B2B business to business (business to business) is a business area that specializes in providing services and selling goods not to the end consumer, but to other companies.

This area of ​​business has a number of significant differences from the B2C business to custome (business to consumer). B2B companies usually do not consider their corporate clients as regular consumers, which marketers consider a huge mistake of large and medium-sized businesses.

However, the B2B sector is gradually adopting best practices from the consumer-facing environment in order to provide its customers with a unique consumer experience that traditional buyers enjoy.

One of the most effective strategic mechanisms that B2C companies use to attract, reward and retain their customers is the implementation of various types of loyalty programs. Is this tool able to integrate well into the B2B business space? Is there any value in big business loyalty programs in the B2B space? Let's figure it out together with the experts of the Manzana Group.

Loyalty programs and their value for B2B business

Rewarding customer loyalty is of great importance for B2B companies as it eventually converts occasional customers into repeat customers. Loyalty programs improve customer experience, minimize, if not avoid, natural churn and retain existing customers, which is considered a strategic imperative for any B2B venture. Despite the fact that loyalty programs for B2C and B2B businesses have the same goal, the methods of their implementation are somewhat different.

What is the difference between loyalty programs for B2C and B2B business

In contrast to the sales sector, designed for end users, B2B is a smaller, more focused target market with specific clients. To successfully implement a loyalty program for a B2B business, it is important to determine the following parameters:

identify a potential customer segment and calculate the average purchase cycle;

identify interested buying companies and decide how to stimulate them, what goals they pursue and what benefits they seek;

value objectively special offers and rewards under the proposed loyalty program;

determine the subtleties and nuances of the business area you work with, the marketing segment and the sub-model in the B2B sector.

Planning a strategy for a loyalty program in the field of B2B business

To start developing a successful B2B loyalty program, you must first determine how to use customer data to improve customer relationships. As a rule, B2B organizations have less client base compared to companies working for a retail consumer, which theoretically allows for a more thorough analysis of information and a better understanding of it.

Here are some tips for developing such a loyalty program:

Make a list of all regular customers that your company considers to be a priority and especially important for increasing the profitability of the business.

Make sure you understand strategic goals your business and partners and tailor your activities to meet specific customer needs.

Try to analyze the situation within each acquiring company and identify the person who is responsible for interacting with your company. Next, think of a personalized (perfectly competitive) loyalty solution.

Conduct customer interaction research at all touchpoints.

Segment your customer base to maximize your interaction with each segment.

Develop a system for assessing customer loyalty to the company in order to analyze changes in this parameter in dynamics.

Initiate and encourage dialogue with your customers, collect feedback, comments and opinions from various sources.

Determine what triggers and incentives contribute to the achievement of mutual goals.

Set a specific measure to track progress towards your goals.

Experts recommend that representatives of large B2B businesses think first of all about a multi-level loyalty program. Layered systems allow you to increase customer loyalty from the very beginning and encourage existing customers to increase the volume of cooperation in order to acquire greater discounts and benefits.

You can start with small rewards to encourage customers to sign up for a loyalty program and offer more valuable rewards for those customers who actively use the program membership for a long time.

The development of a loyalty program for B2B business should be entrusted only to true professionals who are familiar with the intricacies and peculiarities of this area of ​​business activity. It is these marketers who work at the Manzana Group.

These are loyalty programs aimed at professional users of products (marketer, production manager, foreman, architect, publisher, printer):

Trainings on the use of the product;

Special seminars on business development in certain markets;

Special services for small businesses;

In return, professionals promote services more effectively by influencing end users or decision makers by arguing the quality and properties of products.

Loyalty programs for dealers and distributors (especially important for small companies):

Design, product presentation, sampling, POS materials;

B2B loyalty programs are usually designed for well-defined target groups (it is important to choose privileges that exactly match their needs). Relationships with B2B loyalty program participants most often take place in the form of personal contacts with representatives of the organizing company, dealers or service center employees.

B2B loyalty programs, unlike B2C programs, are more focused on building partnerships - both parties know they are dependent on each other and that everyone has to contribute to building relationships. Membership fees for B2B program participants are much higher than for end users.

Members of a B2B loyalty program are more rational and less emotional in evaluating privileges; they expect professional rather than personal benefits. In B2B loyalty programs, it is very important to involve participants in the daily life of the program, and, if possible, in its management.

Most of the privileges granted by participants must be related to the products of the organizing company and be within its competence. The loyalty program for B2B should not replace, but complement the classic marketing tools such as advertising or promoting products at the point of sale.

