Dear Distributors, don’t over analyze, just START!

Most distributors are in the process of either starting an eCommerce initiative or improving an existing one.

However, in the midst of process and following a plan, many distributors are getting bogged down in the minutia.  The details tend to overwhelm and even paralyze them.

My summary of this article – you don’t have to get it all right from the beginning, so start as soon as possible.

This is what you need

The biggest problem that most distributors face is that without having done this before, how do they know what to look for?  How are you expected to decide which features are released when?  What should we customize?  What do we need to integrate?  What features give us the biggest return?

So, here is your baseline or benchmark:

• User experience / creative – the look and feel of the site should match your culture and your organization.  It should feel like walking into one of your locations.  That means you need a creative person or an agency design the look and feel of the site.  Keep it simple.
• Search and Navigation – if you have over 1,000 SKUs then you must have a good search box.  Guided navigation is also critical for them to refine the catalog.
• Good product data – it doesn’t have to be perfect or 100% complete, but you must create an ongoing process (which probably means forever) to continuously improve your product data (descriptions, attributes, images, specs, attachments)
• Customer pricing – when customers come on to your site they want to see their pricing, terms and conditions
• Simple checkout – the checkout should be intuitive, simple and as frictionless as possible.  That means you should probably take a hard look at your “new customer” onboarding process.
• ERP integration – pricing, inventory, order status, product information

I try not to solution without knowing you.  In fact I made fun of people that do.  However,  I want to give you a few suggestions, so forgive me:

Whatever software you choose, don’t customize it for the first 3 – 6 months.  Invest all your time and money into 3 things:

• Integration with your ERP
• Integration with your ERP
• Integration with your ERP

You get the point.  Only kind of kidding.  Now the for real list:

• Integration with your ERP
• Product data
• Creative look and feel

In that order.

Integration

You want to at least integrate the following from your backend systems (most of the time that means ERP and/or CRM):

• Product information
• Inventory
• Customer information
• Contracts, custom pricing
• Order status

Product Data

If your product data sucks, then you are normal.  So don’t stop your eCommerce initiative, simply pick the top 5 – 10% of your most popular products and invest in that product data.  Have your people build product data, invest in 3rd parties, buy your data, and import it from your suppliers.  Make some small percentage of your product data as rich as possible.

What do you do with the rest of your data?  Use supplier data and ERP data to make it “okay”.

Here is the hard part.  Create a continual data optimization process for the rest of your life to make product data better.  Every quarter get better.

HINT:  Use third party data providers and builders.  They will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.

Creative Look and Feel

Invest in an agency or designer to make your site look good.  Don’t let the developers do it. Please!  It matters. You know it does, because you have gone on sites before and said how bad they were.  And then keep them on retainer.  Designers are worth every penny because they will make you look professional.  They will help you build online trust with your customer.

One last note on software

I purposefully left software selection out of this.  I wrote a 50 page manifesto on how to select software.  My point in this article, is to pick software that provides those initial benchmarks (search, navigation, product data, customer pricing, integration into ERP) and don’t customize it – take it out of the box.  Because, let’s be honest  – you don’t really know what areas to customize that will get you a ROI, right?  Instead, invest in integration, product data, and creative.

THEN – just watch how your customers use it.  Let’s figure out ways to get more customers to use and adopt eCommerce.   Let’s watch it, then use our analytics to tell us what we should change, why we should change it, and what kind of return we will get on our investment.

If you want more

I don’t right hook (ie make a sale) often, but the Private Advisory Group for Ecommerce (cleverly named P.A.G.E.) was built exactly for this purpose.  I answer all of your questions.  I guide you, coach you, help you plan, even advise you on your decisions.  P.A.G.E. helps you start.  Check it out.

photo credit: Pallet Pick 1 via photopin (license)

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Looking for eCommerce or Digital staff members?

I have received a number of requests recently to help spread the word about open positions in all kinds of organizations. I would love to help you do that. I have a fantastic network and audience of really talented people – from contractors to full time.

Vice versa — if you are looking for new opportunities.

Reach out to me and we can chat about it.

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Don’t think I’m crazy when I suggest that FaceBook should be one of your highest B2B priorities for the rest of 2015

FaceBook?? Seriously Justin??  Are you losing your way??  I know, believe me.  That is why this is one of the most important posts I have ever written.

