How can you design a B2B customer experience program that stands out?

Understanding our customers is paramount at the New York Jets, and we've taken innovative steps to enhance their experience. Introducing the Jets Partner Alliance (JPA), we've crafted a dynamic B2B customer experience program. We identified a need for meaningful connections and tailored experiences by actively listening to our suite holders and partners. JPA provides an exclusive platform for these stakeholders to interact, fostering collaboration and shared experiences. By responding to their preferences and desires, we've established a standout program that meets and exceeds expectations, solidifying our dedication to understanding and enhancing the Jets community.

Drawing on my expertise I would like to shed light on strategies employed in B2B environments that differ significantly from those in B2C. 1. Decision-making process is complex and stakeholders are multiple. 2. Focus on relationships not transactions. 3. Offer personalized solutions, bespoke pricing, and ongoing support tailored to your clients' business requirements. 4. Integrate with business workflows by providing tools, resources, and support that align effortlessly with their operations. 5. Understand your clients’ business objectives and showcase how your offering contributes to their success. 6. Sales cycles are longer. So nurturing trust, fostering connections, and providing consistent value are essential.

The same principles apply as B2C, understand your customers, their motivations and what's holding them back to higher levels of engagement. Opportunities to delight relevant to the brand can be super impactful.

Understand Your B2B Customer Journey: Details: Map out the entire B2B customer journey, from awareness to post-purchase interactions. Understand touchpoints, pain points, and moments of opportunity. This forms the foundation for your customer experience program. Define Clear Objectives: Details: Clearly define the objectives of your customer experience program. Whether it's improving customer satisfaction, increasing loyalty, or reducing churn, having well-defined goals helps in crafting a targeted strategy. Segment Your B2B Customers: Details: Segment your B2B customers based on industry, size, needs, or usage patterns. Tailor your customer experience initiatives to address the unique requirements of each segment.

Before understanding your clients, it is best that an organization establishes their own set of core values that align with their mission and vision statement. Once you know your company's values, you can then better understand your customers and that they too have a set of core values they operate by. Companies can understand customers by profiling the customer accordingly, observing behavior and trends, researching how specific customers interact with their content and outreach, and adapting accordingly. If more information is needed, feedback surveys and outreach can be done whether through email, contact forms, etc.

There is no ”one customer” in B2B. In fact it’s very rare the same customer would experience the entire customer journey from consideration to sales, delivery, operations, maintenance, customer service etc. B2B customers can be decision makers (C-suite), more operative middle management (eg IT, HR managers, service contact persons etc), influencers, outsourced partners, even end users. Mapping the customer journey should start from the question whose journey are we mapping and why? What are the goals of this customer type / role? In which part of the customer journey are they present? It is best to map the entire journey, then deepen your view on selected parts of it.

Collect Customer Feedback: Details: Regularly collect feedback from B2B customers through surveys, interviews, and other feedback mechanisms. Use this data to identify areas for improvement and understand customer preferences. Personalize Customer Interactions: Details: Personalization is key in B2B relationships. Leverage customer data to personalize interactions, communications, and solutions. Show that you understand their specific challenges and goals. Provide Proactive Support: Details: Anticipate customer needs and provide proactive support. This could include offering product updates, sharing industry insights, or suggesting improvements based on their usage patterns.

Create an Omni-Channel Experience: Details: Ensure a seamless experience across all channels. Whether it's in-person meetings, online interactions, or through your platform, consistency is crucial in building a strong and reliable B2B customer experience. Invest in Technology and Automation: Details: Utilize technology and automation to streamline processes and enhance efficiency. Automation can help in providing real-time data, personalized communications, and quick issue resolution. Build Relationships with Key Stakeholders: Details: Foster relationships not only with decision-makers but also with end-users and influencers within the client organization. Building strong connections at multiple levels enhances customer loyalty.

Educate and Empower Customers: Details: Provide educational resources, training sessions, and workshops that empower your B2B customers to derive maximum value from your products or services. An informed customer is likely to be a satisfied one. Implement a Customer Loyalty Program: Details: Consider implementing a customer loyalty program tailored for B2B relationships. Offer incentives, exclusive access, or discounts based on their engagement and loyalty to your brand. Continuous Improvement: Details: Regularly analyze customer feedback and performance metrics. Use this information to identify areas for improvement and implement changes that enhance the overall customer experience.

Align with Customer Success: Details: Collaborate closely with your customer success team. Ensure that customer success managers are well-informed about customer needs and are equipped to address challenges effectively. Celebrate Customer Success Stories: Details: Showcase success stories and case studies of how your products or services have positively impacted your B2B customers. This not only highlights your value but also inspires trust. Measure and Report Key Metrics: Details: Define key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to your B2B customer experience goals. Regularly measure and report on these metrics to track program effectiveness and identify areas for refinement.

Encourage Advocacy: Details: Foster a culture of customer advocacy. Encourage satisfied customers to become advocates for your brand through testimonials, referrals, or participating in joint marketing efforts. Stay Agile and Adaptable: Details: The business landscape evolves, and so should your B2B customer experience program. Stay agile, be open to feedback, and adapt your strategies to meet the changing needs of your customers.

A critical step that is missing in this article to to ensure that every member of the team understands their role in delivering the CX strategy that you are designing. A differentiated CX program can’t be created within a silo, and requires the entire company’s participation to deliver. This directive should be led by the C-suite. Company goals and incentives should reinforce the importance and hold everyone accountable for the outcomes.