B2B buyers are complex to handle. They are empowered by the Internet of Things (IoT) more than ever. They want all, and they want it right as per their preferences. From finding the exact solution to their problems to favorable pricing – they desire to be felt valued throughout their buying journey.
This often makes it complicated for the B2B marketers to deliver enriched customer experience. The only way to get out of this chaos is to understand what exactly is hindering the excellence of your customer service and what can be the best ways to handle them. Below is what you need to know:
1. Personalization vs. Privacy of the buyers
Personalization is the need of digital commerce. And many B2B marketers have now started believing and investing in it. However, one question bothers most of them:
What should be the idle proportion of personalization to convert a B2B prospect into a buyer?
This becomes one of the toughest challenges that many B2B salespeople often face.
Solution – Balanced and Data-driven personalization
The only way to understand and implement customization for customer service is to take help of your consumer-data.
Approach: Invest in creating a database that is well-structured, updated, and error-free. Analyze this data to comprehend the customers’ experience – their in-app or on-web behavior, their feedbacks, and their emotions that initiated the journey. Based on the results, introduce the emotions in your customer services. Make your buyers the center of your customer service. Respect their privacy and move with a balanced personalized approach.
Remember that B2B is different than e-commerce industries. And so are the customer service metrics. Adding so much of personalization can create a feeling of distrust in your buyers.
2. Building relationships with customers
People buy from you when you offer them the value they are looking for. And when we talk about B2B buyers, this value becomes of vital importance.
Your B2B prospects begin their buying journey only when they have built confidence in them for your services. However, as these buyers are more demanding and risk-averse, it becomes neck-stiffening for the sales teams to build healthy seller-buyer relationships with them.
Solution –
- Understand the intricacies of the buying journey
B2B buying journey is always lengthy and baffling. To build relationships with your existing and potential buyers, work on knowing them more – what they want in your services, their problems, solutions, and how can you help them in resolving those problems.
- Make them think of you as a partner, not just another marketer
One great way to foster better relationships with your prospects and clients is to make them feel worthy. Give them the credibility of your services and solutions. Build trust in them and then, while resolving their problems, treat them as if you are their partners and not just another vendor. This feeling of worthiness eventually increases the possibilities of better customer retention.
Also read: How Does Quality Customer Service Impact Your Business?
3. Complex issues
Another toughest challenge that the customer service representatives face is the complex issues that arise throughout the buying process. For the businesses dealing in technology marketing, the issues sometimes become more daunting. The customers look for more extended and productive communication. They want your support team to come-up with researched solutions.
Solution –
- Training
Accept that there will be customers that are pushy, demanding, and sometimes angry too. Make sure that the representatives of your customer support team are knowledgeable and possess exceptional communication skills to deal with them patiently.
- Listen more to them
Before you start resolving the complex issues your customer has put in front of you, take a pause and listen to all that he wants to say. This will help you in getting yourself clear about what he exactly wants and what can be the best way to provide it. Also, when you listen to him with patience, it will create a feeling of worthiness in the customer. This worthiness is a must for better customer retention.
Try these steps and deliver a better customer experience!
