B2B Marketing

Unit V
 Customer Loyalty
• Customer loyalty is a measure of
a customer's likeliness to do repeat business
with a company or brand. It is the result
of customer satisfaction,
positive customer experiences, and the overall
value of the goods or services
a customer receives from a business
 What causes customer loyalty?
• Consumers tend to be more loyal to a brand if
they overall feel the company is socially
responsible – i.e. demonstrates shared beliefs
or gives back to the community
• We tend to be more loyal to companies that
hold the same values we do and demonstrate
those values by doing good by others
 Different Types of Customer
Loyalty programs
• Point Programs. The point programs are the most
common programs around the commerce world, as they
the simplest ones. ...
• Spend-Based Loyalty Programs. ...
• Tiered Programs. ...
• Paid Programs – VIP member club. ...
• Value – based Programs. ...
• Partnered Program. ...
• Game Program. ...
• Hybrid Loyalty Programs.
 B2B Loyalty Programs
• B2B loyalty programs (also referred to
as B2B customer loyalty program) are also
more personalized and dependent on the
client's needs for their business. Meanwhile,
B2C loyalty programs are made for their
general customers — not specialized or
personalized to each one.
Planning B2B Customer Loyalty Strategies and
Key Factors for Success
• Here’s what to start with:
• Define your profitable accounts and customers
• Ensure you understand the strategic goals of your business and tailor your loyalty
programs respectively
• Consider each customer’s business model and come up with a set of
personalized, value-driven loyalty programs
• Research customers and monitor interactions with your customers throughout
all touch-points
• Segment your customer base to target each segment in the most effective
manner
• Develop a system for scoring and ranking the most valuable customers
• Initiate and encourage dialogue with your clients; collect customer feedback
• Continuously analyze which incentives facilitate win-win relationships and help
you meet your business objectives
Successful B2B Customer Loyalty Program

• Using tier incentives
• An equipment manufacturer provides rewards
to its distributors based on their sales
performance in the form of earned points. By
gaining more points, buyers can level up from
one tier to the next. Leveling up to the next tier
can offer more benefits, better pricing, or
other incentives.
• Partnering with third parties and resellers to give
customers extra value
• If your company sources raw materials used by other
businesses for production, you may partner with a
company that offers services that can streamline
production. As a company selling tires to an
automobile manufacturer, you can partner with a
windshield reseller and offer your customers a
combined package at a discount price. As a
petroleum company, you may reward your clients
with bonuses and thus promote your brand among
mechanics, who usually decide which engine oil and
other products to use at their car service.  
• Arranging member events
• An email marketing software provider
arranges both free and paid conferences,
trade shows, meetups, and retreat events for
its B2B users to increase loyalty and educate
them on the industry-related issues.
• Providing transaction-based immediate
discounts
• A textile clothes distributor selling to apparel
shops offers an instant discount applicable to
every order made within a certain timeframe.
• Running referral programs
• A SaaS service provider offering business
applications in the cloud gives extra user
capacity for new referrals as well as an
extended package to the newly referred
customers.
• Arranging co-marketing and support
activities
• A Telecom operator represents its new cloud
service platform on a global technology show
together with its key software development
partners.
• Setting up personalized buying experience via B2B
eCommerce website / mobile app
• In the age of digital automation and B2B
eCommerce, there is one simple method of
managing monetary rewards and discounts for your
clients – and that is a personalized online buying
experience. <Click to retweet> You can use modern
eCommerce technology to set up customized
product catalogs and price lists on your web store,
which further empowers your clients with 24/7 self-
service capabilities. Integrate it with a CRM
solution to have full visibility into your customer data
and see where you can optimize.
 Customer Satisfaction
• Customer satisfaction is defined as a
measurement that determines how
happy customers are with a company's
products, services, and capabilities. Customer
satisfaction information, including surveys and
ratings, can help a company determine how to
best improve or changes its products and
services
 Why is B2B customer satisfaction so
important?
