How is B2B different from B2C marketing? The New Task opportunity

Organizations face B2B buying challenges that are very different from what a
consumer grapples with when buying something for personal consumption. Thus,
when you get replacement tires for your car you consider factors like brand
name, price, installation service, free rotations/balancing, warranty etc.. For
those consumers who have the expertise and tools to replace tires, a whole new
set of options like buying tires online can open up. On the other hand a car
manufacturer wanting to buy the same brand of tires for OEM (Original Equipment
Manufacturer) will have considerations that are different than an individual
customer.

While the auto manufacturer will look for some evidence of consumer
awareness of the tire brand, it will not be the overwhelming decider. So long
as the car buyers don't react with “never heard of this tire brand,"
the consumer brand power is not as useful in B2B markets. Instead things like:
what safety record does the tire have? Will the tire supplier be willing to
provide tires on a Just-In-Time (JIT) basis to the assembly line? Will the tire
supplier be willing to take payments in 90-180 days? Will the supplier be
willing to develop innovative new tires for the new SUV the automaker is
planning and which has specific tire requirements? Will there be an assurance
of quality and supply time?

Once the tire supplier gets to be an OEM to an auto company and does a good
job… the chances of getting fired is low. This because over time the auto maker,
its distributors and even final customers develop relationships, processes, routines
and preferences for a particular tire brand.  Somewhat like the
"Intel" chip which seems to be an important consideration in deciding
which computer to buy despite tech expert assurances that the "AMD"
chip is as good and AMD chip computers are less expensive than comparable Intel
chip ones. 

This lock in process in B2B markets makes it hard for new suppliers
to enter these markets. Unless the marketer is able to frame the “buy task” of
the buying organization as a "new
task." If for example a new SUV is being planned and a new tire
supplier gets a chance to come up with ideas … it the best chance of getting
in to be a supplier. Contact StratoServe.

Avoiding Gatekeepers in the B2B Buying Center via Internet Search Marketing

Avoiding Gatekeepers in B2B Buying Centers-StratoServe

The concept of Buying Center in B-to-B marketing involves reaching the different members of the Buying Center crossing the “gatekeeper” .

[Note: Due to the interest of our dear readers this post originally published on February 21, 2013 is updated on March 21, 2021 with a new image]

Have  you ever called a “Decider”  a CxO like the VP of Manufacturing if you are trying to sell equipment or called the CIO if you are trying to sell enterprise software? If you have, the Secretary ( Assistant or Admin in the US)  would pick up the phone. And here is how the conversation would go:

You: Can you put me through to Ms CxO (Name)

Admin: May  I say who is calling?

You: I am Mr Y from company A

Admin: Ms CxO is in a meeting, can I take a message?

You: Can you give me her email?

Admin: I’ll be happy to forward your message to Ms. CxO … and so  it goes….

Internet Search Marketing allows you to leap over the “Gatekeeper” and directly reach the members of the buying center. So when someone searches for your product or service in your target market it is really inexpensive to put your Google AdWords Ad out there and reach one or more of the members of the Buying Center. In fact, you can have your Ad running and ask the Gatekeeper to “Google” your product offering to walk her through your website and hopefully not get your call go into cold storage.

About StratoServe.

Why does physical service lag behind online service?

Online service that precedes
physical service seems to be always better. OK Amazon.com is an exception which
is able to physically deliver to a consumers' delight.  There are numerous
examples of this "sure to disappoint the consumer" situation.

A recent example from a top 
hotel that  sends you an email asking you to check-in online and just pick
up the key and save the wait at check-in. In small print, the email tells you
that another email will come in once the room is ready.. and we are
talking about the regular check in time. Several different folks who had
actually checked in on-line find themselves waiting because the room is not
ready. The reception desk reads the email and offers rather unhelpfully that a
"second" email is the confirmation that you have your room. 

