Imagine a patient presenting themselves to the doctor. They are coughing, wheezing, and exhibiting shortness of breath. They’ve been this way for a while. When the doctor enters the room, the solution is swift. The doctor hands the patient a cough drop and exits the room.
In the short term, the patient might feel better, but the doctor didn’t perform their due diligence, failing to ask critical questions or perform a complete exam to understand the underlying causes so appropriate solutions can be applied.
This analogy is symbolic of the current state of B2B marketing, where many companies try to use sales and marketing efforts to address their clients’ symptoms, not the underlying problems.
They offer cough drops when they could contribute something so much better.
For example, in a B2B setting, symptoms might include declining sales or market share, and slap-dash solutions often include marketing tactics meant to assuage these concerns without understanding the problem.
In reality, the causes could be multifaceted. Maybe customers had a bad experience with a product or service, are encountering more compelling prices or products from competitors, or have new/different needs.
Simply put, unless businesses talk to their customers (and customers of their competitors), they won’t truly get to the underlying problem and end up trying to treat the wrong issue.
That’s why, in 2024, effective selling starts with taking an interpersonal approach to activate meaningful conversations with customers. Here are five best practices to foster a dialogue that allows marketers to give B2B customers what they want.
1. Define Clear Objectives
Conducting market research, collecting useful customer insights, and creating the capacity for precise data analysis can be complicated, especially when starting from scratch.
Many brands are in that boat. One survey found that 42% of companies didn’t survey their customers or collect feedback, creating a sparse information environment and few organizations well-equipped to listen to their customers.
Start by defining clear research objectives.
What specific information or insights are you seeking? Are you looking to understand market trends, customer needs, competitor strategies, or something else?
Defining clear objectives will guide your research efforts.
2. Identify Your Target Audience
Not all customer data is created equal; different customer segments provide various insights that propel your business decisions.
That’s why it’s so important to determine who your target audience is for the research.
Are you researching existing customers, potential customers, industry experts, or a combination of these audiences?
Knowing your audience helps tailor the research approach and questions accordingly.
3. Choose the Right Research Methods
Select the most appropriate research methods based on your objectives and audience.
Common methods include surveys, interviews, focus groups, online research, and data analysis.
Understanding the differences between research methodologies, including the pros and cons of various approaches, can be complicated. Reaching out to market research partners can help advise this process, ensuring the marketing strategies yield the best results.
Consider both quantitative and qualitative approaches to gather comprehensive insights.
4. Share Insights Internally
Listening isn’t an end in itself. It should be the catalyst for action, which is only possible if the right people have the right information at the right time.
Ensure that relevant teams within your organization have access to and understand the research findings.
Best practices for sharing insights internally will necessarily look different for every organization. However, creating centralized data repositories, organizing regular cross-department meetings, and cultivating a shared understanding of customer insights can help marketers keep everyone updated on the most critical customer data.
This promotes a customer-focused culture and helps everyone in the organization make informed decisions.
5. Act on Findings
Effective listening leads to inspired action, informing strategic decisions that accelerate business outcomes.
Develop actionable plans based on the insights gathered, whether it’s refining your value proposition, launching new products, adjusting pricing strategies, or modifying marketing campaigns.
At the same time, establish success metrics to determine the efficacy of chosen solutions, closing the feedback loop and ensuring that insights, actions, and results work together to propel customer outcomes.
Informed Engagement Yields Results
Effective market research can give B2B firms a competitive advantage by helping them make data-driven decisions, understand customer needs, and adapt to changing market conditions.
It’s a priority that won’t be accomplished overnight. Rather, it’s an ongoing process that should be integrated into your business strategy to better connect marketing initiatives with customer expectations and sales outcomes.
Businesses are predicated on the sentiment that the customer is always right. Engaging clients – listening to their needs and wants – is the best way to ensure this is true in practice, not just sentiment. It’s critical to keeping existing customers happy and attracting new ones.
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