• When we buy a product or service, we expect it to be
right. We don’t jump up and down on the chair saying, “I
can’t believe it, it worked!”. That’s what we paid for, so
we have a clear expectation.
• It happens in B2C when the consumer buys a new
appliance, a smartphone or a dress, but even more so in
B2B where the products and services are complex such
as programming in an IT or engineering project, the
start-up of a job that will last several months or years, or
the installation of a new machine in a customer’s plant.
 How do you measure your customers
satisfaction?
• As a supplier to other businesses, your customers
satisfaction needs to be constantly monitored. However,
gathering objective, comprehensive and unbiased
feedback is as critical as it is difficult.
• Only a small proportion of dissatisfied customers
complain openly, if you also add cultural factors it
becomes very difficult to access spontaneous information.
Some studies have shown that Italians, for example,
prefer to give neutral opinions when interviewed; they
tend to stay on average values and prefer not to fully
reveal what they think.
• Having a coffee with our customer or asking
our sales team to get feedback is not enough;
what we get will always be conditioned by the
existing business relationship. In addition, we
may ask the wrong questions, receive
distorted information, or there may be some
‘unspoken truths’.
5 basic aspects to consider:
• Who should be interviewed?
• What needs to be measured?
• How should the survey be carried out?
• How should customer satisfaction be
measured?
• How to use the results to increase satisfaction,
loyalty and profitability?
 Who should be interviewed?
• One of the most important choices when setting up the survey is
deciding who should be interviewed. This phase is carried out
involving management and/or the sales team.
• Who should be interviewed for a manufacturer, for example, of
industrial machinery? The production manager, the purchasing
manager, the general manager? In the case of some B2B SME’s, the
Owner or CEO may be more than enough
• Giving a precise answer to this question is essential and depends on
the organization and the departments involved in the purchasing
process. You may need to involve engineering, manufacturing,
purchasing, or quality control departments. Because each
department evaluates suppliers differently, the customer satisfaction
survey will need to cover the multiple views.
• For each position, the CFO, purchasing
manager, head of production or CEO, a
different approach will be required. Each has a
different role and interaction with the supplier
and its products or services. A favorable
environment needs to be created in order to
allow the information we need to emerge.
• The survey is an extra tool available to the
sales force to strengthen the relationship with
its customers. It is the supplier who formally
invites its customers to take part in the survey.
 What needs to be measured?
• Every supplier knows that there are aspects in which there is
a margin of tolerance, others where the Customer does not
allow error. If a supplier fails in one of these, they may lose
the customer.
High-level topics are included in most customer satisfaction
surveys, these are questions that give general information:
• What is your overall supplier satisfaction?
• How likely or unlikely is it that you will still purchase from the
supplier?
• How much would you recommend the supplier to a friend or
colleague?
 How To Use A Customer Satisfaction Survey
To Greatest Effect? 
• Customers who have given their time to the
survey now expect the results to translate into
tangible action. If this does not happen, there
will be further dissatisfaction.  
• Some actions can be quick and immediate,
such as sending a newsletter, changing the
billing process, or creating a call center to
provide technical information.  
• A five-step process can be used to make these
long-term improvements.  
• Step 1: Identify the gap
• Step 2: Analyze and question the client
segmentation
• Step 3: Analyze and question customer value
proposition (CVP)
• Step 4: Create an action plan
• Step 5: Measure and review
Trends and the Future of B2B Marketing
• Throughout 2020, B2B marketers were forced to
adapt: shifting their goals, experimenting with new
tactics, managing expectations, and adjusting
messaging to account for the fragile state of the world
• In 2021, anticipate an acceleration of the same trends
that emerged at the end of 2020, as well as an
increased focus on using digital tools to build strong
relationships between companies and their
customers that prioritize long-term success and
growth—even in the face of uncertainty
• 1. Adapted Messaging
• One of the biggest lessons we can take away from 2020 is that
adaptability is critical. We know things can change at the drop of
a hat: why not be ready to roll with the punches?