And the experience repeats in all
those situations where you do some stuff online but have to receive the actual
service physically. Consider banking online and going to the bank to complete
an infrequent activity like loan documents or trying to change your seat or
fight in an airport. Why does this happen so often? Here are some thoughts:

  • Most organizations do not see the importance of giving
    top priority and focus on delivery like Amazon.com.  So even if you
    order only occasionally Amazon does better than what it promises at the
    ordering stage. The customer is not expected to do anything more than
    ordering and paying    . No wonder Amazon is among America's most loved
    companies.
  • In contrast, most organizations expect
    customers to do work beyond ordering and paying online    . Sounds unfair
    but most organizations don't seem to realize this. This additional work
    includes in the hotel example (a) check in online (b) stay away from the
    registration desk because the second email has not arrived confirming a
    ready room  and all this after the posted check in time. 
  • In most repeated off-line /on-line transactions the
    customer gets experience and does not feel as bad. Think of banking online
    and going in to deposit a check. You know the "routine" and
    things don't appear difficult.
  • Infrequent transactions are where the customer has no
    experience in dealing with the delivery process of the organization. The service
    provider, when untrained makes things worse by ridiculing or getting
    annoyed with customers who are just trying to work out how the delivery of
    service will happen.

So if your organization has moved
any part of your processes online it's really useful to check how your
customers, particularly the infrequent ones are coping. Else all that effort,
money and hopes on technology, mobile phone app etc. is not succeeding in that
ultimate goal: to keep your customer happy. Contact StratoServe.

Knowledge Economy: Connecticut snow removal to Boeing 787 batteries

Southern Connecticut has been
hammered by the Blizzard of 2013 and the
last weekend has been spent at home at the request of the Connecticut Governor
Dannel Malloy because the roads need to be without any vehicles to help snow
removal by trucks. A friend in Hamden, Connecticut reports that his neighbors
on both sides have their driveways up to 40 inches of snow. This happened because
the contractor who removes snow in his driveway has been requested by the
Hamden Town officials to first help with town streets. And this is the 4th day
of seclusion at home. Luckily there are very few power outages in Connecticut,
unlike the rather beleaguered friends in neighboring Massachusetts.

The intriguing question is that the
Connecticut snow removal community is very comfortable upto 24 inches of
snow while 36-40 inches seems to be a completely stressed out situation for all
concerned. On the other hand the snow removal community in Massachusetts are
more confident in dealing with the 36-40" snow. By the same logic towns in
warm Texas are highly alarmed with just one inch of snow!

Car completely covered even after digging for an hour Blizzard 2013So
the question arises what has this got to do with the Knowledge
Economy? Well, let me explain what exactly happened on our driveway yesterday.
We had a car completely buried in snow that took several hours to dig out (see
photo alongside). A nice neighbor came in with his snow blower and at about 8
pm, kindly removed the snow behind this car. Our harassed snow removal contractor
arrived finally at 9.30 pm and called me to request to remove the car on the
driveway (pictured with snow behind above). And after I did so, the snow removal truck
reversed itself into the   part of ther driveway that was
vacant. This was the first time that the contractor had reversed into
the driveway. An innovation spurred by the 36+ inches of snow and the
opportunity of accessing half the driveway. I wonder if the snow contractor
will be able to adopt this wonderful approach of reversing into the
driveway at lower snowfalls in the future. When someone pushes snow toward your
lawn… it gets damaged so reversing and pushing the snow outwards seems like a
better idea. It seems innovative when there is an emergency of 36+ inches of snow.

The Boeing 787 is still grounded
because of batteries that get hot and are alleged to have caught fire. Right
from the start the batteries have been outsourced. In doing so the knowledge
associated with lithium batteries does not exist in-house at Boeing. Reasons
that the whole issue is still unresolved are because:

  • Boeing folks perhaps do not understand the battery
    situation because they were never involved in the manufacture.
  • Just as a snow removal specialist in Texas finds
    1" snow a challenge, the Connecticut snow removal person finds 36
    " snow removal daunting. On the other hand the Boston snow removal
    entrepreneur seems far more relaxed, despite the significant power
    shortages.

To the
credit of the intrepid snow removers of Connecticut, by the time Sunday evening
arrived… they had figured out that it is really effective to reverse into the
driveway if there is a lot of snow to move around. This knowledge accumulation
over the day on Sunday is an aspect of the knowledge economy that we don't
realize. It's knowledge that you gather when you do it…. pretty much like the
Boeing batteries ….if you make them. Contact StratoServe.

USPS Saturday closing: Opportunity for Direct Mail and Deliveries?