One of my biggest pet peeves in B2B eCommerce is when newly B2C-turned-B2B consultants forget their audience and talk about FaceBook.  Sometimes they just forget about a retail social media logo on a slide and say something like “oh, FaceBook doesn’t apply to B2B.”  And yet, here I am — about to talk about why FaceBook should be one of your highest priorities for the rest of 2015 and all 2016.  Like everything else I do, I hopefully will turn this topic upside down for you.  Here is what I will cover:

• Why B2B marketers MUST use FaceBook
• How I use FaceBook in my B2B strategy
• How to start today

I have recently realized that I have become a B2B marketer myself — a practitioner, no longer a consultant or a software guy.  I have spent hundreds of hours reading, learning, and testing.  Testing is the key.  Everything I am about to say, I actually do every day.  It is an understatement to say I have tested it.  And it works incredibly well.

Why B2B marketers MUST use FaceBook

First of all,  this is not about good photos, cute branding strategies, promotions, giveaways, any of that.  You are not retail.  FaceBook for B2B should be about one thing.  Understanding your audience.  In the future, I will write about advertising on FaceBook for B2B companies.  In the community, it is hands down my most popular workshop.  By prioritizing FaceBook in your marketing strategy for eCommerce or otherwise, you will learn more about your audience than you ever thought possible.

If not ads, then how will I learn about my audience?

It is called a “Custom Audience Pixel.”  You put it in your website code like you do with Google analytics.  If the person coming to your website visited FaceBook on their computer at some point, they would be tagged AND tracked in FaceBook!  Have you ever wondered how you get ads on FaceBook from sites or products that you have visited recently?  I had previously thought that only big retail companies could do that.  I found that anyone could do it.  And it is FREE!  And incredibly powerful.

It is called remarketing, but we are going to start with understanding how this helps us understand our audience.

Once FaceBook has tagged over 1,000 website visitors there is an incredible amount of information immediately available to you about your audience, your customers, and your prospects.

There are over 100+ ways to segment, but here are a few

• Age and Gender
• Lifestyle (married, rural parents, suburban seniors, kids and clout)
• Location
• Education level
• Job Title
• Most popular likes
• Household income
• Household size
• Home market value (yep, crazy)
• What kind of car they drive (yep, it is getting crazier)
• Spending methods (credit card, ATM, Travel & Entertainment, Cash versus Card)

Pretty crazy – as a marketer, isn’t that Gold information?

But wait, I haven’t even gotten to the good stuff

• Interests – books, movies, sports teams, sports they like to play
• Purchase behavior – BUSINESS PURCHASES!!!

Take a look at a few of the purchase behavior insights

What does all of this mean?

It means I can understand my audience in ways I never have before.  I can see that my audience is 62% male, married with two kids,  lives on the east coast, and prefer golf over hiking.  My audience also likes Jordan Spieth, Dave Ramsey, and Seth Godin, drives a Honda, uses mostly credit cards, and buy training for their company.  And that is just scratching the surface.  I know a lot more about you.

If you had that type of information, could you put together the right headlines, engaging campaigns, and unbelievable product offerings?  Absolutely!

How I use FaceBook in my B2B strategy

I will save most of this for the workshops, but I use FaceBook heavily.  When you visit my website, I build an audience for you on FaceBook and Twitter (yes you can do the same thing on Twitter).  I know who you are, what pages you have visited, even which emails you have opened, and which you have clicked on.

I know who my audience is, what they like, and what they buy.  I show specific ads to only that audience that has visited my site.  I test ads to see which work and which do not.  I keep a swipe file.  And when someone buys something, I add them to a new audience.

I segment my audience by all kinds of things to test what works best.  If I am using an image of a car, and I know my audience drives a Honda, maybe I show them a Honda so we can relate.  But maybe I show a BMW because that is where they want to be eventually.

If I am promoting an event, I segment my audience to see what kinds of activities they want to do.  Golf?  Check.  Orioles game?  Hmm – maybe.  Hiking or mountain biking?  Not for my audience.

How to start today

If this sounds crazy to you – then first start with my simple eBook on using a LinkedIN hack in a similar fashion.  It is a fantastic concept.

If this doesn’t sound so crazy, then still get the eBook and then create your custom audience pixel, immediately.  It is simple to do.  You need to have two things.  A FaceBook fan or company page and a website.

1. Log in to that FaceBook company page profile, and thengo to FaceBook ad manager.
2. On the left-hand column select “”
3. Click Create Custom Audience
   When you create your first audience, it will give you a pixel or code for you to place in the <HEAD></HEAD> tags of your website.
4. After that is installed, you can create a Custom Audience.  See screen shots below.