• When you consider your B2B marketing strategy for 2021,
prioritize flexibility in your messages and tactics. People will be
most receptive to sensitive and empathetic tones, even when
considering business and sales partners. To avoid coming off as
dismissive or insensitive, marketers must be attuned to the
challenges that individuals and businesses may continue to face.
• Humanizing each message and action can go a long way, and it
doesn't take a lot of effort. It can also do wonders in furthering
long-term relationships between businesses and product and
service providers. If your customers don't feel respected, your
relationship will go downhill.
• 2. Personalized Virtual Events
• Marketers have been forced to say goodbye to traditional in-person
events and tradeshows and welcome the concept of virtual events to
meet new partners and drive leads. Many of us have gotten our feet wet
in the virtual event space, but most people are still trying to figure out
how to make those events as interactive and impactful as possible.
• Anticipate an improvement of the virtual B2B event sphere in 2021. More
time and effort will be put toward planning virtual events as a way to
compensation for the lack of in-person functions lost to the pandemic.
Companies are now realizing that large scale, in-person events may not
occur until 2022, so they will be making the most of the situation at hand.
• As for in-person networking, I gather it will migrate to either
matchmaking chatbots or personal introductions based on prior matches.
Technology has made close to anything possible these days, and
throughout 2021 businesses must implement new and unique ideas for
reaching potential partners and clients to drive leads, site traffic, and
sales.
• 3. Digitalization
• 2020's drastic shift from in-person connections to
predominantly remote ones makes it no surprise that digital
advertising increased. US B2B marketers spent roughly $8.14
billion on digital ads—up 22.6% from 2019, one report
estimated. In addition to paid social media campaigns and
native digital advertising, SEO and paid SEM will become
more crucial for digital marketers.
• Now that increased restrictions are in full swing for the winter
months of 2021, most businesses that seek new service
providers will begin the process with online research rather
than traditional in-person networking events. Companies will
want to keep their products and services at the forefront of
potential partners' minds through search results, sponsored
content, and online advertising.
• 4. Social Media and the Power of LinkedIn
• LinkedIn means to B2B marketers what TikTok means to
Millennials and GenZers. LinkedIn will continue to grow as a B2B
platform in 2021, and among companies using the platform we
can expect there to be an uptick in video content, in particular.
Video, rather than lengthy text posts, can captivate potential
customers and drive more engagement.
• The concept of influencer marketing in the B2B space is different
from that in consumer spheres, but many company leaders and
decision-makers use social media to explore relevant trends, as
well as find and vet potential partners and vendors. When they
embark on those searches, you want your company and its
leadership to be well-established as industry sources and
influencers. That will drive brand awareness, engagement, and
eventually increased lead generation and sales.
• 2020 caused looming uncertainty for many
companies, but, as some say, we can only go up
from here. Anticipate 2021 to be a year of
creativity, innovation, and reinvention. Versatility
will be everything. Businesses looking to market to
partners and clients must be open to new ideas.
• In 2021, getting out of your comfort zone and
changing with the times will be the secret sauce
for growing sales and building meaningful B2B
partnerships.
 Project management
• Project management is the process of leading the work of
a team to achieve goals and meet success criteria at a
specified time. The primary challenge of project
management is to achieve all of the project goals within
the given constraints
• Project management is the application of processes,
methods, skills, knowledge and experience to achieve
specific project objectives according to
the project acceptance criteria within agreed
parameters. Project management has final deliverables
that are constrained to a finite timescale and budget.
 The characteristics of a project
Management
• Consists of temporary activities that have predetermined start and
end dates.
• Uses restricted resources.
• It has a single goal or a set of goals.
• All events are to be realized to develop a single and new output.
• Usually has a budget.
• Usually a project manager is responsible for coordinating all
activities.