US Post announced today that it would stop delivery on Saturdays from August 5, 2013. Only about 12,400 people decided to vote on the CNN Poll after 12 hours of
the story and of them 69% claim that they would not miss Saturday
delivery. Those (31%) who would miss Saturday delivery include folks like this
blogger who receive “Time” magazine on Saturdays. Agreed the
“Time” magazine has become so much thinner and Newsweek has
disappeared into the digital world. One wonders if “Time” magazine
logistics folks understand this change at the USPS or whether the magazine will
now arrive on Mondays from August? At any rate, the implications of the
USPS stopping Saturday deliveries is huge for Direct (Junk) mail and
deliveries. Here is how:

  • Direct Mail:
    Is one thing that keeps USPS going. If you think about your relationships (Bank,
    employer, utility company etc.) everyone is pushing to get you away from
    mail and into “digital delivery.” Very very few personal
    letters seem to come in these days. So what you are left with are all
    those direct mail pieces. These include auto insurance deals, credit card
    offers and similar stuff. And even these Direct Mail pieces have become
    less grandiose. Fewer of those “real” credit cards that you have
    trouble in putting through the shredder. In other words, even the
    stalwarts of Junk mail seem to be shrinking on their investments. Given
    the five day delivery starting in August, those Direct mailers who get
    reasonable results from their investments should consider upping their
    attention and budgets. There is so little competition in Direct Mail!
  • Deliveries
    including subscriptions need to look at what no Saturday delivery means to
    their customer satisfaction. “Time” magazine needs to probably
    rework their deliveries so that the magazine reaches on Fridays from
    August. Amazon.com and all other E-Commerce businesses need to look at how
    their fulfillment works today. It does feel great to receive an order on
    Saturday compared to Monday … perhaps USPS will come up with a solution
    for this segment of its B2B customers.

77.3% of the US population was  online in 2013 and in 2019 the 90% of the US population had Internet access according to Pew Research Center.  , everyone
does enjoy receiving a piece of traditional mail occasionally just as
print media becomes less fashionable. Innovating in a shrinking market with
less clutter is an exciting challenge for Direct Mail marketers and postal
channel fulfillment business models. About StratoServe.

Super Bowl Advertising for brand awareness and Search Advertising for conversion

Just as the 2013 Super Bowl gets underway Digiday has the intriguing possibilities of spending the $4 million for a 30 second Super Bowl spot  on different types of display advertising. An interesting possibility is to plaster YouTube with a banner for 8 days ( each day estimated at $ 0.5 Million X 8= $ 4 million).  The question arises – so why do so many marketers prefer to advertise on the Super Bowl? Here are some thoughts:

  • The Super Bowl is a major American festival. Many feel that the Super Bowl compares well with the major Holidays and festivals  like Thanksgiving and Christmas.  The Super Bowl is a huge part of American life and culture and right from the customary chicken wings and beer food retailers are busy selling all kinds of chips,dip,pizza etc. Watching the game with family and friends is necessary and this is one evening in the year that the men control the TV remote … well at least during the game and maybe not during the Ads, half time show etc.  From a marketing viewpoint the 100+ million TV audience for the game is accustomed to see the best in American TV advertising on this one evening. This "priming" to check out great TV advertising is huge and which cannot be said for most other TV advertising which are seen as "interuptions" by the consumer. The Ad agencies and Brand Marketers want to make the most of the Advertising and release Ads on YouTube much earlier.
  • Internet Display advertising including Internet Banners are seen as "interruptions". So we have the interesting situation ahead of the game that the Volkswagen Ad has already got 7 million + views. Volkswagen is also advertising the clip on YouTube after you search for "Super Bowl 2013" commercials.  This after a whole lot of PR and outreach at TV talk shows.
  • Search Advertising on the other hand is trying to show you Ads that are relevant to your search terms. So if you searched for "Super Bowl 2013 commercials" on You Tube you see a banner Ad for Cadillac (GM) and next for Honda CRV. The Cadillac Ad has buttons to "request a quote"  or "locate adealer.Try searching again and you see banners for "Honda CRV", "Lexus" and so on.  What do these Ads cost ? Nothing till you click on them ! And once you click the Advertiser has  to pay a few dollars for that click. The chances that you would actually locate a dealer and see the car is much higher. This given that you are aware of the brands and are already considering.

If you see the Super Bowl car ads on TV – and vaguely remember them then the next time you see an Internet search Ad you are quite likely to bring the Brand to your "consideration set" and that is what the Super Bowl Advertisers are betting on. Enjoy  the 2013 Superbowl  ! Contact StratoServe.