Create custom audience by website traffic.  If you see the other options, your mind will start racing.  Hold off for now, we will get to that.

Facebook uses a single pixel to track everything.  But based on that pixel we can create many different custom audiences.  Again, as you see what the options are in the Website Traffic box, your head will start spinning.  Stay with me though.  Create an audience with “180 days” and anyone who visits your website for now.  Give it a name called “Visited WebSite” and then let it sit.

Don’t do anything crazy yet – just let your custom audience fill up to more than a 1,000.  Then we can talk about some crazy ways of using this data.

Like what you see?  We do deep dives in the community.  Join us – the ROI is instantaneous.

photo credit: Startup Riot 2009 via photopin (license)

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Test post

This is a test of the AgileRFP categor

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Every B2B sales person should have his own website

This is a bit off topic, but very applicable to my audience. I have learned a lot in this journey with eCommerceandB2B.com. I have learned the power of creating a personal brand that transcends my organization. I have learned that my personal brand helps my organization tremendously. In fact, by establishing my own brand (and my own website) I:

• am paid to speak at Associations my company would never have the opportunity to attend or even sponsor
• had the best keynote of my life at the B2B Online Summit
• create my own point of view on relevant topics which directly helps me in customer meetings
• developed a social following on LinkedIN and Twitter with more reach than my organization at times
• have met some incredible people and authors like Ted Coine and John Rossman
• have been introduced to incredible content from marketers like Jon Loomer, Michael Hyatt, and Jeff Walker. (no affiliate links – they are safe)
• have more credibility inside my organization  because of all the above

A side benefit of all of eCommerceandB2B.com is that I have learned a tremendous amount about internet marketing and social media as it applies to B2B sales and marketing.  I recently realized that what I have learned should be learned by everyone that is in sales.  EVERYONE!  I figured out a few hacks that are incredible.  The results have been mind blowing.

The basic tenets of the hack are the basics of internet marketing.

1. Create something of value
2. Give that thing of value away in exchange for an email address
3. Drive traffic to that thing of value

Every single sales person in the world needs to be doing some form of internet marketing.  If you are running your territory like your own business, then marketing has to be a significant part of your business plan.

Here is a crazy surprise.  I found a way to penetrate those named accounts that you have on your list.  There is a crazy hack that works so incredibly well.  I love how it works so well that I created an eBook walking salespeople step by step through the process.  I call it Crush Your Quota.  There is a lot more to know beyond this eBook that I will continue to share along the way.  So I guess we can call this Part 1.

Listen up sales people.  Get a website today – a single page, a blog, or something that you can test your own internet marketing strategies on.

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Grainger is looking for a Program Manager for eCommerce

Grainger is a fantastic company doing amazing things in eCommerce. You should know them as a leader in B2B eCommerce, truly defining what B2B eCommerce will look like in future. They have an exciting opportunity in their Chicago location for a Program Manager for eCommerce.

Here is what the job description looks like.  Grainger would like our community to know about this position, but I would very much appreciate you telling them that I sent you.  This is a new type of offering on eCommerceandB2B.com, and I would like to continue doing so.

Program Manager for eCommerce

Execute large, cross-functional projects or programs that have significant business impact and may span multiple business units/areas.

Responsibility for directing teams consisting of typically >15 people, diverse backgrounds and skill sets, likely to be geographically dispersed.

Manage dependencies between program’s projects; shepherds team on integration points and upstream/ downstream implications within and across projects and/or business activities.

Mentor business leaders and project leads on technical project leadership skills and best practices and ensures project life cycle frameworks are employed to deliver effectively and efficiently.