• Projects are usually chartered and authorized external to the project
organization by an enterprise, a government agency, a company, a
program organization, or a portfolio organization, as a result of one
or more of the following features:
•  A market demand (e.g., a consumer product company
authorizing a project to develop a new fruit drink for kids with
less sugar in response to an increased health awareness)
• A business need (e.g., a publisher authorizing a project to write
a new book to increase its revenues)
• A customer request (e.g., an amusement park authorizing a
company to develop a new roller coaster)
• A technological advance (e.g., an electronics firm authorizing a
new project to develop a faster, cheaper, and smaller netbook)
• A legal requirement (e.g., Government authorizes a project to
establish laws for controlling the home loan system)
• A social need (e.g., a non-governmental organization
authorizing a project to raise the awareness of donating blood)
 Competitive bidding
• Competitive bidding is a common
procurement practice that involves inviting
multiple vendors or service providers to
submit offers for any particular material or
service. Competitive bidding allows
transparency, equality of opportunity and the
ability to demonstrate that the outcomes
represent the best value
 There are six steps to the competitive
bidding process:
• Finding bid opportunities. The first step is to
find out about bidding opportunities.
• Determine your bid position or approach.
• Participate in pre-bid activities.
• Submit a bid.
• Participate in the bid evaluation process.
• Win the contract.
• Finding bid opportunities. The first step is
to find out about bidding opportunities.
Depending on your business, you may be able
to find bidding opportunities through a simple
internet search; however, this can be like
looking for a needle in a haystack.
• Determine your bid position or approach. Once you
have examined the Request for the Project (RFP),
then it’s time to figure out how you could fulfill the
request before you start responding to the Request
for the Project (RFP). Sometimes, it may be best to
team up with other small businesses to fulfill the
request together
• Other times, you may be able to bid as a
subcontractor rather than the prime contractor.
Large companies also seek out MBEs (minority
business enterprises). If diversity is part of your
message, you can make that clear in how you
position your bid.
• Participate in pre-bid activities. In order to
properly communicate with bidders, some
companies require attendance at events,
meetings, or conferences for potential
bidders. Other companies require you to
submit pieces of information before you
submit a final bid. The most common types of
requests are a RFI (Request for Information) or
a RFC (Request for Comment).
• Submit a bid. After you have collected all the
necessary information from the pre-bid
activities, then you are ready to submit a bid.
Be sure to follow every single instruction
given. If you have overlooked a piece of
information, it’s very likely that your proposal
will be rejected without being reviewed.
• Participate in the bid evaluation
process. After you submit the bid, be available
for any follow-up questions or requests that
the company may make. Answer the company
professionally and promptly
• Win the contract. Hopefully, this is what
happens for you! If not, don’t be discouraged.
Learn from the experience and move on.
Sometimes a contract is just not the right fit.
Get right back in the game looking for the next
competitive bidding opportunity.
Advantages of competitive bidding
• Competitive bidding helps the buyers get the
best price and contract terms for their
proposals
• It allows them to get the most qualified sellers
of products and services while keeping costs
low
• They also get to work with sellers with a history
of achievements and that are qualified to
deliver specialized services
 PPP Projects
• Public-Private Partnership Model: PPP is an
arrangement between government and
private sector for the provision of public assets
and/or public services. Public-private
partnerships allow large-scale
government projects, such as roads, bridges,
or hospitals, to be completed with private
funding.
PPP Implementation
• 1. Identification of private sector/PPP projects
• Project identification
1B. In-house preparatory arrangements
• Conceptual project structure
• Institutional due diligence (legal and regulatory
framework, government policy, involvement of other
departments, in-house capacity, etc.)
• Project implementation strategy
• Setting of project committee(s)
1C. Government approval (e.g. by a special body established
for PPPs)
1D. Appointment of transaction advisor (if needed)
• Terms of reference
• Appointment
Government approval
• 2. Project development and due diligence
• Project planning and feasibility
• Risk analysis
• Financing
• Value for money
• Business model
• Government support
• Service and output specifications
• Basic terms of contract
• Independent credit rating (when possible)
• Preliminary financing plan
Government approval (Special body, concerned
ministries, central bank)
• Financing plan
• 3. Implementation arrangement and pre-
procurement
• Implementation arrangement
• Bidding documents
• Draft contract
• Special issues (land acquisition, foreign
exchange, investment promotion, etc.)
