After all, it always has been, and still is, all about your customer and their buying experience.
While making updates and necessary changes to your company’s technology stack and business processes, these changes should always be focused around the customer experience. These customer-centric and date driven changes will provide your company the opportunity to lead and grow in the rapidly advancing digital economy. Some industrial suppliers are forecasting 80% of their revenues will be driven by online eCommerce by 2022.
When researching for your new technology updates; it is imperative that you begin with a customer-centric focus, whether it’s CRM, ERP, AI, or eCommerce capabilities.
McKinsey, Adobe, and Sana Commerce have provided recent studies that have identified a good customer experience as a high priority for today’s B2B companies:
- Improving the business-to-business customer experience | Understanding a complex experience. Make no mistake, however. In fundamental ways, a B2B company’s customers and their buying patterns are more complex than those of a business focused on retail customers. Indeed, a B2B company requires specific strategies to differentiate itself via customer experience. – McKinsey
- 2020 Digital Trends report | Whether you’re building audiences, speeding up sales, or increasing retention, customer journey management is essential to differentiate and grow. If you’re creating content in-house, consider delivering the content you need for the experiences your customers want. – Adobe
- The 6 pillars of B2B customer experience (CX) | B2B customers are becoming increasingly more demanding. These professional buyers are, of course, also B2C consumers in their free time: they’re accustomed to sleek B2C customer experiences and their expectations are shaped by B2C giants. – Sana Commerce
Today’s most successful companies are lean and agile. B2B Buyers are younger, tech-savvy, and mobile. They want what they want, when they want it. Here are some important questions to address:
- Can buyers find you?
- What happens when they do find you?
- How easy is it to navigate your website, EDI, RFP, or ecommerce platform?
- Have you spoken to your existing customers regarding their company’s digital upgrades?
- How do they want to buy from online sources?
- Are they downsizing their workforces?
- Are they demanding a digital connection to your sales process?
The new infrastructure deal will present many new opportunities to those that are ready to compete in the digitized business environment of today. Is your distribution or manufacturing business ready?
Do your homework by experiencing your customer’s journey. Try buying fasteners and industrial supplies online at your competitors website’s before you invest in any platform or application aimed at helping service your client’s online buying experience.
It is a great time to be updating your business systems and software, the options are plentiful. Everything is available, from the expensive legacy systems to the more affordable monthly SaaS applications. You can certainly find a solution to fit your needs and budget.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Cris A. Young | CEO | Product Genius Technology
Cris holds two technology patents for an eCommerce experience technology. She has more than 30 years of industrial supply experience including logistics, sales, marketing, and digital strategy in both public and private organizations. Cris’ longtime industrial supply experience allows an inside view of distributors’ and manufacturers’ challenges and needs when developing a digital strategy. Cris has spoken at several Fastener Expo’s and B2B ecommerce events.
Contact: Cris A. Young | PH: 1-800-Fasteners (1-800-327-8363) | EM: cris@productgeniustechnology.com
Learn what drives ecommerce success for distributors and manufacturers in the Fastener Industry: The Digital Landscape 2021 report.