B2B Marketing Blog
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Why delivering and delighting is a must in this business

July 5, 2010 9:31 AM | By Louise Frosell
“Your call is valuable to us, please continue to hold and a customer representative will be with you as soon as possible”..... I heard this phrase 36 times this morning (yes I counted) whilst on the phone to my insurance company and I can tell you I did not feel very valued when they did finally put me through to someone.  So what could this company have done differently? If the recorded message had told me how long I was going to have to wait to speak to someone then I could have made a judgement on whether or not...
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Living in a word-of-mouse world

June 17, 2010 4:03 PM | By Guest Blogger
Guest blog by Julian Hall director and founder at PureOnlineGenius   We’re living slap bang in the day and time where ‘telling a friend’ with the click of a mouse rules – it just does…I mean, who would dream about buying a washing machine, booking a hotel or downloading an album on iTunes without reading the reviews first? Exactly… Our tweets, status updates and tagging have made us all the “citizen journalist” of our personal lives and those of others. But what does this mean for the small business owner and the “just about keeping up with it all” medium to large...
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Market research: Set sail, but take a map

February 12, 2010 10:12 AM | By Andrew Dalglish
International expansion is attractive as it compensates for the limited number of buyers in any one country. This is now the case more than ever. Caution is key though; the rewards may be great but so are the risks.At home, you’re aware of what matters most to buyers. Many international expansion strategies fail because there is an assumption that the same received wisdom holds true abroad. Before entering a new market thorough research is essential. The good news is that only a relatively small budget, an internet connection and some curiosity is needed. Economic, trade and population statistics can be...
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How can you tell if a survey is reliable?

February 12, 2010 10:09 AM | By Andrew Dalglish
We recently asked readers to pose their research questions on the B2B Marketing LinkedIn group. One question came back more than once. “In a B2B context how can I ensure a survey is reliable?” Reliability boils down to whether the right questions have been asked to enough of the right people. Survey questions need to be unambiguous, unbiased and asked in an objective format. Beware the following: • The ‘double barrelled’ question including two mutually exclusive items, e.g. ‘How satisfied are you with quality and speed of response?’• The leading question containing implicit assumptions, e.g. ‘How much do you expect...
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The pros and cons of DIY research

February 12, 2010 10:06 AM | By Andrew Dalglish
This month sees two milestones; a new year and the first anniversary of this column so what better time for a bit of re-invention. This column should be relevant to the issues you face and those you’re curious about. It should also ideally be a discussion, so here’s the idea. Each month I’ll create a thread on the B2B Marketing LinkedIn group where you can post a specific research dilemma, general question or any interesting observations. One or some of these comments will then form the focus for the column and hopefully subsequent discussion on the B2B Marketing Blog. To...
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Anytime, anyplace, anywhere - even half way up a French Alp

January 12, 2010 4:11 PM | By Richard Robinson
It’s now back to reality after a fantastic Christmas and New Year break, the latter part of which was spent with friends skiing in the French Alps.  Don’t worry, the irony of returning to the UK in the midst of the most extensive snow fall for decades was not lost on me! That said the skiing was great and the company excellent. I went with a group of friends, a couple of whom are business owners. One of whom had organised the accommodation (yes all sourced and booked online), and very nice it was too, but knowing him as I do,...
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BMW me up, Scot

November 24, 2009 3:48 PM | By Scot McKee
Leaving just one customer dissatisfied could damage your brand's reputation more than you might think I used to drive BMWs. It's reasonable to say I was your archetypal BMW 'brand evangelist.' I walked into a BMW showroom a couple of months ago and tried to buy a new one. I was ready to pay the cash equivalent of a small neighbourhood in certain parts of Manchester, but the salesman just wanted me to have a test drive. I had no need of testing, so I left. No big deal. But then the 'tapakata, pakata' noise started, swiftly accompanied by coloured...
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Is the customer king?

November 12, 2009 12:56 PM | By Iain Lovatt
These days, consumers have more choice than ever before, through more diverse channels - from storefront to mail order to online. Expectation is higher than ever. Companies that fail to live up to that expectation find customers leaving without comment - the majority of dissatisfied customers will not complain, they will simply change suppliers. Those businesses that introduce an exceptional level of customer service are differentiating themselves from the competition in an increasingly saturated marketplace. Which is why it is so surprising that business, to a large extent, is still failing to address the issue of customer service. According to...
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Hate something, change something, make something better...

September 1, 2009 11:31 AM | By Scot McKee
Our heartbeat quickens, our pulse races, our palms and brow sweat a little… that’s the change we experience when we’re buying a new car. According to Ian Armstrong, manager of customer communications at Honda UK, the science of car buying is every bit as important as the art. Ian was the guest speaker at a recent ‘Brand on the Run’ event, and I was interested to speak to him about the day-to-day marketing activities that happen behind the scenes of the more glamorous Honda TV advertising. I think Honda has been delivering great television advertising for years now. They’ve had...
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Time to think different

July 8, 2009 10:32 AM | By Andrew Dalglish
The last 12 months have been defined by change. The foundations of our economic system are slowly being rebuilt, political power is shifting and accountability has become the keyword in all walks of life. The field of B2B marketing is no exception to this zeitgeist. Our change is based on the recognition that in economically difficult times the business goal becomes short-term survival – simply holding on until the sun shines again. For many this means a change of focus from strategic to shorter-term, tactical activity.So how does this relate to market research? Well, research is often seen as a...
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