field notes

Is BCE Just for B2C?

How to identify the key factors in building a Branded Customer
Experience for the business-to-business world
Last week in London I was delivering a workshop on creating a Branded Customer Experience to a group of
senior marketers who wanted to understand more about how they could bring their influence to bear on
executing their brand propositions with customers. I sent the marketers out to mystery-shop some retailers who
make powerful customer promises (including Gap, Nike, and Apple).
The shopping expedition turned up some interesting results. I was feeling pleaseduntil a participant pointed
out that all your stories and examples focus on B2C <business to consumer> companies. What about B2B
<business to business> companies? My business is one. Is it the same set of principles for both?
It was true: All the success stories I had invoked featured the usual suspectsStarbucks, Southwest Airlines,
Amazon.com, Honda, and so on. What about best-in-class B2B stories? What evidence is there that customer
experience practices deliver the same results in the B2B world?
Andrew Shapiro, Executive Consultant, The Forum Corporation

Parallels in the B2B World

Its fair to say that B2B companies are finding their products and services becoming increasingly more
commoditized, with lifecycles shortening just as those of products and services in consumer markets are. The
traditional differentiators of price and quality are no longer key differentiatorsits all about the service
experience now. Creating unique customer experiences might be equally valuable to B2B and B2C companies,
in the context of creating opportunities for market leadership.
One U.K. telecom company that delivers service to both B2B and B2C customers has found an approach that
enables it to drive exceptional results in its B2B and B2C businesses simultaneously. Its strategy springs from
a single expression of its customer promise and a high-level map of its customers journey (which is based on a
clustered set of customer actions). Focusing on delivery touchpoints and consciously dialing up experience to
exceed customer expectations (and competitor performance) has driven the companys quality of service
through the roof and enabled it to pass a substantial bonus on to eligible employees last year. Customer
research consistently showed that both B2B and B2C customers were more than satisfied with the company,
in relation to any of its competitorsand all the while the impact on the bottom line was positive.

The Same Difference?

There are practical differences between the nature and complexity of the typical B2B customer experience and
the typical B2C customer experience. The differences must be born in mind as businesses analyze delivering
their propositions and map their customer touchpoints. Some observations are set out on the following page.

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IMPLICATIONS FOR B2B

B2B

Size of Market

B2C

Pool of customers limited to functions

Products/services often appeal to

Each individual customer relationship

and/or industries for which

mass audience.

is far more importantas is creating

products/services are relevant.

Buyer Profile

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES

experience that customers value.

Buyer represents company, uses

Buyer represents himself/herself,

B2B purchases have higher stakes;

company funds for purchase.

uses own funds for purchase.

big-ticket purchases can impact

reputations of company decision
makershence more selective,
rigorous purchase process.

Buyer Relationship

Firm-to-firm relationship.

Firm-to-buyer relationship.

Onus on B2B organizations to build

multiple relationships and
demonstrate value with each
stakeholder. Increased importance of
preparing all company employees
who interact with client employees to
deliver experience consistent with
what client employees value.

Customer
Touchpoints

Greater number of human interactions

Fewer, less complex relationships.

More complex B2B customer journey

of differing complexity, due to

with more customer touchpoints that

multiple channels and partners.

are more diverse and less easily

managedhence greater difficulty in
mapping and delivering consistently
and well.

Account Ownership

Less likely that one person is

Typically one person accountable for

Harder in B2B to understand and

accountable for overall customer

customer experience.

deliver single customer vision and

experience; accountability may be

strategy based on various

split among marketing, sales, and

stakeholder needs and expectations.

service groups, etc.

Account manager typically closest to

this role.

Service Model

Metrics

Inside-out service models tend to

Outside-in service model more likely

Harder to build in and deliver specific

dominate (focus typically on creating

(customer value drivers lead

customer value drivers in B2B

efficient supply chain by removing

companys business model).

business model driven by minimizing

process steps not seen as adding

cost and maximizing internal process

value).

efficiencies.

Business success often viewed in

Business success often viewed in

Challenge to induce B2B senior

terms of salesnot customer

terms of customer satisfaction,

leaders to invest in driving metrics

satisfaction, loyalty, or retention.

loyalty, and retentionas well as

they do not directly connect to profit

sales.

optimization.

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While the observations on the previous page may rise from some significant generalizations, the specific
challenge for B2B organizations to develop leading-edge service still looms larger than it does in B2C
organizations. The challenge involves tracking a more complex customer journey and delivering a consistent
experience at each touchpoint thats in line with what customers say they value most. While defining and
executing a uniquely positive customer experience may be more difficult in B2B organizations, it doesnt mean
that the tools used successfully in B2C organizations will not succeed in B2B organizations as wellor that the
payback will not be equivalent or even greater.

Guiding Principles
Here are a few ideas for things to do as a B2B organization focusing on the customer experience journey:

Define the things your most valuable customers value most and understand how each department,
team, and individual is to deliver these things at every key touchpoint with these customers.

Connect teams to the customer. The added complexity of the many different interactions the B2B process
involves only signifies that the teams connected to the customer at any given touchpoint must be aligned
and united in their effort to deliver a clear value proposition. Often it seems that back-office functions
impose service-level agreements that force the front line to dictate terms to the customer that invoke the
way we work as a companynot the way we serve you as a customer, according to what we know
about whats important to you. In some cases huge gains are made by breaking departments up and
reconnecting the component parts as localized end-to-end customer units that focus on discrete customer
segments. The net effect of this process, based on our experiences with a financial services client
company, is to create customer touchpoints that are delivered by cross-functional teams working together
in a connected and coherent way. The teams understand, take responsibility for, and deliver on delighting
the customer.

Give people the skills, knowledge, and understanding they need to execute the right behaviors
consistently. Share your own explicit understanding of the customer company and its situation, instilling
confidence in your employees to champion the customer company in your own organization.

The average business is currently expected to lose 50 percent of its customers every 5 years.1 The case for
creating powerful long-term customer relationships based on valuable service experiences has never been
stronger. Theres no doubt that customer experience poses a tough challenge in the B2B marketplace in terms
of execution, but it also offers a huge potential to create market advantage.

Endnote
1

Fred Reichheld, The Loyalty Effect, Harvard Business School Press, 2001.

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Authored by:
Andrew Shapiro, Executive Consultant

Forum is a global professional services firm that mobilizes

people to embrace the critical strategies of their organization
and accelerate results. We help senior leaders with urgent
strategic agendas equip their organizations to perform, change,
and grow. Our expertise is built on decades of original
research; our business insight keeps companies out ahead of
their markets, competitors, and customers. Harvard Business
Press published Forums latest book Strategic Speed in 2010.
For more information, visit www.forum.com.
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