B2B customers who feel connected to a company are more likely to close a deal. This is why customer relationships have long been a focus in the process industry.
However, new to the scene are immersive customer experiences enabled by advanced technologies, which lead to even deeper customer engagement. In this blog post, we present four strategies inspired by this forward-looking trend.
Every salesperson knows that repeat customers are the best customers. This is because it is significantly easier to lead them to another deal. After all, they have already had a positive customer experience and built a relationship with the company. They know the company understands and meets their needs, fully confident that they’re in good hands.
Unlike in the past, relationships between companies and customers no longer take place exclusively through personal contact. The digital self-service space is becoming increasingly decisive for customer retention in B2B. To build long-term customer relationships, companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics industries must strike a healthy balance between digital solutions and human interaction.
Immersion, i.e. the realistic virtual experience of the customer, plays a pivotal role in seamlessly integrating digital solutions into personal contact. Discover the four most successful strategies for B2B customer retention here:
What is an immersive customer experience and why is it important for the process industry to know? Read more here: The Customer Experience Guide for the Process Industry: How to Retain and Inspire Your Customers with Immersive CX Solutions.
1. Personalization Wherever Possible
People want to be addressed on a personal level, even when it comes to digital customer experiences. Young customers in particular increasingly expect their individual needs and wishes to be recognized and taken into account. (Hyper)personalization and individualization therefore play a central role in B2B customer retention in the process industry.
Building a personal customer relationship means addressing customers across all channels with the right content specifically tailored to them. This includes brand messages, product information, and purchase offers as well as this all happening via appropriate communication channels, e.g. email, push notifications, newsletters, and videos.
However, you should refrain from sending newsletters to your entire mailing list and instead offer your customers personalized communication, products, and services! This will not only enhance customer satisfaction; it will also strengthen a customer’s emotional bond with your brand.
Data is the way into the customer’s mind
For this to work, companies in the process industry must understand their customers – even those who have previously only been in contact with them online. Data-driven marketing helps with this: CRM solutions collect data at all touchpoints and make it available to marketing and sales. Here are some ideas you could implement to achieve greater personalization in your company:
-
The conversion rate in B2B shops can be significantly increased by utilizing data analytics. By providing customers with individually tailored product suggestions and offers based on their previous purchasing behavior, preferences, and collected data, the buying experience is made more relevant and attractive.
-
Customized customer portals offer B2B customers direct access to relevant information, order history, support, and other resources. Upsell options can also be placed here.
-
Many products in the process industry require extensive explanation. You should compile training materials tailored to the specific needs and knowledge level of the customer. Alternatively, offer personalized support when a customer accesses the FAQs on your support page.
2. Integrate Technologies
Digital transformation has a strong influence on customer retention – a fact that is often underestimated in the process industry. However, many companies don’t sufficiently leverage the wide range of technologies at their disposal.
It goes without saying that introducing a new technology can mean risk and effort. Therefore, don't overextend yourself; start slowly. A good first step can be introducing a modern, modular, expandable CRM software with open interfaces. This way, you cover many functions and are well prepared for the future implementation of additional technologies.
Here are some innovative technologies where a CRM system paves the way:
-
Augmented reality and virtual reality make interactive and impressive product demonstrations possible.
-
Big data and business intelligence open up completely new possibilities for storing and analyzing customer data in customer relationship management.
-
Analysis software can link information from the internet and social media with data from the CRM solution. This gives customer management a more comprehensive view of the customer.
Dive deeper into immersive applications in the process industry: In our free CX guide, you’ll discover how to use your CRM solution to create immersive CX experiences for your customers.
3. Omnichannel: Customer-Centric Communication
For a long time, companies in the process industry relied on their usual communication channels. Messages were sent to the relevant target group via one channel at a time. This worked as long as communication was a one-way street and the target group remained loyal to their channel.
What we are experiencing today, however, is more of a dialog – and one that keeps changing channels. An inquiry that began on social media can later be handled in the customer portal. As such, successful B2B customer retention strategies must consistently cover all channels.
Furthermore, consistency in messaging is crucial. Buyers are 2.8 times more likely to make a high-value purchase when they perceive a high level of consistency between a provider's website and the statements made by its representatives. Therefore, ensure that customers experience immersive communication that virtually surrounds them. Prioritize customers and their concerns above all else, with channels serving as a secondary consideration.
4. Put Control into the Customer’s Hands
B2B customers are increasingly shifting from passive recipients to active co-creators. They want to provide feedback and influence the direction of product development. In addition, companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetics industries are challenged to stand for ethical values and promote sustainability. Digital and immersive tools contribute to empowering customers and thus to building strong B2B customer relationships:
-
Offer interactive content and webinars that help customers to better understand and use your products or services.
-
Develop platforms that allow customers to provide feedback and be directly involved in product development and improvement.
-
Transparently communicate which ESG criteria the customer supports through their engagement with your company and make this positive influence tangible through multimedia.
Your Starting Point: The SAP Sales & Service Cloud
Buying decisions in business-to-business are complex, influenced by many variables that are not always clear. The good news, however, is that you don't have to go through the entire B2B buying journey to be successful in the process industry. Simply invest in the crucial factor, namely building deep relationships with your customers.
With the industry-specific CRM solution SAP Sales & Service Cloud, you give your marketing and sales team all the processes and tools they need to turn a customer into a repeat customer.
For over 30 years, we have been advising the process industry on SAP solutions that make a decisive difference in practice. Will your company be next?