• Bid evaluation criteria, committees
Government approval (Special body, legal
office, Ministry of Law)
• 4. Procurement
• Market sounding
• Pre-qualification of bidders
• RFP - finalization of service and output
specifications
• Final tender
• Bid evaluation and selection
Government approval (Special body, cabinet,
etc.)
• 5. Contract award and management
• Contract award, financial close and contract
signing
• Service delivery management
• Contract compliance
• Relationship management
• Renegotiation (when needed)
Government approval of renegotiation terms
(Special body, cabinet, etc.)
• 6. Dispute resolution
• Establishment of a process and a dispute
resolution team
Government approval (when needed by
defined bodies)
Building a customer driven organization
• Most business leaders understand that focusing
on customer needs plays a key role in whether a
product soars or falls flat. And while choosing the
right tools, like customer service software, can
help the team working the phones and answering
user emails, that's just part of the picture
• Becoming a truly customer-driven business
means taking a unified approach that includes
marketing and product teams, as well.
• Being customer-driven is about putting
customer needs at the center of the business
strategy. Customer-driven companies build a
customer-focused culture, one where
customer support, marketing, product, and
sales teams work together to provide a great
customer experience
• A customer-driven strategy means meeting
customer expectations, and being tactical in
how you do so
 Different ways to build a customer driven
organization
• 1. Understand how your customers want to talk to
you—and give them choices
• If there’s a mantra your company should focus on,
it’s this: go where your customers are —don’t make
them come to you. Maybe your customers prefer to
reach out via email, a channel that tends to have
longer resolution times and higher touch rates. Be
sure to optimize that channel, but also reward users
for selecting efficient channels such as chat and self-
service
• 2. Provide fast support
• This is where customer service software flexes
its muscles—while most companies
understand that customers want timely help,
they’re often in the dark about why support
Service Level Agreements (SLA) times aren’t
being met. Use your customer service
software to analyze where the bottlenecks are
happening and to manage the ticket queue
more efficiently.
• 3. Break down silos between teams
• Silos get in the way of everyone’s common
goal, which is providing a top-notch customer
experience at a cost that won’t hurt the
bottom line. But silos can be stubborn things,
so a truly customer-driven organization must
set company-wide customer satisfaction goals
that are rooted in measurable data
• Share that data across teams and evaluate not
only how your company is doing but whether
you’re measuring the correct information.
• 4. Choose customer service software that unifies
your service and pulls data from multiple sources
• Whether it’s your sales team working in Salesforce
or engineers resolving issues in Jira, you need
something that can integrate seamlessly with those
essential tools. If your sales team can't see the
tickets, they’ll go into meetings blind
• It’s much harder to close a deal when your customer
is steamed about recent outages, especially since
the market tends to offer plenty of alternatives. If
your company truly wants to be customer-driven, it
must adopt a strategy where data flows effortlessly.
• 5. Constantly ask customers
for feedback (and really listen)
• This goes far beyond simply sending surveys—
your company must show tangible
improvements to your product or service.
(And remember: there is such a thing as too
many surveys.) In the end, getting into that
“partner space” will reap greater benefits than
delivering on your very next improvement.
• 6. Get engineers and product managers
directly involved with customer support
• There is a clear benefit to having software
engineers and product managers shadow your
agents on customer support tickets. While it
might be tempting to look at this exercise as
taking away from valuable coding time, it will
help product teams develop better use cases
and roadmaps that reflect what your customers
need. And consider appointing a liaison
between your support and product teams to
improve the flow of information.
• 7. Ask for consumers for feedback before
settling on your product requirements
• Although surveys can be helpful, think about
other ways you can gather user feedback—get
involved in online communities and reward
active members (like those who have requested
a specific feature) with keys to alpha and beta
tests, company swag, and more. This can be a
great way to develop relationships with your
user base while ensuring that the business
remains customer-focused.