The main goals of loyalty programs:

create a client database;

find out the preferences of customers;

increase sales;

increase business efficiency;

retain and reward the best customers;

build customer loyalty to the company.

There are many classifications of loyalty programs. The most common:

By type of incentives provided;

By the way of entering the program (its openness);

By type of program management (type of partnership).

Types of loyalty programs based on rewards:

Discount programs (discount program) - regular discount cards (simple discount and accumulative);

Reward program - points / points that can be exchanged for rewards that are not related to the brand;

Rebate program - earned points give the opportunity to receive discounts or vouchers for subsequent purchases;

Appreciation program - points can be redeemed for special services;

Information and advice program - access to exclusive information.

Affiliate network is one of the most effective sales channels for products. Well built affiliate program allows manufacturers to ensure revenue growth, successfully develop new markets and expand their areas of presence. Most manufacturers with federal ambitions have grown through the development of affiliate sales. For example, a company 1C in many ways has become a leader in the field of enterprise automation in small and medium-sized businesses through the creation of an extensive partner ecosystem. What makes an affiliate program successful and attractive to the parties?

• Product in demand on the market.
• Attractive financial terms of cooperation.
• High level of service and flexibility of work.
• Support and training b2b partners.

In addition to these criteria, one important factor is often forgotten, which is often decisive. We are talking about the motivation of employees of partner organizations. This is especially true for markets with a high level of competition, where all manufacturers offer approximately the same conditions for their partners.

In our practice, we have often encountered similar situations. For example, in one case, we found that partner sellers were more active in offering competitors' products to customers, despite less attractive financial conditions for the partner. The problem turned out to be that the procedure for ordering the company's products required more effort from sellers than when ordering competitors' products. To solve such problems, it is often used b2b loyalty programs. Similar programs are aimed at sales promotion through a partner channel and allow you to synchronize the interests of the manufacturing company, partner organizations and their employees.

The b2b loyalty program is designed to achieve the following goals:

• Increasing the motivation of employees of partner organizations
• Increasing the share of products sold in the partner's assortment compared to competitors
• Increasing awareness of the company's products among employees of the partner organization
• Reducing the cost of partner network management

Program Features

The main difference between b2b loyalty programs lies in its dual nature. On the one hand, it is aimed directly at partners as legal entities. On the other hand, specific employees of the partner organization interact with it, and they may have different official duties and, accordingly, diverse interests and needs.

Therefore, the b2b loyalty program is built on elements borrowed from various concepts– channel management, personnel motivation system, b2c loyalty program. If at least one of these elements is ignored in the design of the program, the chances are extremely high that the program will not work.

Errors in implementation

Our company is often involved in the audit and optimization of partner loyalty programs. Below are the main issues that we identified in the analysis:

• The program is not supported by the management of partner organizations. The conditions are unattractive, bonuses to employees are considered as a violation of the system of personnel motivation adopted by the partner. This is especially true for partners who simultaneously represent many manufacturers in various categories on the market (for example, distributors of building materials).
• Misunderstanding and / or ignoring the interests of various roles within the partner organization. Company management, salespeople or engineers all have different interests, needs and opportunities to communicate with the manufacturer.
• The complexity of the rules or the inconvenience of using the program. For example, in one case, the program was implemented on a site that was not adapted for viewing through mobile devices. At the same time, the target audience of the program was foremen of service companies who are on site and do not have desktop computers or laptops at hand.
• Lack of understanding of business processes of partners and their rules. It is impossible to take into account the characteristics of each of the partner organizations, but it is extremely useful to understand how their business and key processes are built in order to identify potential bottlenecks in a timely manner. Logistics is often such a bottleneck.
• Choosing the wrong communication channel. A typical example - the use of e-mail to interact with doctors has an extremely low efficiency. The reason is the low level of automation of medical institutions, most doctors work the old fashioned way - they do not use a computer for work purposes and do not have a working e-mail even in commercial clinics.

Basic elements

Not many companies offer B2B loyalty program development services. This is due to the fact that each implementation is a unique project that requires deep immersion in the customer's subject area and its business processes. At the same time, there are basic elements that are inherent in any of the loyalty programs. We use our own methodology in our practice, consisting of four main layers. Let's consider them.

Loyalty Program Scenario

The scenario of the program should be extremely simple and not requiring serious efforts on the part of the partners' employees. At the same time, one of the main tasks of the loyalty program is to increase the attractiveness of the affiliate network. Therefore, the program should not exist independently from the processes of working with partners, but, on the contrary, be closely intertwined with them.

Participant motivation system

The main emphasis in the development of a motivation system should be placed on building trust in the program, since the management of partners, as a rule, has increased requirements for its transparency in terms of interaction with staff. It is also necessary to pay special attention to the development of individual incentive models for the various roles of the partner's employees.