Getting Boeing 787 Dreamliner airborne should be US national priority

Getting the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
airborne should be US national priority next week. Its eight days since the
Dreamliner was grounded by the US-FAA (see timeline here). 
Japan, India and European air safety regulators have similarly grounded the
aircraft and there is no timetable to put it back
up, as of yesterday. And Poland may even ask for compensation. Here is why
getting the Boeing 787 Dreamliner airborne is so important:

  • Safety is important:
    but regulators are risk averse. Flight Safety Regulators in every
    democratic country are risk averse by definition. Their worst nightmare is
    that of not taking action and then being blamed, if a plane actually
    catches fire due to the batteries . Understandably the "safety"
    is about bureaucratic careers  so much so that no Prime Minister
    would like to over-rule its own flight safety regulator, unless say
    President Obama personally called to assure safety. 
  • Batteries overheat:
    This blog claims no expertise on lithium ion battery technology but these
    seem to be bigger versions of the laptop computer battery. And there have been
    numerous battery recalls on laptops and
    you would have noted that it only takes a few reports before mass recalls
    happen.
  • Boeing is the largest US Exporter: Boeing is the largest US Exporter.
    And the Dreamliner on air is key to that role. Along with US exports
    come US jobs.
  • Global aviation competition is intense: Aviation competition is intense globally and the
    French Airbus has got a foothold in the Japanese market and is
    also fairly prominent in other markets. Delays in resolving the battery
    problem will only weaken the Boeing  brand and its competitive position in
    global markets. 

Currently, Boeing seems to be naturally
on the defensive and reports indicate all kinds of problems like tight funding
in the development, fragmented supply chains etc. But this is not the time to
get into diagnosing the history and faults of Boeing to come up with this great
American innovation ( see earlier Dreamliner post from 2007 ).

Instead,it is absolutely critical to manage
the safety problem of the batteries and not let imagination run wild that
planes will catch fire in mid-air after reasonable fixes are in place. Luckily United Airlines CEO Jeff Simisek
has called the Dreamliner "terrific" and some other Boeing customers
have also stepped up with their vote of confidence.

Let's hope that we see the
Dreamliner airborne again very soon. Contact StratoServe.

Google crosses $50 B: majority revenue from overseas in a flat world and geotargeting

Tonight Google crossed the $50B
mark, and co-founder Larry Page said "not a bad
achievement in just a decade and a half." The majority of Google revenues
(54%) come from overseas and its interesting that Internet users as a
percentage of the population is still very low in the developing world. 
Bangladesh has only 5 % of the population on the Internet
compared to about 78% of the population in the US. But this Internet user group
is rising in the developing world. Internet cafes tend to be full and home
Internet via high speed DSL is getting more affordable. Anyone intending to go
to college, tries to afford a computer at home just after getting a cell phone.
The cell phone is top priority in these markets simply because wired lines take
ages to install and wireless towers are far easier to put in place. It is quite
possible that many Internet users directly move to a smart phone and never buy
a personal computer or laptop or even a tablet. But here is how Google taps into
the power of the flat world:

  • For the Internet searcher: The Google formula is simple here- makes the searcher
    happy by providing the most relevant organic search results. If you search
    Google from any country, you get local results. And this goes for Google
    sites like YouTube, Scholar etc. The paid Ads that show up tend to be geo-targeted
    and relevant to the search terms- at that location. The advertiser
    pays only when someone clicks, the impressions are free. The advertiser
    could be from anywhere in the world    . 
  • For the GoogleAdWords Advertiser: The Advertiser can choose locations on the globe
    where s/he wants Ads to appear. These locations can be just 100 miles
    around a particular town. So if you are trying to sell to the auto
    industry you might want to advertise around Detroit and not advertise
    around Boston. You can also narrow down and specify if you want your Ad to
    appear on Laptops or PC's and on mobile phones and Tablets. And yes you
    can specify that the Ad shows only on iPhone and iPads. Just in case the
    busy auto executive is checking out stuff on the iPad at the airport. And
    the best part is that the advertiser can be a small firm located in Asia.
    The Asian firm pays Google in local currency when someone clicks the Ad in
    Detroit.

But why are businesses willing to
increasingly spend on Google AdWords? Well because Google provides value
and click costs have gone down 6%. If properly managed, Google AdWords is far
more effective than Direct Mail and other forms of direct response advertising.
One reason is that no Direct Mail or Tele Sales company ever tries to find out
if you really want that junk mail or phone call. In contrast,with AdWords you
see Ads that are directly related to your search. In case clicking on the Ads
leads to irrelevant (to the search) pages the Ads become costlier to the
advertiser because the primary aim is to serve the searcher and not the
advertiser. This sharp focus on first serving the
Internet searcher is great business policy with great profits for
Google.Contact StratoServe.

