Indeed, the need to relate is inherent to people and companies throughout their lives. It is difficult to understand a personal or business evolution without having “prospered” in the way of relating or without having contributed something to someone through the relationship. If we understand Marketing as I understand it (today), a mentality that drives relationships by doing many “small” things in the same direction, then a company that has been operating in the market for years, has been doing “its” Marketing for years and successfully.
There is no doubt that human empathy is key to building relationships, and even more so if our interlocutor or client changes more and more quickly. Here comes the nuance: the fact that you have succeeded finland business email list in your way of relating until now does not mean that it will be valid for tomorrow . Relating today in the B2B/Industrial world is no longer an exclusive issue of people or products, more factors come into play than ever before: the brand, the content, the digital channels, technology, other consumers, etc.
There is little to say about the speed of change that we all suffer (or as in my case, enjoy) and we only have two options; one is to accept it and understand it and two is to adapt and this is a question of a “neverending” mentality, that is, how do we normalize this in each and every one of us? Connecting much better through your relationships can be a good option.
I have always avoided such absolute terms as “transformation” or “reinvention” but it is undeniable that we must make a great effort to adapt to these changes in habits in the B2B and B2C community and even more so “if things have gone well so far”. This is a very silent and culturally dangerous damage if it is not addressed before it shows symptoms. The fact that our way of relating today seems to work by looking at our sales may be fictitious. Therefore I believe that any B2B company must seek to get ahead and create value in its relationships proactively rather than always reacting.
How? I would bet on a new B2B / Industrial Marketing idea based on:
First, by listening to your clients (real and potential) and community in a different way. Not only from sales or from my client friends and not only when there are problems, nor by only doing customer satisfaction surveys once a year. It is a question of mentality.
Second, setting clear priorities and focus on the path to follow. Even though I am doing well selling to everyone, I have to be relevant to some more than to others in the future. It has to be appreciated from the outside and shared from within.
Third; Understanding how (beyond the product) and where (other channels) our client wants to interact with us, moving from a well-served client to a well-helped community.
Fourth, we are a sum of things of value to someone, not a single product or service, well-known and very cheap or very good. Tending to generate experiences adapted to someone is not just a matter of products or the sales department.
Fifth, end the old idea of B2B Marketing and Sales being separate. Everyone is a business, everyone has to sell, and everyone has to understand the digital world as normal. They are one, seeking together to generate the best B2B customer experiences and capture opportunities.
Sixth : B2B clients are coming to an end and communities of people are being born. What about my client's client? The prescriber? The end consumer? The collaborators? Suppliers?... Does it not matter what they say? Does it not count?
There are no miracles, no magic formulas... let's start by listening to our community (customer centric), let's think about the best B2B/Industrial customer experience for them and let's use our new B2B Marketing mentality to adapt, balancing the creation of productive vs relational value in the organization a little more and perhaps this will be our "Marketing of a lifetime" in a few years.