• Single accountable party for defining, planning, orchestrating and delivering one or more projects, programs or strategic initiatives. Accountable for one or more initiatives that encompass business, IT and operational deliverables.
• Ensures end results are of the highest caliber with a clearly articulated scope and clarity on the desired qualitative and/or quantifiable business benefit or outcomes.
• Directs large-scale, complex projects often involving multiple internal and external constituents and matrix partners.
• Structures the project/program/initiative in such a way that clear accountabilities are established and ultimately the PM bears accountability for delivery and satisfaction of the key stakeholders.
• Is an effective team builder who promotes team effectiveness by utilizing each person’s unique talent and skills, motivates performance, fosters communication and mitigates problems. In the interest of effective team operations, may recommend and take actions to alter team composition.
• Directly manages the application of a standard project life cycle methodology and ensures plans and actions executed by assembled business and IT teams are coordinated and delivered in accordance with that methodology.
• Rigorously manages scope to ensure commitments are achieved and expected outcomes enabled within agreed upon time, cost and quality parameters. Takes the initiative to make and/or propose adjustments in project/program aspects and makes recommendations to leadership.
• Responsible for the financial planning and management of the project/program/initiative. Validates financial forecasts and provides on-going reconciliation of resources and other related project expenditures.
• Directs the development of deployment strategy and plan that encompasses project communications, training and change management plans and personally assures that appropriate contacts and relationships are developed and maintained.
• Chairs weekly Core Team and monthly Operating Committee meetings to review progress with key constituents as well as provides regular status reporting to all stakeholders.
• Ensures that project milestones are identified and tracked to proactively identify and resolve issues and mitigate risks that may threaten project/program/initiative delivery.
• Ensures that key project/program/initiative deliverables are appropriately managed that support successful project delivery using project management best practices, methods and tools. The resulting evidence of this may include the following artifacts: project charter, integrated project plan, resource plan, risk management/contingency plans as well as a deployment plan that factors adoption to change.
• Represents the initiative in various project governance and inter-departmental forums.

Grainger Program Manager Requirements

• Bachelor Degree and 7+ years relevant work experience in program and project leadership. MBA a plus.
• Able to see big picture yet deal with significant complexities and ambiguities, especially as related to orchestrating changes to multiple business processes and/or supporting platforms/ technology changes for 1+ organizations or the Enterprise .
• Strong analytic and problem-solving skills on complex matters.
• Proven leadership ability that manifests itself in quickly earning sponsorship and key stakeholder trust; mobilizing and motivating teams; setting direction and approach; resolving conflict; delivering tough messages with grace; executing with limited information and ambiguity.
• Demonstrated, applied expertise organizing and delivering complex projects.
• Proven relationship management skills that enable effective navigation in a highly matrixed organization and incorporates and fosters appropriate customer focus.
• Solid negotiation, influencing and conflict resolution skills.
• Sound business, technical and financial acumen.
• Big picture thinker with an entrepreneurial bent who combines those qualities with a proven track record of results orientation.
• Focused and versatile team player who is comfortable under pressure.
• Strong communicator with polished presentation skills. Ability to communicate at all levels with clarity and precision both written and verbally.
• Demonstrated strong sense of urgency with laser-like focus and command of issues and risks. Track record of proactively anticipating problems, avoiding them and/or leading effective barrier removal efforts to maintain team focus on delivery.
• Excellent problem-solving and critical-thinking skills.
• Exemplary core project management knowledge and skills and expertise in the use of various project development life cycle methods and tools, such as Agile/Scrum and Waterfall.
• Accomplished in and fosters the use of Continuous Improvement (CI) methods and tools.

Click here to apply, but don’t forget to tell them I sent you!!!!

IMG

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How to select a new B2B eCommerce Platform? 6 Ways to Plan for Your New Project.

Writing your B2B eCommerce RFP Requirements? 25 Must Have Requirements Categories

Your organization’s e-commerce site is an important part of your growth strategy as a B2B organization.  It never sleeps, it is a self-service engine for your customers, and it creates a revenue stream with margins that surpass that of a physical store.

Many organizations start their e-commerce journey using a custom built or bolt on from their ERP provider.  Over time, many organizations realize that making changes, creating a unique customer experience, or providing new features to their customers is extremely difficult.

So, what do most companies do when create a new e-commerce site?  They do what they do for all new software.  Create an RFP!  However, identifying and writing your B2B eCommerce RFP requirements can be time-consuming to say the least.  To help you, here is a starter list of common RFP requirements categories to include — as well as a free template for creating B2B eCommerce RFPs of your own.

And, don’t forget to download the free B2B e-commerce RFP requirements template and get a head start on your RFP process.

25 Must Have B2B eCommerce RFP Requirements Categories

For a decade, I have helped wholesalers, manufacturers, distributors, and high tech companies build and select B2B eCommerce software.  My advice for putting together a good RFP is…

Do NOT do it!!  Do this instead.

However, I understand that RFPs are a common business practice, so I want to help you get through it as fast as possible.

Supported Business Models

Having multiple business models in the same platform can be important to a B2B business.  Support multiple business models including B2B, B2C, B2B2C in the same instance?

Site Setup

Site setup with multiple storefronts and microsites.  How are new sites setup?  Using technical resources or business tools?

Internationalization and Localization

Multi-site, multi-country, multi-language and multi-currency requirements.

