Meetings and events have always been an important part of business and believe it or not, an essential and effective way of building client relationships. There is something about meeting someone in person that helps us to gauge and trust whether we feel comfortable doing business with them or not. Since the year 2020 however, businesses have shifted and the nature of B2B relationships and brand trust has been forced to evolve. Digitisation has seen us pivoting rapidly and relationships are more important now than ever before. Funny enough, this rapid digital change has mostly been driven by B2B clients themselves who have been quick to adapt out of necessity, and in turn, have demanded faster change and adoption from their service providers. In fact, B2B buyers have become quite comfortable with the “new normal” and are readily interacting with businesses digitally, with most B2B decision-makers happy to purchase services online.
Make a virtual values shift
Many B2B businesses argue that technology can not replace face to face interaction and for that matter, relationship building, believing that there is no substitute for in-person events. And while there may be less chance to interact with clients in the real world, there are real benefits to virtual interactions. For example, people are learning to plan better and are managing their time more efficiently. They realise that online meetings should be brief and contain a real agenda with a real purpose, so as to not waste people’s time.
Due to a lack of personal interactions, online marketing has become even more important to ensure that the shared values of a business and by extension, it’s clients are communicated through the right content, messaging and advertising. Online marketing needs to lay the groundwork for sales more than ever. Marketing needs to establish a common set of values with the buyer that will lead to a trusted relationship and ultimately, a sale.
Virtual interactions demand that businesses find a way to empathise with clients and to find common ground that will assist in meaningful connection and mutual understanding in order to compensate for the current lack of real-world experiences. Businesses need to focus on humanising conversations with clients and must be understanding, allowing them space to occasionally vent about the state of the world right now. Having access to ideal audience data will assist in better understanding clients and make conversations more valuable and personal. Driving trust and forming deeper connections.
Focus on customer retention
Building relationships means a lot more than just winning new clients over, it’s also about strengthening those relationships by helping clients help their customers. It’s all about showing that you are there for clients in good and bad times. One of the ways a business can show that they care is by rewarding existing customers for sticking around in tough times. This will improve customer retention because it sends the message that you appreciate and care about your clients.
2021 might have brought back some normalcy, but there is no question that aspects of how we do business have been altered for good going forward. It is for this reason that businesses need to embrace the new way of doing things or be left behind. B2B buyers quickly adapted and have shown that they are comfortable with purchasing solely online, even expecting more seamless ways of purchasing from businesses in the future. So as we move forward into even more uncertain times, it’s crucial that businesses stay one step ahead to survive.