Ways to Involve Participants

The engagement strategy is a critical component of the program. Members have a thousand and one reasons to forget or not use a loyalty program, especially if it does not involve instant returns. Therefore, it is essential to define an engagement and retention strategy before launching a program and adapt it as it is implemented.

Communication model

The main requirements for communications within the program are the availability of convenient feedback and an individual style of communication with different types and roles of employees. Building sustainable and convenient communication channels with feedback allows you to influence not only the activity of participants, but also significantly reduce the budget for incentives. A typical situation is when a company tries to increase activity in the loyalty program due to more attractive financial conditions, but does not achieve the expected result. During the analysis, it turns out that only about 15% of participants use the program. The rest simply did not learn about new profitable offers. The same participants who took advantage of the new offers actively participated in the program.

The implementation of any program or project can be compared to cooking a meal. It seems that all housewives cook according to the same recipes, but the taste of dishes can be very different. However, below are some tips for developing an affiliate loyalty program that I hope you find helpful.

Pay attention to communication with the leadership of the partner organization

In the absence of support from key people in the partner organization, it is difficult to count on the success of the program. This is a blocking factor that is often mentioned when the loyalty program is already running. Based on the size of the network, as well as the specifics and size of partners, it is necessary to determine the best way to convey information about the planned program and analyze feedback.

Integrate loyalty programs into company business processes

The synergistic effect from the launch of the loyalty program is achieved when it is integrated into the company's business processes, ranging from marketing ending with logistics and customer service. The program should complement and enhance the company's competitive advantage. Integration should cover Information Systems, job descriptions and employee KPIs. It is important to attend to the training of employees interacting with partners in a timely manner.

Motivate the right partner employees

Determine the roles of partner employees who most depend on the sales of your products and the satisfaction of end customers. It can be not only employees who communicate directly with customers. Often bottlenecks occur in supply chains or at the level of purchasing managers.

Develop and test a communication strategy with partners

Focus on improving the quality of communications with the partner's target employees. Determine the appropriate communication style, select relevant channels. It is important that messages within the program help participants achieve the goals of the program, and not just inform. A simple example is that a message about a bonus accrual may contain a short advice from the “Did you know that …” heading, or a link to an article describing a new line of company products with which this employee will work.

Combine different ways of motivation

At the stage of analysis target audience program, you need to highlight the key types of partners, as well as the roles that directly or indirectly affect the sales of your products. As a rule, the model of behavior of small partners is more similar to the behavior of individuals. In this case, it is advisable to use the motivation system inherent in traditional b2c loyalty programs.

Conclusion

B2B affiliate loyalty programs are not loyalty programs in the classic sense of the term. In addition to material motivation based on the “do A, get B” principle, educational elements can be implemented in them, as well as individual functions of the affiliate network management process that add value to the entire system.

B2B loyalty programs are not as popular as mass market programs. However, experience shows that such initiatives are a useful add-on to an affiliate program. They allow you to increase sales through a partner channel due to a targeted impact on all links involved in the sales and service chain.

The battle for the client has long moved to the near approaches. The main battles among developed businesses are for customer retention. Budgets and strategies are built around personalized analytics, offers and communications. What is the arsenal for fueling customer loyalty in the arsenal of modern b2b players? Says the founder of the outsourcing company "STS Group" Nikolay Ryzhkov.

Let's start with the fact that for a b2b company, parting with even one regular customer is fraught with disaster. It's not just about falling incomes. The resources used to attract and build work, the reputational damage here is hundreds and even thousands of times higher than the costs in the mass sales segment. According to statistics, a 5% outflow of corporate clients threatens to lose 20% of profits.

The main thing that has changed in recent years is the approach to studying the client and his motivation. Contractors are increasingly refusing to divide customers into "important" and "unimportant". Both small and large "whales" are given the same priority due to the rapid evolution of businesses, high competition and instantaneous changes in the market situation. Maximum efforts are directed to continuous interaction with the client, quick feedback and instant response.

Traditional questionnaires and satisfaction surveys no longer work. A more objective picture is given by an appeal to omnichannel marketing (website, social networks messengers ...), with the obligatory use of automated systems reporting and interpreting customer experience.

Without the introduction of such systems, a major player simply cannot survive today. For strategy corporate sales the experience and behavior of not only decision-makers are relevant, but of all those who can directly or indirectly influence the policy and attitude of the customer. These are colleagues, subordinates, related departments, partners and, of course, family.

