A recent survey conducted by the management consultant, McKinsey, shows that of the 3,600 B2B executives surveyed, the majority prefer digital communication and digital customer services over personal meetings. Above all, the omnichannel has become a key function. Companies today are quick to take advantage of its benefits. McKinsey’s study presents that there are three factors required for success, namely speed, expertise, and transparency.
Speed refers to smoothly providing information to customers as needed with the help of video, live chat, or chatbots – Simply service that is convenient and simple, such as click purchases and shortcuts for repeated orders.
Transparency increases understanding of a product’s functionality, benefits, capacity, and value. This is achieved with simple online tools as a comparison tool or by assisting customers with additional information about accessories, configuration, and component parts.
With expertise, you go one step further than the information on the website. For example, a chat for technical issues regardless of the day or time of day. In McKinsey’s survey, a third of buyers state that a 24/7 live chat is one of three features that deliver the best service in the decision-making process.
Another recent survey commissioned by the platform company ON24, 2021 B2B Marketing Trends Report: How to Augment the Marketing Organization for a Digital-First Future, underscores the same trend. Two-thirds of respondents among B2B companies state that they achieve success by continuously updating their methods of communication.
With the growing number of platforms, mass media is no longer the only authoritative source of information. Therefore, the importance of working with influencers who have created authority in various industries has increased sharply. Their expert opinions benefit companies just as existing customers’ ambassadorship does.
Other important influencers and ambassadors are the company’s employees. Today, many people combine their employment with consulting services. Communication from them will probably be even more effective, as the confidence of the spokesperson who can assess the company from within is higher than for completely external people.
A significant factor in B2B communication is corporate websites. Today, corporate customers and consumers find out about the market by first going through search results and websites for potential suppliers. Therefore, it is important to review the relevance and presentation on the web and that the search engines prioritize the company.
It is important to focus the communication on what the purpose of the company is – product or service. It includes not only facts but also storytelling that creates a close emotional connection to the brand. The emotional aspect is just as important as before, even when the physical encounter is increasingly replaced by digital communication.
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