All companies should be setting out to achieve long term loyalty from their clients, however in this testing climate, B2B brands have to work harder than ever to keep their customers engaged and interested. Each customer should be approached as if on a case-by-case basis, so as to always feel that the marketing infrastructure is geared towards their specific needs. Marketing does not work in isolation but is directly interlinked with the sales team. Communication is key and both areas of the business have to work consistently with the other, in order to deliver on brand promises and to keep the customer’s experience a continually positive one at all touchpoints.
In some cases ensuring marketing and sales are in line can be relatively easy. For example, corporate hamper purchasing is a straightforward approach from the initial marketing/comms campaign through to a simple purchase and payment. The ease of the marketing and sales process can make it effortless for customers, who trust the approach and come back time and time again.
However not every company’s sales and marketing process is easy. Customers may need help finding the right options to suit their needs, and the sales teams have to be more pro-active in customer contact. SAP is a good example of a company which gets it right. It has achieved long term loyalty from its customers in spite of an often complicated sales process. SAP’s undeniable success just goes to show the benefits that can be reaped from making sure sales and marketing are on the same page.

Richard Lee offers some interesting thoughts here. To achieve lifetime loyalty B2B brands must treat each customer as an individual. They need to utilise the understanding they have of each customer’s preferences and the transactional data they have built up to offer their customers a truly bespoke service.

Building customer understanding is key to loyalty in business. Once an organisation has built up a picture of what their customers need and want they can use this to market in a relevant and highly targeted way. It is vital that your customers know that you acknowledge their needs and ultimately reward them for their loyalty in a relevant way. As a loyalty programme targeting SMEs, Nectar Business offers our partners the ability to recognise and reward all of their customers, not just the large ones they can afford to dedicate sales or account managers to. The businesses collecting points can then spend them to either benefit the business, the team or themselves.

True lifetime loyalty won’t come just from how you treat your customers however. It requires the right product, at the right price, with all round excellent customer service to be coupled with personalised marketing and customer recognition.

In addition, be transparent – let your customers know what you’re up to as an organisation as well as informing them of the latest developments from which they can benefit. It’s important to show how you can work in partnership with other companies and/or your suppliers whether that’s for charity initiatives or commercial benefit. Customers need to see that you are the kind of company they would want to be involved with.

I would absolutely concur with the comments above that loyalty cannot be earned through one channel of activity or event. The old adage of “everything you say or do affects your brand” has never been more relevant to this discussion.

We recently conducted research in this area, both with end-customers and the B2B marketing directors employed to build a relationship with them. We found a number of key areas that brands simply have to deliver on in order to drive loyalty and ultimately advocacy:

> Loyalty starts with the basics and a brand’s ability (often via its sales force) to deliver on its promise. Damage is inevitable when there is disconnect between marketing’s promise and sales’ ability to deliver.

> Customers want the brands they choose to be open and honest. The moment something goes wrong it is on your ability and energy in fixing it that you will be judged.

> Loyalty can be built by rewarding customers. But different customer segments value very different types of rewards. A student might want a free cinema ticket from his bank but a small business owner might be happy with an unprompted letter thanking him for the 20 years he has been the bank’s customer.

> Brands that succeed retain their relevance to people as they move through the different stages of their life and career. Think about a technology specialist who moves up the corporate ladder to a board level technology or business role. Think how IBM’s brand deals with this versus some of the more product focused IT vendors.

The same research also looked at the link between the current economic situation and marketers focus on loyalty. The results were interesting.

In interviews with marketing directors from a range of industry sectors, 51% said that they have increased their focus on loyalty marketing as the full effects of the credit crunch start to be felt, with 38% of this group saying that they have significantly increased spend in this area. Of those consulted no on had reduced their focus on brand loyalty and loyalty marketing schemes.

We also found that 83% of marketers are investing more in building or sustaining relationships with existing customers. With only 2% saying they had reduced investment in these relationships as a result of the unstable economic environment.

Richard Mabbott, Group Head of Planning at Gyro International

It is necessary first of all to answer the question by asking another – why bother with everyone? B2B brands don’t necessarily want to achieve lifetime loyalty from all customers since it the cost of heavy loyalty activity - with certain segments – outweighs the value of those customers to the firm. Initially it is vital to identify those from whom the brand is earning most or making the most profit. In one extreme case, with one of our clients, 4% of customers were generating 60% of the profit, so these are the customers the brand would want to try and keep in the long term.

So, the question really only applies either to a brand’s most profitable customers, or to those who generate the greatest revenue, or to those who clearly present a profile with high future potential. And here, a further question must be addressed – is the customer being viewed as an individual or a job title? In almost every case the customer lifetime of an individual is longer than the lifetime of their position within a firm. If a brand focuses on the firm/ job title, then each time a new person steps into the role the whole loyalty cycle will have to begin again. Ideally, the brand would have a means of tracking moves, so when an individual moves to a new company they can be incentivised to continue buying the same brand.

Finally, long-term loyalty involves more fundamental business questions than simply how a loyalty scheme works. Most marketplaces evolve. So supplier companies have to evolve with their markets – meaning that today’s product or service offering may be quite different ten years later. However, the data-based techniques that underpin day-to-day loyalty activity also provides management information that can help track longer-term sales trends, and provide the information and intelligence to predict future market shifts. With such intelligence to hand, then the more gradual evolution of products and services can be planned, in order to offer a meaningful product offering both now and in the future, thereby remaining relevant and compelling for customers in the longer-term.

Andy Wood, Managing Director, GI Insight said:

It is necessary first of all to answer the question by asking another – why bother with everyone? B2B brands don’t necessarily want to achieve lifetime loyalty from all customers since it the cost of heavy loyalty activity - with certain segments – outweighs the value of those customers to the firm. Initially it is vital to identify those from whom the brand is earning most or making the most profit. In one extreme case, with one of our clients, 4% of customers were generating 60% of the profit, so these are the customers the brand would want to try and keep in the long term.

So, the question really only applies either to a brand’s most profitable customers, or to those who generate the greatest revenue, or to those who clearly present a profile with high future potential. And here, a further question must be addressed – is the customer being viewed as an individual or a job title? In almost every case the customer lifetime of an individual is longer than the lifetime of their position within a firm. If a brand focuses on the firm/ job title, then each time a new person steps into the role the whole loyalty cycle will have to begin again. Ideally, the brand would have a means of tracking moves, so when an individual moves to a new company they can be incentivised to continue buying the same brand.

Finally, long-term loyalty involves more fundamental business questions than simply how a loyalty scheme works. Most marketplaces evolve. So supplier companies have to evolve with their markets – meaning that today’s product or service offering may be quite different ten years later. However, the data-based techniques that underpin day-to-day loyalty activity also provides management information that can help track longer-term sales trends, and provide the information and intelligence to predict future market shifts. With such intelligence to hand, then the more gradual evolution of products and services can be planned, in order to offer a meaningful product offering both now and in the future, thereby remaining relevant and compelling for customers in the longer-term.

I think this is the debate of the recession. Not all customers are equal and scarce resource should be used to optimise sales and profitability. So customers that spend more or who have the propensity to spend more receive more messages, support and bespoke services and those that don't spend much or don't have the propensity to spend more should receive less of everything or be directed to competitors.

Pareto was right. 80% of the profits and sales of the business come from just 20% of the customer base so focus your efforts on those 20% and either remove the remainder or develop a cheaper and more transactional method of distribution or direct sales channel to service them. In the old days this would have been covered off by a distribution network as in the builders merchants model.