More than ever, the lines are blurring between B2B and B2C when trying to create a engaging customer experience. We look at how businesses can enhance their partner networks by nurturing their B2C presence.

Just one word separates business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) and for good reason as both terms share common ground. Regardless of whether your organisation currently has a B2B or B2C focus, it’s customer’s access to information and your brand’s influence that ultimately empowers and drives the buyer’s journey. Each of us is driven by the same emotional connection and engagement, regardless of if we’re interacting with a brand for personal or professional purposes.

Given the similarities between B2B and B2C, it’s incredibly important businesses understand and tweak their offerings accordingly to suit today’s environment. Reality is, far too many B2B organisations are not factoring in customer experience, which is impacting their ability to maximise their competitive advantage in the market. If you’re reading this and nodding your head (don’t worry, we’re not going all Big Brother on you), we’re inviting you to embracing this challenge: get creative in understanding your customers so that you can better engage with them at every possible touch point.

To help you kickstart your journey, our team of experts are letting you in on a few golden nuggets as to how your business can bridge the gap between your end customers without hurting your all-important partner network.

Realise that it’s possible to appeal to both a B2B and B2C audience

We have a number of clever clients who’ve realised that they can enhance their business with partner networks simply by having a B2C presence. Their success lies in tapping into their existing partner network to grow their community and brand. How? By allowing end customers to buy direct from their business and collect their purchases from their partner network’s store(s).

This strategy is a win-win for both your business and your partner networks. You’re driving more foot-traffic into their stores, giving them the opportunity to up-sell to customers when they head in-store to collect their goods.

B2B business partners don’t need a warehouse or even any stock

Without even having to have a warehouse or physical stock to sell, B2B partners can improve their cash flow by either adding on a mark-up (we’re talking about on their wholesale price in comparison to the RRP price here) or by having stock shipped directly to the store via Click & Collect. The latter helps you to communicate directly with end consumers and build brand loyalty without having to open a physical store. More importantly, you’re not undercutting any of your valued business partners. If you’re feeling extra generous and want to further reward your loyal partners involved in your Click & Collect offering, you can offer them commissions on the sales generated online that are collected by customers in their store.

The possibilities are endless

Whenever one of your partners agrees to be part of your program, they can also use your website to display RRP prices to customers while in-store (they’ll need to be logged out of their account when searching through the site). Of course, a discussion needs to take place between you and your network partner to ensure everyone is happy with the pricing available across the board. For any customer who isn’t ready to make a purchase on the spot, stores can even send customers home with a brochure listing the products they were interested in. Remember, it’s all about improving the customer’s experience and sometimes, it’s the small things that count and wind up converting the sale and winning over a long-term customer.

As you can see, by adapting your existing B2B strategy to cater for B2C exposure and selling, you’re delivering people with a more rounded customer experience. Your business gains invaluable insights into customer behaviour and preferences, while having the ability to take orders on a 24/7 basis. Sounds ideal, doesn’t it?

Ready to investigate how you can tweak your existing strategy to cater for both B2B and B2C opportunities? Contact us to discuss the best way forward for your business today.