In the B2B industry, every salesperson longs for high-quality customers because the money those customers cough up boost the revenue stream. Getting such customers is no easy job as the demand for them is high.
What are the strategies that can add high-quality customers to the client’s list and bring a smile to a salesperson’s face? Keep reading to find out.
Proclivity to spending
There’s an animosity for frugal customers in the sales circuits. Because frugal customers are scrutinous and go into details, salespeople hate them and often resort to name-calling.
They love spendthrift clients. True, they pay more than the fair price but not out of charity, they pay more because they don’t understand the work. At the end, they may accuse you of squeezing out money from them. Your service may be top-notch, but such customers often can’t explain what they want, making it difficult for service providers. That’s my experience working for them.
It’s best to go after frugal clients, who spend money cautiously. Such customers don’t back out because the price is too high. They tally the outcome and the price. They won’t mind paying the high-price if the outcome is impressive. A skinflint, on the other hand, expects the best service but refuses to spend the equivalent amount.
Information gathering
Despite digital channels are dedicatedly used for brand promotion, reaching out to high-quality customers is a gruelling task. That’s because digital channels and communities are viewed only as windows for promoting brands. But those channels can also be used to gather customer information.
B2B customers, in my own opinion, are everywhere but finding the best of them is the real deal. They leave a digital trail, which you need to follow. By doing that, you can gather plenty of information about them. You may have to be a bit stalkerish but that won’t be a problem as long as you are not disturbing them or intruding into their privacy.
The two most critical aspects of customer information are:
- The customer’s preference
- The customer’s expectations
His demographic details, past business history, geographical location can help you get an idea of how much he can shell out. Whether he’ll select you or not depends on whether you can present yourself as someone who understands and values his preference and expectations.
Raising the bar
High-quality B2B customers value improvement. Many of them are entrepreneurs themselves and understand how important it is for a business to constantly upgrade itself. If you raise the bar for your organization and perform impressively, you can attract them.
High-quality customers have high expectations. To meet their expectations, do all the following:
- Invest in human resources: A customer who can outsource you big projects wants to know your organization’s employee strength. He needs the assurance that you can deliver the work within the deadline. So hire people with variegated skillsets and have a colorful workplace.
- Invest in skill development: Skilled employees are an organization’s assets. Make sure your employees are skilled enough to understand client’s requirements and handle difficult tasks.
- Infrastructure development: You have to convince the client that your business infrastructure is top-grade. This is the age of automation, not using automation tools can send a wrong message.
How you manage your internal workflow is an excellent indicator of how you’ll handle the client’s projects. Hence, use cutting edge tools and scientific processes for your organization’s internal workflow management.
Remember, raising the bar may be easy, but jumping over it is not. So focus on infrastructure and workflow management, and pursue the clients to believe that you are improving and will continue to improve.
Royalty treatment
By offering special treatmen, an organization can attract high-profile B2B clients and increase their retention rate. Similar to B2C, incentives and rewards make up the customer loyalty program in B2B as well. The rewards are handed to customers when they show loyalty.
In the B2B vertical, incentives can come in the form of discounts, rewards can be additional services. Non-stop interaction with clients, understanding what they want and prioritizing their feedback should also be in the offing.
A study done by SAP Hybris and Accenture Digital shows B2B customers expect personalized treatment just the same way as B2C customers do. On an average, there’s 60% chance of getting business from existing customers and only 20% chance of getting business from new clients.
Hence, engage with clients on a personal level without encroaching their privacy. Wish them on their birthdays and celebrate their achievement. Make sure your existing clients are getting personalized treatment and they are happy about it.
Communication tools
I am mentioning it again since its importance is immense. Discover new communication tools to interact with customers, especially high-quality customers because they want you to know every little problem they face. Unless connected with them, it’s not possible for you to take care of their needs.
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