Of 2013 resolutions: being outward oriented towards those you serve

This post is inspired by an
Indian music radio station that was assuring its listeners that 2013 is
"two thousand tera" (tera is yours in Hindi and
also means thirteen– thus two thousand tera). All music to be
played in 2013 was going to be what listeners wanted and liked- the announcer
said as the New Year got underway.

By this time i.e. after mid-January,
individual New Year resolutions have started going soft just as business in the
US has started picking up. But it’s a great time for folks in all type of
organizations to think about the following three questions:

  1. Who am I trying to serve?
  2. Is my service getting through?
  3. What about the service my team is trying to do?

Let's consider each question in
turn.

Individuals in organizations tend to
get so caught up that it’s easy to forget who your role is supposed to serve.
If you are in supply chain, you are trying to serve your users, if you are in
marketing you are trying to serve your customers, if you are the CEO you are
trying to serve the share-holders (also society, customers i.e. broader
stake-holders and this one is evolving rapidly in 2013).

Once you have a definition of who
you are trying to serve, you would realize that you do spend a lot of time on
tasks related to that service. For example, the supply professional is trying
to find suppliers, invite bids, evaluate bids etc. In other words, after the
initial user requirements are made clear the supply manager spends most of her
time on the supplier end of things. It is here, that the second question: Is
my service getting through? – tends to get lost. For the supply manager can
get totally caught up in dealing with limits of supplier capabilities that it
becomes easy to lose sight of what the user will use the goods for. Another
example from the marketing side is digital advertising that drives traffic to
the website but does not make it easy for the customer at the landing page
stage. In other words, all the brilliant digital advertising is a service for
the client's prospective customer but does not effectively reach the customer.

Just asking the above two questions
at the team level and organizational level can focus individual, team and
organizational efforts to serve more effectively. By its nature such service
creates value and being mindful in 2013 should help. Contact StratoServe.

Multi-country globalization in 2013

In India over the holidays, I found
that globalization at the multi-country level to be rising and thriving-like
never before. This blog post as we ring in the New Year 2013. First two somber
incidents and public reactions:

  • The Delhi rape has outraged
    the Indian public with multiple protests and huge pressure on the Indian
    Government. Metro stations in Delhi were closed, and many folks cancelled
    New Year celebrations and opted for candlelight vigils
    instead. A highly shared post on Facebook reads “if the girl was sent
    to Singapore for better treatment then the rapists should be sent to Saudi
    Arabia for better justice."
  • Every time someone discovers our Connecticut
    connection, the Sandy Hook massacre comes up and one finds oneself
    explaining the second amendment to skeptics. Most folks do not seem to
    understand despite best attempts to explain the notion of a "free
    people" and its relation to gun ownership and the right to self-defense.

Taking up some of the less serious
but business related multi-country globalization issues:

  • Kids at a get together wanted buckets of Kentucky Fried
    Chicken that are delivered with free Pepsi. The local tandoori chicken
    would not find favor with the young and surprisingly the older folks also
    wanted to stay with KFC with only lukewarm interest in the vintage
    tandoori chicken.
  • At an electrical products store the sign reads “No
    guarantee for Chinese made goods." I ask the shopkeeper whether
    anything is made in India. He assures me that nothing except "zero
    watt" bulbs are made in India- which no one buys. Strangely the
    electrical manufacturers in India seem to be thriving. Deeper
    investigations reveal that while many electrical products are made in
    China, Indian manufacturers at the lower end make goods that are sold as
    Chinese made by the small retailer. Why would you do that-sell goods made
    in India, as made in China- within India? Well the best answer seems to be – completely
    avoid consumer warranty     claims in the domestic market!
  • Everyone knows that big businesses source a lot from
    China. However, one does not realize that small businesses in countries
    like India find it really easy to source from China. B2B owner buyers,
    even in non-technical stuff seem to be really happy with prices, services
    and quality. Differing grades of quality at different prices are available
    and the big consideration is the price-quality point the consumer
    market can take. Will every country just distribute and market Chinese
    manufacture- one wonders….

As 2013
rolls in, we can expect much more multi-country globalization at cultural,
social and small business level. Happy New Year 2013! Contact StratoServe.