Storefront Merchandising

Merchandising business tools for personalizing the product catalog experience.  Up-sell, cross-sell, automated recommendations.

General  Capabilities

General best practice capabilities that are core to an e-commerce site.  Shopping cart, login, customer dashboards, access to profiles.

Search

Search rules, parametric search, type ahead, filtering, result sets, endless vs. pagination, etc.

Navigation and Categories

Finding products by browsing through product categories, attributes, facets.  Taxonomy considerations.

Product Results and Filtering

Viewing and interacting with search and category product results with faceted navigation.

Product Catalog

Type of products supported, simple, configurable, grouped, custom, bundling, kitting, pass-through from our PIM.  Business tools to update descriptions and attributes of products and pricing.

Quoting and Configuration

Add to quote, quote to order conversion, configure to order, 3rd party integration

Personalization

Segmentation-based selling, industry segmentation and personalization

Product Availability and Fulfillment

Warehouse product availability and methods of delivery to customers

Product Pricing

Customer pricing, discount groups, customer quotes, strikeout pricing

Product Promotions

Cart and product promotions, shipping, $/% off, free gifts, etc. coupons, some promos with coupon, some without

Product Review and Q&A

Product reviews, recommendations & questions / answer

Orders

Order placement, transmission, order management, order status.

Payment

Methods of payment accepted on the site.  Credit card, on account, Purchase Order, billing cards

Customer profile

Customer profile, account settings, approval workflows, custom catalogs, custom pricing, contract terms and conditions, quotes, track orders, track returns, purchase lists.

Customer Service Reps (CSR) user experience

Assisted selling, buyer mirroring, complete order on behalf of customer

Mobile

Adaptive, responsive, SMS, app creation.

Social Commerce

Interacting, sharing, engagement and purchasing via social networks

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO descriptions, attributes, site maps, feeds, export management, scheduling, delivering

Browsers

Supported Browser types and versions

Enterprise and 3rd party Integrations

ERP, CRM, CMS, DAM, PIM, etc

System Performance

Page performance website and mobile. Time to paint

Compliance

Site compliance requirements.

How is your company approaching the RFP process?  How do you build requirements?   Let us know in the comments below.

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Do these 7 things before you start your B2B E-Commerce project

In honor of eBay turning 20, a brief history of the eCommerce giant.

In honor of eBay’s 20th anniversary, Julian Carroll sent me this infographic that he created.  Full credit to Julian and SnapParcel.com.  B2B continues to grow on the eBay platform, so check it out.

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30+ Customer Experience Trends and Statistics for 2015 [cont’d]

Check out more trends 20 B2B E-Commerce Trends & Statistics.

Not all of these are

The Future of Customer Experience

• In just a few years 89% of businesses will compete mainly on customer experience. source
• By 2020, the customer will manage 85% of its relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human. source
• By 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. source

How Marketers Think about Customer Experience Management

• 90% of customer experience decision makers say that a good experience is critical to their success. source
• 91% of organizations said they aspire to be among the customer experience leaders in their industry, yet only 37% had started a formal CXM initiative. source
• 92% of organizations that view customer experience as a differentiator offer multiple contact channels. source
• While 73% of companies with the most positive CX impact understand the link between customer experience and business results, only 35% of companies with the least positive CX impact claim the same. source
• 63% of customer experience decision-makers think the importance of the customer experience has risen. source
• Almost 62% of companies think mobile customer service is a competitive differentiator. source
• 67% of companies believe that social customer service is the most pressing short-term priority for the contact center. source
• 78% of marketers say they try to differentiate through customer experience. source

The Link Between Customer Service & Customer Experience

• Customers who encounter positive social customer care experiences are nearly 3 times more likely to recommend a brand. source
• Today’s internet consumers want their online questions to be addressed promptly; 42% expect a response within one hour. source
• 74% of survey respondents cited being “extremely frustrated” when having to contact a company multiple times for the same reason. Other sources of frustration include:
  • Being on hold for a long time when contacting the company (69%)
  • Having to repeat the same information to multiple employees or through multiple channels (66%);
  • Dealing with employees or self-help sites/systems that cannot answer my questions (64%)
  • Dealing with employees who are unfriendly or impolite (66%). source
• 68% of customers say they’ve switched service providers because of poor customer service. source
• 95% of dissatisfied customers tell others about their bad experience. source
• 71% of customers say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide good service. source
• 75% of consumers think companies should make answers to all their common questions available via smartphones. source
• 82% of consumers say the number one factor that leads to a great customer service experience is having their issues resolved quickly. source
• 95% of companies fail to exceed the expectations of their customers. source
• 80% of customers say that companies do not have the context of their last conversation. source

