We all know the drill "What do the customers want / need/" So we do demographics, market segmentation, build personas and think we're done. But if you're in a B2B business you're only half way there. Because in reality it's B2B2C or B2B2B. And that last leg is where it gets complicated.
The best approach is to start at the very end point of the process. Where the original dollar starts and is given to your customer who, of course, is going to just *love* your product and give part of that dollar to you. It's called "sell through". So to really get the ball rolling you need to drop on your customer's lap a complete marketing strategy they can use for their customers. Better yet, drive the demand from the end customer who are clamoring for a place to get your product. Then imagine how long your sales cycles will be when you call and ask "We have 50 people who want to buy our product. Would you like to sell it to them"?
Seems elementary but most companies stop when they get the initial order and move on. And that's a big mistake. Case in point. MSP Alliance did a survey of their MSP resellers and here's what they found:
Forty percent of respondents said that no vendor has a good MSP program. That, Weaver said, indicates vendors need to put more effort into adding features to their technology and supporting partners on marketing the technology.
So go the extra mile and make sure that your customers will be a hit with their customers.
This is an interesting perspective on B2B marketing.
I recently did a series of posts on B2B marketing on my blog. I've linked the first one.
Posted by: Linda P. Morton | 01 May 2008 at 08:07 AM