The customer experience has become an integral part of B2C businesses. These businesses realise that their customers are willing to pay more for a fantastic experience; leading them to prioritise providing convenient, and personalised experiences. Unfortunately, the same can’t really be said for B2B companies.
For reference, B2B companies have an average customer experience score of less than 50 percent, far lower than 65-85 percent for B2C companies.
Many B2B companies tout the customer experience as being the utmost priority for their services, but the numbers simply do not add up; until recently. With COVID-19 and it’s impacts affecting industries all around the world, B2B companies are starting to see the value of investing in customer experience and the advantages it can give them.
The new focus on customer experience in the B2B world falls into three categories:
The Omnichannel Experience
Customers interact with companies through multiple channels, often to solve the same problem. They may start by looking at a company’s website but end up calling the contact centre and later communicating via chat or email. No matter how customers interact with brands, they want a consistent experience.
Optimising such an experience will require companies to unite data within the organisation to create a strong understanding of what each customer needs. In the post-COVID world, a strong omnichannel experience with digital offerings is not only expected, but indispensable.
Employee Experience
The customer experience actually starts with the employee experience. When employees feel engaged and empowered, they naturally want to provide better service for customers and go above and beyond the call of duty. Companies that have established a strong culture often have efficient feedback loops to continuously listen for employee criticism and to apply them.
The goal of employee experience is to provide tools for employees to work in the best way possible. With the coronavirus driving many employees to work remotely, the truly strong companies are able to quickly and efficiently clear the hurdle of communication while maintaining social distancing.
Personalised Relationships
Just like each customer in the B2C space is unique, each B2B customer also has its own situation and preferences. Just like a consumer, a B2B customer will want personalised experiences based on their own unique circumstances. These relationships are especially important because COVID has changed business models and plans. Personalised treatment can help strengthen long-term relationships as companies grow and adapt.