The Link Between Social Media & Customer Experience

• 83% of those surveyed said they liked—or even loved—when a company responded to them on social. source
• 63% of millennials say they stay updated on brands through social networks. source
• 51% of millennials say social opinions influence their purchase decisions. source
• 46% of millennials “count on social media” when buying online. source
• Customers who encounter positive social customer care experiences are nearly 3 times more likely to recommend a brand. source
• 42% of people will tell their friends about a good customer experience on social; 53% will talk about a bad one. source
• 47% of Americans say Facebook is their #1 influencer of purchases. source
• Failure to respond via social channels can lead to a 15% increase in the churn rate. source
• 60% of organizations still cite marketing (not customer experience) as the main function of social channels. source

How Customer Experience Impacts a Company’s Bottom Line

• 74% of consumers have spent more due to good customer service. source
• Three out of four consumers have spent more with a business due to a history of good customer service. source
• Companies with a social care program experience a 7.5% YoY increase in customer retention – those without only see a change of 2.9%. source
• 86% of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience, but only 1% of customers feel that vendors consistently meet their expectations. source
• When companies engage and respond to customer service requests over social media, those customers spend 20% to 40% more money with the company than other customers do. source.
• 78% of consumers have bailed on a transaction or not made an intended purchase because of a poor service experience. source
• U.S. brands lose approximately $41 billion each year due to poor customer service. source
• Opinions from participants in social communities influence purchasing decisions for 74% of online shoppers. source

Customer Experience & Technology

• CX executive dashboards and customer journey mapping are the two customer experience activities that had the largest increase in focus for 2014. source
• The highest marketing technology investment in 2014 was customer experience, followed by marketing operations and analytics. source
• 42% of service agents are unable to efficiently resolve customer issues due to disconnected systems, archaic user interfaces, and multiple applications. source.

The Link Between Customer Experience & Customer Behavior

• Over half of all customer interactions happen during a multi-event, multi-channel journey. source
• It takes 12 positive customer experiences to make up for one negative experience. source
• 83% of online shoppers need support to complete a purchase. source
• More than two-thirds of 2,000 consumers who encountered a customer service or customer experience issue on a brand’s website left the site or visited a competitor. source

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Do B2B Buyers really need an Amazon like experience?

Attend a B2B conference or pull up any B2B e-commerce blog these days and you will hear everyone talking about how B2B Buyers expect an Amazon like experience on your B2B site.   The basic tenet is that Buyers have expectations from at-home experiences that they bring to a B2B site.  The main point is that B2B organizations should work to meet those basic expectations.  Some call this the Consumerization of B2B.  Got it.

Here is the question at hand.  Do B2B buyers expect or even want a B2Bish B2C e-commerce experience?

Do B2B customers really want to look through a product catalog, read reviews, click and buy products online or in mobile – even if it is a great customer experience?  Some probably do, but is that the majority position in B2B?

When Buyers Bring Consumer Expectations to B2B

When buyers bring expectations from at-home experiences to your site, they do not bring them as one-off features.  B2B buyers bring their expectations collectively as a memory.  Sometimes as a reflex.  What does that mean?  It means that your site should follow basic usability best practices.  Your site should look and function like other sites.  If you have a products link, you should have robust information on your products and allow them to buy easily.  Your site should probably not look like it was developed in the late 90s.  You know who you are.  Common sense.

So should you have an online catalog with a great customer experience?  Yes, absolutely.  Should you fix your search on your site?  Of course (see this article on why you should fix it).  I just think we kind of miss the point when we try to create a B2Bish B2C experience.

B2B Buyers care about two things.

1. Doing their job in the easiest way possible
2. Getting credit for getting their job done in the best way possible.

It comes down to efficiency and ego.  I have written extensively about this topic.

If not consumerization, then what?

I think we should take this consumerization thing a little less literal.  Don’t just wrap B2B functionality in a B2C experience.  Buyers come with expectations that the experience is going to be easy and intuitive.  So make it easy and intuitive.

Then, figure out how to make the B2B buyers job as easy as possible.

An example.

