Week 4 EOC: Business to Business Marketing

"Kitchenware Direct is a brilliant example of a smaller retailer that catapulted into a market leading position in a few short years by streamlining its entire business in the cloud," said Zach Nelson, CEO of NetSuite. "Suite Commerce gives it a powerful, real-time view of its entire multi-brand business operations. This helps drive its market leading position by meeting the growing expectations of consumers for tailored, personalized and seamless shopping experiences from multiple touch points." http://www.heraldonline.com/2012/10/09/4325441/kitchenware-direct-sizzles-with.html#storylink=cpy  Business to consumer marketing has now moved into a more diverse atmosphere.  Consumers make choices based on emotion versus Businesses choosing based on long term economic profitability, environmental considerations, evolving partnerships, and the long term relationships that can be built going forward that provides insight to the growing needs of / for the business.  Businesses look for relationships that can help solve those problems that keep them up at night, B2B relationships are moving into a direction that can mutually benefit both parties where visibility can bolster their dealings.  Consumers on the other hand today are looking for short term conveniences, they want multiple access points to get at products they want to purchase.  Consumers want flexibility when a product doesn’t perform, the flexibility is for the returns of the products.  Consumers are no longer looking for long term relationships with providers of goods, today’s consumer is looking for choices, prices and credibility and they want their credit information kept safe.  “All CRM systems are not created equal, and that's good news for companies that sell more to consumers than to businesses. However, it's crucial to understand the differences between B2B and B2C CRM in light of each company's individual requirements. Three consistent themes appear and can be used as a baseline for selecting tools to help B2C marketers: speed, process and persistence.” http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/69391.html  Other distinct differences between B2B versus B2C is the buying cycle time, typically in a B2B selling environment decisions are decided by committee, and in a B2C environment decisions are more typically made by an individual and there is a lot of impulse buying versus decisions made by more than one person, the decision to buy often is spur of the moment, much like we see during holiday times. Businesses on the other hand more often decide to buy based on a problem or a need that needs to be satisfied, the decisions are also based on what can be done with the relationship in the long run, in other words today this satisfies my needs but what else can you do for me in the long run, while a consumer is more like at “Wham, Bam, Thank You, Mam” situation, instant gratification with no real expectation of a long term relationship. “Some people might think, sales are sales, and it doesn’t matter who your customer is along the way because you’re looking for the same result in the end. However, you wouldn’t market to a 5 year old the same way you would to an adult, so why market to a business the same way you would a consumer?” http://www.ecommercepartners.net/blog/how-similar-are-b2b-and-b2c-sales.html  With that being said sales cycle for B2B require research, knowledge of the business, what‘s going on in the industry and what the businesses long term goals are.  Selling to consumers requires an immediate gratification landscape, in other words does this item fit the bill for tonight or today.  Decisions from consumers are more likely to be based on what’s trending right now, this season and most often does not require a level of thinking beyond the moment.