• 8. If your customers leave, ask why—and
then take action
• You can’t please everyone (though you should
really try). If you’re not sending churn
surveys to former customers, you’re missing
an opportunity to be a customer-centric
organization. Identify common trends and
ensure that your product roadmap addresses
those issues.
• 9. Get your market segmentation down cold
• Your company’s marketing team should be
creating user personas via surveys, focus
groups, and using customer data to get a deep
understanding of the customer journey. At
every given opportunity, talk to the people
who comprise your user base and understand
what motivates them.
• 10. Establish a clear, consistent voice for your
customer-driven marketing strategy
• Jargon is your enemy. Employ clear, consistent
language in your marketing strategy, and avoid
trash-talking your competitors. Doing so will
make your company seem less trustworthy
and hurt you in the long term.
• 11. Create a marketing strategy that sets your
organization apart
• That strategy should be rooted in your
company’s values and a solid understanding of
the market. Identify user expectations and
product areas your competition has neglected
—and be ready to capitalize on those missed
opportunities. A thoughtful, customer-driven
marketing plan will help you gain (and retain)
your competitive advantage.
• 12. Engage on social media, ask for feedback,
and track your NPS score
• Your social media strategy will need to vary
depending on the platform. For example,
Twitter can be great for posting news, content,
and service outages, but you’ll want to treat
Facebook differently (say, as a venue for
humanizing your company by showing
employees at work and play).
• 13. Reward customers for their loyalty
• Power users and product evangelists have a
lot to say. Reward them by inviting them to
special events and then listen to them talk
about the challenges they face. By going that
extra mile to show your appreciation, you’ll
take another step toward being a truly
customer-driven business.
 Ethical issues in B2B Marketing
• While marketing has existed since the start of
commercial trading, it has become more and more
of a grey area for businesses in recent times.
Questions that have been raised include: the
blurred line between data collection and the
invasion of privacy as well as the grey area between
attracting consumers and deceptive advertisement.
• Businesses must be careful to tread on the right
side of the line between legal and illegal
• Data Collection and the Invasion of Privacy
• Data collection is often considered the first,
and most significant, stage of marketing.
Extensive data allows businesses to choose
the most optimal marketing techniques for
their consumer base. In fact, companies such
as Google and Facebook primarily rely on
tracking a user’s web history to generate
returns.
• However, while law makers are yet to decide
on a legal position, individuals are pushing for
tougher privacy laws. For example, in a recent
survey of 11,000 people almost 70% said they
would gladly use a “do not track” feature on
search engines if available.
• Companies such as Facebook have also
received backlash over privacy issues. As such,
businesses need to become more conscious of
the privacy of consumers when collecting
data.
• Distribution of Data
• Delivery channels such as telemarketing, door to door sales
and unsolicited emails are some of the most controversial
areas of marketing.
• Sometimes the law in different countries specifies time
frames in which telemarketing and door to door sales are
allowed. For instance, a sales person may only approach you
between 9 am to 6 pm on weekdays and 9am to 5 pm on
Saturdays. Further, “do not knock” stickers a “do not call”
register must be obeyed by marketers. While these
protections are in place, legal and ethical issues arise
because the majority of consumers are either unaware of
such protections or cannot bothered to report petty
offences. As a result, marketers often get away with illegal
and unethical behaviour.
• Misleading Claims
• Misleading claims in advertising may involve
claims about the quality of the product, the
availability of a service and any exclusions on a
good. 
• Problems arise because it is extremely difficult
to claim for misleading advertisement. For
instance, that a product was “50% off from
before”, a consumer must have evidence of
before and after prices to make a claim.
• Pricing Ethics
• There are various forms of unethical business
practices related to pricing the products and
services.
• Bid rigging is a type of fraud in which a
commercial contract is promised to one party,
however, for the sake of appearance several other
parties also present a bid.
• Predatory pricing is the practice of sale of a
product or service at a negligible price, intending
to throw competitors out of the market, or to
create barriers to entry.