Through interviewing customers and buyers, a B2B company recently realized that the Quick Order was going to be the primary way their customers order products.  So they made it the baddest, raddest, best, and easiest quick order on the planet.  They allow for excel uploads and have type ahead in the quick order box to make auto-complete easy even when typing.  They are considering employing machine learning to help buyers fill their cart.  They made a fantastic experience – one that met all the expectations of their customers – and an online catalog was nowhere to be seen.

So, what does that look like for your customers and buyers?

Maybe the home page should just be a search box and quick order.  But if that doesn’t help your customer do their job easier, do something different.

Here’s the crazy thing.  Even Amazon is not creating Amazon like experiences or their B2B customers.  Just like everything else they do they are focused on removing friction that exists between the customer and ownership of their product.  They don’t believe that has any preconceived notions about what the experience should be.  Will it be good?  Oh, yeah it will be fantastic.

Use Customer Journey Mapping

Just don’t this buy into this Consumerization of B2B thing by making a consumer site that has a few B2B features.  Take a really hard look at your customers and how they do their job.  One of the best ways I have seen to do that is through Journey Mapping.  Journey Mapping will show you where your customers interactions with you are painful and where you can improve the experience for your customer online and offline.

The post Do B2B Buyers really need an Amazon like experience? appeared first on eCommerceandB2B.com.

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The B2B Customer Experience

Trying to convince an executive team or a boardroom about Customer Experience in a B2B organization is tough.  Often we communicate the value of customer experience as protecting our brand or as some way of emotionally connecting to our customers.  In the boardroom, it is tough to connect the dots between revenue growth, operational efficiency and customer experience??

In this keynote I talk about a new way to communicate the value of customer experience in B2B organizations including references to Gary Vaynerchuck, Sweep the Leg, Johnny, the A-Team, and other 80s and 90s TV, Video, and Music references.

Building a Business Case for B2B Customer Experience and E-Commerce

The post The B2B Customer Experience appeared first on eCommerceandB2B.com.

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Payments in B2B E-Commerce

Paying for things in the B2B world is exponentially more complex than B2C.

This chapter will discuss an important, but often overlooked, aspect of B2B e-commerce: getting paid in a safe, efficient manner when payment isn’t as simple as running a credit card.  We’ll discuss some of the challenges merchants face and what they can do to handle more complex, B2B payment scenarios.

The post Payments in B2B E-Commerce appeared first on eCommerceandB2B.com.

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3 ways to cultivate B2B online customer relationships

Guest post by Srini Rangaswamy.

B2B is the new darling of eCommerce. From Forrester Research to Internet Retailer everyone is paying renewed attention to B2B. With Amazon’s growing traction in B2B, the game has gotten more interesting.

As business transitions from high-touch face-to-face and phone conversations to low-touch online interactions, it’s challenging to promote relationships.

Don’t let your relationships fizzle out! Here are three ways B2B brands can keep the spark alive by nurturing customer relationships.

1. Online purchasing – Make it easy and efficient

When a customer comes to your site looking to buy something, are you making it easy?

Your site should act as a “virtual salesperson” offering custom catalogs and pricing tailored for your customers.

Deliver an efficient online ordering experience depending on buying behavior. For one beverage distributor, reordering is huge; so, they display an order sheet pre-populated with top re-orders. In another example, a machinery parts supplier enables customers to visually inspect the entire garage, allowing buyers to browse the catalog based on where the parts are located on the machine.

Making the site easy and efficient will accelerate the transition to online channels.

If you are having trouble transitioning to online channels, try training videos to walk customers through the online ordering process. Offer incentives for using online self-service. Some companies offer coupons for frequent online shoppers helping to build momentum of web sales.

2. Merchandising – Make it relevant

Merchandising helps sales and builds loyalty. But, is your site merchandising relevant to your customers?

Tactically, merchandising should focus on helping customers with their business issues. Business events like contract expiry dates or government budget deadlines are excellent opportunities to focus your merchandising efforts. Ongoing needs related to compliance and the desire for substitutes for phased-out products/parts can offer additional opportunities.

Strategically, the focus should be on nurturing a dialog with the buyer by responding to customers’ online behavior – much like in the B2C world. If customers view a particular product, then you might consider displaying a related promotion either in the same session or during the next visit.

Relevant merchandising helps to transition your site from mere order taking to order making.

A leading supplier of science teaching materials uses B2C-like merchandising and cross-selling to drive an increase in Average Order Value (AOV).

3. Social – Make it actionable

Like it or not, your brand, products, and services are discussed in social media. Are you listening, participating, promoting, and protecting your brand?