The omnichannel approach allows you to relatively accurately measure the average temperature in the hospital and build personalized communication with each client. Here, perhaps, little has changed: incentive mailings, referral programs, freemium offers, product and service updates- all this works, only the technical shell and communication channels have changed.

When implementing any complex and expensive products or solutions for customer retention and return, free service offers, participation in the support of a dealer or franchise network (when available), educational marketing work perfectly. I will dwell on them in a little more detail.

Sales and markdowns in corporate sales are more common reverse effect pushing away customers. At the same time, the possibility accumulation of discounts, additional guarantee for equipment or services, offer of deferred payments for regular customers they strengthen loyalty and do not require enormous costs and efforts on the part of the contractor. According to statistics, such programs attract and motivate about 60% of corporate clients to repeat applications.

Mandatory participation in marketing and business processes of the dealer (franchising) network and encouraging the most active sellers today is an integral part of building trusting relationships with customers and partners. Here is support in promotion, and integration of business processes, creation unified systems accounting, control, analysis and interaction. There are many examples today where a manufacturer/service provider and a customer are connected at the level of common software platforms.

As one example of such integration in the recruitment and provision of personnel market, there is a system of personal accounts of personnel operators, which united the customers of personnel services, managers responsible for the selection and exit of employees, and the personnel themselves. Human resources processes, which a year ago involved dozens of intermediaries, have become fully automated, transparent and comfortable for both the customer and the job seeker. Control operations, job registration, creation of applications for employees are carried out without intermediaries in a split second. Any request is followed by an instant response. Dozens of personnel operators are currently working on the creation of similar services.

In pursuit of the goals of increasing sales, increasing purchases, almost all major b2b players use educational marketing. But this is no longer just courses or a guide to products or services. The main focus is on improving the skills of the customer, competent and individual solution of his business problems. The sales (service, support) manager is now rather a specialist working in the client's team. He understands in detail the processes of the serviced industry and is interested in the result no less than the customer himself.

Summarizing, it is necessary to say that today any strategy and tactics of retaining and increasing customer loyalty is based on proactivity and the win-win philosophy. When a client sees that the company he contacts does not just satisfy his demand and respond to problems, but predicts, anticipates, anticipates needs at the system level and in the whole range of possible actions and proposals, then he himself begins to respond in the same way.

Many B2B companies still devote the lion's share of their marketing resources to acquiring new customers, not caring about retention. But the situation is changing with changing market conditions.

When the market grows by tens of percent per year, you can not worry much about retaining customers and reducing revenue. It is impossible to stay in mature and highly competitive markets successful company without a clear customer retention strategy.

In this article, we will share 9 tactics to increase the loyalty of B2B customers and their employees.

Analyze customer feedback

Regular collection and analysis of feedback is the foundation on which a B2B loyalty management strategy is built. It makes no sense to plan initiatives aimed at customer retention if the company does not understand what is going wrong, what “bottlenecks” slow down the growth of purchases, what the customer’s employees think about the company.

A B2B client is a two-faced Janus. On the one hand, the organization entity with its own rules, procedures and interests. On the other hand, specific employees whose wishes, interests and goals must be taken into account. Decision makers are the main target for diagnostics by the company. At the same time, do not forget about ordinary employees. The retinue makes the king. According to Google research, in more than 80% of cases, ordinary employees directly influence decision makers.

Feedback from customers is an opportunity to honestly look at your company from the outside and understand what needs to be changed in order to become a more attractive supplier and partner.

Key questions to know the answers to:

• How satisfied are customers with the quality of products and services provided? How is the attitude towards the company changing?
• What needs to be changed in business processes to make it more convenient for customers to work with the company? Which clients are inclined to refuse the services of the company and why?
• What factors influence the decision making process?
• Who makes purchasing decisions in an organization?
• How does the company differ from competitors from the point of view of the client?

Use discounts

Discounts are the easiest way to encourage customers to make purchases from your company. This approach is best suited for companies where purchases are one-time and not tied to long-term contracts.

Keep in mind that discounts should be aimed at stimulating repeat orders, increasing the volume of purchases, and expanding the items consumed. Otherwise, your discount is an attraction of senseless generosity.

The discount system should clearly fit into your pricing strategy. If you dump, you reduce the margin of sales and the value of your products. Use discounts as a way to encourage and stimulate for something. Do not provide default discounts.

Offer special conditions for the most valuable customers

Differentiating customers by their value is the second most popular and easiest way to increase the loyalty of B2B customers. The company's goal is to focus on the most marginal and promising customers. Such clients are the main driver of the company's growth.

