Wholesale distribution: How to win critical buying moments
When it comes to wholesale distribution trends, distributors need total connectivity at all times between its front-office systems. This enables a unified view of customer data. That data will be carried across all channels. Through this harmonious customer view, a wholesaler’s marketing, sales, commerce, IT, and service teams can truly work together to drive profits and grow the business to satisfactory levels.
Now, let’s look at the industry, its buyers, subjects, and few key moments where front-office connectivity delivers winning customer experiences.
Wholesale distribution trends: Challenges during tough times
First, we need to know what direct-to-consumer (D2C) actually is. It is opening a new level of competition as it gains traction in the retail and consumer products industries.
Second, economic indicators for wholesale distribution aren’t as they used to be. According to the National Association of Wholesale Distributors, the current 12-month growth rate is 7.5%, but the quarterly growth rate is a smaller 4.7%. This suggests that the industry is on the back side of the business cycle.
This puts enormous value into the area offering the most growth potential: the customer experience. But ask yourself this: who is the modern wholesale distribution customer, and do new wholesale distribution trends even consider them?
Very difficult audience: Wholesale buyers
Modern wholesale buyers often have very high expectations. They’re unimpressed by many things that we might find extraordinary. Experiences that aren’t personalized in at least near-real time will not impress them. They have no patience – and they’re typically just a click away from choosing a competitor. Additionally, when the quality of the customer experience varies across channels, they lose interest – extremely fast.
And as an extra factor to take into consideration – the typical buying group for a not so simple B2B solution can involve up to six or even ten decision makers.
So how can you deliver a winning experience to this kind of audience?
Capture the goal: The connected wholesale buying experience
Following some key moments in a wholesale buying journey will deliver a winning outcome.
1. “Hook them” Offering irrelevant experiences to prospects as they research your business will get you pretty much nowhere. Instead of that poor efforts, buyers want the right level of information to make well informed and calculated decision without being hassled by intrusive marketing tactics. Information availability is crucial. If the prospect can’t find what he or she is looking for, they’ll move on and the opportunity will vanish in thin air. Marketing and commerce teams need to catch the digital identity of the visitors and get the right context of this capture, and afterwards, communicate this information to sales teams. Sales teams need precise, real time customer data so they can personalize offers. They also need consent a data to inform when or if the prospect wants to be contacted. After connecting all of these systems to a unified view of customer data, wholesalers can offer the relevant, but also real time content that is necessary to build stronger connections with prospects and make more sales.
2. When things go wrong… At one point, things may go wrong. However, the customers can be unsure, or they could even give a negative decision. In the past, the sales lead dominated this situation. They would launch maximum effort to motivate buyers to reconsider their decision. Sometimes it would work nicely, but most of the time, the customer was lost for good. But, there are things that could be done. For instance, recovery campaign can be made as a joint effort of two or more teams. This campaign would target highly personalized messages to overcome the objections customers m cited as the reasons for deciding not to proceed.
3. “Score for the win” Customers can almost smell when they’re dealing with a broken experience, and when top players show up on the top of surveys the game is usually taking one direction until the end… And some basic things too often, can be the source of inefficiency. The process can be too complex and too slow. Layers of approvals are needed. And so many times, the customer’s users cannot access the information and functionality they need to do their job fast, easy and efficiently. To win this situation, sales and IT teams need a connected strategy for effortless onboarding of new business customers as well as their users. Security; intellectual property and confidential information need to be protected to the highest and the latest standard. But, sometimes, there must be balance between top security and top functionality.
4. “Cherry on the top” To win new customers, customer service can be so crucial and important like no other team. Most customer service engagements are focused on resolving issues and problems, there are also positive engagements where the customer expresses satisfaction with the product or service. If customer service team shares this with the organization’s marketing team, it can be helpful in the process of turning customers into advocates.
1. “Hook them” Offering irrelevant experiences to prospects as they research your business will get you pretty much nowhere. Instead of that poor efforts, buyers want the right level of information to make well informed and calculated decision without being hassled by intrusive marketing tactics. Information availability is crucial. If the prospect can’t find what he or she is looking for, they’ll move on and the opportunity will vanish in thin air. Marketing and commerce teams need to catch the digital identity of the visitors and get the right context of this capture, and afterwards, communicate this information to sales teams. Sales teams need precise, real time customer data so they can personalize offers. They also need consent a data to inform when or if the prospect wants to be contacted. After connecting all of these systems to a unified view of customer data, wholesalers can offer the relevant, but also real time content that is necessary to build stronger connections with prospects and make more sales.
2. When things go wrong… At one point, things may go wrong. However, the customers can be unsure, or they could even give a negative decision. In the past, the sales lead dominated this situation. They would launch maximum effort to motivate buyers to reconsider their decision. Sometimes it would work nicely, but most of the time, the customer was lost for good. But, there are things that could be done. For instance, recovery campaign can be made as a joint effort of two or more teams. This campaign would target highly personalized messages to overcome the objections customers m cited as the reasons for deciding not to proceed.
3. “Score for the win” Customers can almost smell when they’re dealing with a broken experience, and when top players show up on the top of surveys the game is usually taking one direction until the end… And some basic things too often, can be the source of inefficiency. The process can be too complex and too slow. Layers of approvals are needed. And so many times, the customer’s users cannot access the information and functionality they need to do their job fast, easy and efficiently. To win this situation, sales and IT teams need a connected strategy for effortless onboarding of new business customers as well as their users. Security; intellectual property and confidential information need to be protected to the highest and the latest standard. But, sometimes, there must be balance between top security and top functionality.
4. “Cherry on the top” To win new customers, customer service can be so crucial and important like no other team. Most customer service engagements are focused on resolving issues and problems, there are also positive engagements where the customer expresses satisfaction with the product or service. If customer service team shares this with the organization’s marketing team, it can be helpful in the process of turning customers into advocates.
Work together and win together
When all teams connect to a unified view of the customer, the entire organization will win key moments along the buyer journey.
And the positive reviews will manifest as higher profits, more new customers, and overall more success.