If you’re preparing to startup a B2B company in 2023, one of the most crucial factors for you to get right is loyalty. According to recent figures, as much as 65% of a B2B company’s sales comes from repeat customers, with 82% of companies agreeing that customer retention is cheaper than acquiring new customers.
That being said, attaining – and maintaining – customer loyalty is not easy. There are a number of strategies that businesses have to put in place if they want to keep customers on the side and away from the competition. In order to get a grip on those strategies, however, it is first important to understand the difference between B2C consumers and B2B consumers.
The Difference Between B2C And B2B
When it comes to B2C customers, businesses put more emphasis on the transactional focus required to elevate footfall and build revenue. One of the ways they do this is by spreading the net and trying to reach as wide an audience as possible.
For B2B, however, there is more of a focus on building personal relationships, which means finding a niche for audience targeting and keeping that niche more streamlined – it’s not about how many customers are attained. It’s about how many are loyal.
Loyalty Programmes
One of the best ways to achieve loyalty for your B2B company is through a loyalty programme that is designed to strengthen relationships with customers, get them talking about the brand, and create a consumer incentive through a points-based rewards system. It should be noted, also, that the best loyalty programmes are just about giving monetary rewards – but rewards that are more personalised, pinpointed, and designed to make customers feel valued rather than a statistic.
Strong Relationships
Apart from a loyalty programme, there are other things you can do to ensure loyalty, one of which is through providing employees with further training sessions to boost their morale, their customer service and engagement with the brand itself. As mentioned before, loyalty in B2B is about strong relationships, not only between you and your consumers but between your employees as well.
In-Person Priority
One of the marketing tactics that has been lost in recent years is in-person events to get to know clients on a deeper level. With the rise of social media and digital marketing as a whole, in-person events are seen as unnecessary expenses – especially when the same communication can be achieved remotely. But in-person events are so important to form relationships with customers, allow them to see the face of the company, and demonstrate to them how much they matter.
Quest For Perfection
Speaking of transparency, one last way for loyalty to be achieved is by opening up to customers, allowing them to see the inner workings of the company, and actively searching for their feedback. Not only do customers want to know that you’re looking to develop, but asking for their input will make them feel like their opinions are valued and that they are listened to. This will then allow you to fix anything that is wrong with the company while simultaneously building upon already existing relationships by making customers an active part of the company’s overall development.