This does not mean that other customers should be treated with disdain. The tiering system allows you to create additional features and services for your most valuable customers without compromising other customers.

Most often, companies implement a system of levels tied to discounts that depend on the volume of products purchased. Such a model, of course, gives its result. But it will be more effective if the company thinks through the non-material aspects of incentives, as well as indirect material motivation.

When developing a tiering system, it is important to pay special attention to what customers need, what needs they have, how you can help the customer employees who interact with you.

Provide personal service

The most valuable customers should receive not only special conditions, but also personalized service. Each such client must be assigned an account manager who oversees all relationships and is often a single point of contact.

Dedicated managers are an expensive pleasure, so the company must clearly calculate the economic feasibility of such a step. How much will sales increase? How much would a company like this service cost?

Companies that work with large clients with a complex decision-making model have key account managers on their staff. This is a prerequisite for successful business development.

For companies whose clients are representatives of small and medium-sized businesses with low volumes of purchases, the need to provide a personal manager is a matter of economic feasibility and operational efficiency.

Is it possible to do without a dedicated manager by automating business processes? There is a methodology called Account Based Management (ABM), where the main focus is on the personification of customer relationships. This approach is characterized by a high level of automation of work with clients.

Activities related to lead generation, demand formation, communications, service are implemented automatically based on a constant feedback analysis. ABM radically changes the sales model and the requirements for the number and competence of managers involved in communication with customers.

When introducing new concepts, it must be borne in mind that even in the case of a high level of automation of client processes, there is still a need for managers. In B2Bx, personal relationships are extremely important, which, fortunately or unfortunately, cannot be automated. Therefore, the question of balance between a personalized approach to sales and automation always remains relevant.

Train and develop clients

The better customer representatives understand your product, the more loyal they are and the more they buy. Often the main reason for the failure of the transaction is not competitors, but low awareness and misunderstanding of the proposed solution on the part of the customer. This is especially true when it comes to innovative solutions.

Courses, webinars, electronic manuals, research, training, useful publications - this is a tool for educating customer employees. This is an investment in long-term relationships and their loyalty. In the learning process, the company receives feedback, assess needs, identify problems when interacting with its products and solutions.

Educational activities create added value that retains existing customers and attracts new ones. At the same time, educating customers is not only for high-tech companies. In any field of activity, there is something that is important to tell the client about in order for him to use your products or services more effectively.

Large companies can use training to develop their customers by giving them access to best practices and knowledge. This win-win strategy works great for loyalty. A number of Russian banks successfully use this approach in their activities.

Create additional opportunities

Access to additional features that are not directly part of the delivery or contract is a great way to strengthen relationships with existing B2B customers. Free access to a new product for a period of time, special conditions for receiving a service, personal promotions, access to useful materials and research are examples of such opportunities.

Additional service cements relationships with customers, creating stronger partnerships. In addition, additional opportunities can and should be a way to expand customer needs and generate demand for the company's products and services.

Create a positive perception of the company

In B2B, the emotional factor plays an important role in decision making. Just irrational preferences are packed into rational justifications. Positive emotions "silence" doubts about the supplier or certain terms of the contract.

The formation of a positive emotional background is not a one-time task, but a purposeful and systematic work. Setting goals in this direction should be carried out at the same frequency as the supply planning. Use surprises, hold joint informal events, create occasions to once again please the client's employees and emphasize their value, professionalism and authority.

Active customer experience management (CEM) is one of the biggest trends in B2C. The main goal is to create a positive feeling from interaction with the brand. Perception depends on the quality of products, service and, last but not least, on the emotional background that the company forms around itself.

In B2B, customer experience management is no less an urgent task. How to evoke positive emotions when communicating with customer employees with your company? How to smooth out the negative moments that may arise during the interaction. Think about the answers to these questions and integrate the solutions found into your daily activities.

Give branded gifts

How to make sure that customer employees do not forget about you? There is an old but perfectly working way - make useful and beautiful branded gifts. Calendar, pens, flash drives, T-shirts and other accessories work for loyalty no worse than discounts.

Such customer rewards cannot be classified as a bribe. If you like them, they will remind employees of your company for a long time.

Tell the success story of your clients

How to praise a client so that it does not look like flattery? Tell his success story! Share information on your website and in the media, talk about case studies at conferences, publish joint research, and interview key customer representatives. Include such content in your content plan.

Such initiatives strengthen relationships with clients and create new opportunities for joint PR activities. The success story works great for building relationships with decision makers and experts. The case should emphasize the merits of specific employees on the part of the client. Career and professional growth of the customer's employees loyal to you strengthens the position of the company, creates opportunities for expanding cooperation.