You can build mindshare by hosting online communities and participating in social networks. Foster collaboration with and among customers. These communities provide a forum to gather product feedback, elicit new product ideas and address any product-related issues. One distributor uses on-line communities to communicate information about new products, trainings, seminars and other related industry information that makes the site into a destination.

Also, you can monetize social interactions by promoting the brand and making offers. An industrial supply firm starts the conversation by making a connection to their products and services with current news events to drive traffic and provide promotional offers for a short window of time.

What questions do you have about nurturing your B2B customers? Let me know in the Comments section below, and I promise to answer each one.

The post 3 ways to cultivate B2B online customer relationships appeared first on eCommerceandB2B.com.

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Should B2C be more like B2B?

Every day there is another article, blog post or speaker talking about how we in B2B marketing need to be more like our B2C counterparts when it comes to online selling. I agree with this idea to a point, but I also see more B2C companies start to adopt more B2B strategies, especially in e-commerce.

Article posted courtesy of David Held.

Yes – B2B needs to adopt the B2C experience

When it comes to the user experience, customer service and information transparency, I am in full agreement that B2B can learn from our B2C counterparts. Traditionally, B2B companies have operated at the account level vs. at the more personal contact level. The relationship between seller and buyer was managed by the sales rep, and the transaction details were done from the company perspective.

Many make the argument that the buyer in a business is different than one consuming for personal use—one is buying using logic and the other emotion. I find that definition very narrow and believe that today’s business buyer uses logic and emotion (often fear of the kind of impact a purchase may have on the business) when making buying decisions, People are people, and some simply get the opportunity to purchase materials and services as part of their job to keep their business running efficiently.

B2B customers today are consumers, which used to be a no-no label within an organization such as a wholesale distributor. It is up to those in charge of the customer experience to drive every transaction to deliver the complex, wholesale relationship in a retail-like transaction.

But what can B2C learn from B2B?

In B2C, or more consumer environments, many companies have built their e-commerce sites to be as easy-to-purchase as possible, often employing features like generic checkouts. This allows for the quick transaction and research has shown that many customers will abandon their shopping path when presented with a gate forcing them to create an account.

However, when you compare the above experience with that of a B2B site, you will find that they have traditionally long term, repeat customers that often have specialized pricing and contracts. Forrester research has shown that loyalty to your business is stronger when a customer has moved from a traditional sales model to include additional channels such as online.

In B2B, relationships are built and maintained over a period of time and you have the opportunity to learn the buyer’s tendencies over time. Combine the personalized relationship with the deep order history that you have in your ERP system, and you have a scenario that is ripe for a marketer to build a campaign, or a series of campaigns to meet the needs of the buyer at each stage of their buying cycle.

Examples of B2C doing B2B type activities

We are seeing more traditionally B2C companies taking on characteristics of B2B by employing tactics to get their customers to login to get additional benefits, such as loyalty and membership programs.

Best Buy has been working hard to re-focus their business on omni-channel since Amazon and others impacted their sales with e-commerce. By focusing on leveraging their stores and their employees, they are betting on providing value beyond the transaction. They are betting that if they can get their customers to trust their employees as advisors, the customer will make the purchase with them. However, they realize that this must be done in an omni-channel experience, allowing the customer to interact with the Best Buy brand when and where they choose.

I find it interesting that so many speak to Amazon when it comes to the experience of an e-commerce site. The actual layout and design is hardly efficient and it isn’t really set-up to browse or shop. Where they have succeeded is making the transaction as simple as possible, from one-click purchasing (and same-day delivery in certain markets) to building out their Prime subscription program beyond just free shipping. Here they have created a B2B like arrangement where certain customers receive additional benefits in exchange for a long-term, repeat business relationship.

A recent article by the Harvard Business Review identified why Nordstrom has been so successful with their digital strategy. There are many reasons, but I would like to highlight the point-of-sale system that included personal book software so that salespeople could track individual customer requests and needs online. They are combining the online experience with the customized and personalized relationship that they have with their salespeople. Relationships forged by sales are still critical in their e-commerce business.

Final Takeaways

So should B2C be more like B2B and should B2B be more like B2C? The answer is yes. As the consumer experience further blends between personal and business activities, it is critical that as marketers we hone in on the best practices of both and apply them to our strategy of delivering real value to our customers at the point and location where they are demanding it.

The post Should B2C be more like B2B? appeared first on eCommerceandB2B.com.

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How to select a new b2b e-commerce platform eCommerceandB2b:...

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A New Approach For Selecting a B2B E-Commerce Platform

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