfaction with their experience depends on how well this give and take is managed. And as sales/account managers product/service delivery teams and customer services all get involved, this can lead to problems. And when things don’t go to plan, customers can be extremely harsh. “Work with me to extract the value I need and I’ll be ok; don’t and I’ll punish you” is how reciprocity works in customers minds.
And it is here that long suffering marketers can make a material difference.
- Understand customers purchasing motivations and the job they are hiring you to perform is the most important piece of information everyone needs internally.Collect and analyse this data on an ongoing basis
- Collaborate with colleagues in other departments to understand what they should expect from customers. Help them understand different segments, how to spot them and what they need
- Innovate ways ways to set tighter expectations and better manage customer experiences
- Speak english: eliminate complex ‘brand’ speak and start talking the common sense language of customers
In short, marketing can be a powerhouse for growth if they use customer insights more strategically, not just for promotional activities, but for the good of everyone involved.
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