As almost any marketer not wholly absorbed by the daily challenges of social distancing has probably surmised, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the rules not only in business but across life in general. Most of us no longer work in our offices, visit customers, or participate in professional conferences nor do we eat out, go to sports events, or attend religious services. What’s more, some of us have children engaged in hastily arranged grade-school or college -level distance learning. Many of us are no longer even going grocery shopping but instead are having our groceries delivered. As this global emergency continues to unfold, one of the big questions that confronts us in our personal and professional lives is which of the changes it has brought are likely to remain into the future and which are just passing, stopgap measures.
On the professional side, the answers vary according to a company’s business sector and might have both short- and long-term ramifications on marketing strategy and execution. In the short-term, for most capital-equipment makers, high-volume components manufacturers, raw materials sellers, and other B2B suppliers of high-cost or bulk offerings, the ramifications will likely include an increased emphasis on customer retention and account-based marketing (ABM). That is because, in times of crisis and uncertainty, it’s usually easier to build on existing business relationships than it is to develop new ones.
This heightened focus on existing account development will affect the execution of Sales and Marketing Funnel tactics. Perhaps the greatest change will occur in the Marketing and Sales Funnel’s middle (Consideration and Preference) and end (Purchase) stages, which, until now, have often entailed face-to-face meetings between key account managers and customers. These days, because a lot of customers are working from home or at sites with tightened visitor restrictions and because alternate venues like restaurants may be shuttered, such meetings are often unfeasible.
For large B2B companies that have kept abreast of digital transformation, this shouldn’t present an insurmountable problem. Most have already made their product, service, and applications information available online and categorized it according to their markets’ standard terminology, enabling prospects and customers to self-service during the Marketing and Sales Funnel’s early Awareness and Consideration stages. Many of these companies (John Deere, Parker Hannifin, and Honeywell are just a few examples) have developed dedicated portals for individual key customers, providing them with account-specific terms and pricing, and have also made tailored virtual storefronts available to channel members like distributors and system integrators. Replacing in-person customer meetings with on-line experiences won’t be an overwhelming challenge for such technologically up-to-speed organizations, as they will easily be able to incorporate alternatives like video conferencing, intelligent chat, augmented virtual reality demos, and on-line learning/training solutions into their arsenal of Marketing and Sales funnel tactics.
However, for large companies lacking direct sales forces or suffering from weak channel management and for smaller companies that have mostly outsourced their marketing and sales functions to third parties like manufacturers’ representatives and non-exclusive distributors, this change in Marketing and Sales Funnel dynamics could be much harder to navigate. These companies will need to work with their external channel partners to convert existing sales presentations and demos to live chat, video, and virtual reality formats and might also have to help channel partners underwrite the associated hosting and streaming costs.
This might seem like a lot of trouble and expense to undertake for a short-lived benefit, but since no one can confidently predict how long the COVID-19 pandemic will persist, it could prove well worth the effort. Also, once customers begin to appreciate the reduced facilities costs associated with home-based workers and sellers start to enjoy lower sales-force travel expenses, it’s possible that virtual customer-seller interaction might go from being a temporary workaround to a permanent practice. In that case, the companies who’ve evolved their later-stage Sales and Marketing Funnel tactics will be better equipped for success moving forward, whereas those who haven’t might find it difficult to keep pace with the competition. Because, as experience has taught most of us, when customer expectations change, things generally work out best for those suppliers who are ready to rise to the occasion by meeting them.
Please look for my upcoming posts on effective B2B marketing strategy and tactics in a changing business environment.
Ronald-Stéphane Gilbért, Global Director — Gilbért, Flossmann & Zhang Worldwide, Cleveland
Contact GF&Z at solutions@globalmarcomm.com for more information on optimizing your content for the Marketing and Sales Funnel.