Here’s Why B2Bs Need a Customer Experience Strategy

With B2C companies raising everyone’s expectations for customer service, B2B industries need to embrace customer experience strategies or risk disappointing their clients. If you’re a lawyer, you know the pain of operating in the Digital Age -- the cost of one click on a Google ad reaches almost $50 for the keyword “attorney.”One might think that throwing in the towel and turning away from a digital strategy is the right move. But the truth is, now is the time for services-led industries like law firms to adopt a robust and cutting-edge digital strategy. Over half of general counsels (GCs) evaluate firms by researching their websites. And one-third discover firms through online search engines.

Bits and Bytes for B2B

Long steeped in relationship-based sales models, services companies are lagging behind the pack when it comes to digital maturity. In the legal industry, GCs place their highest priority on client management.Regardless of industry, service providers’ B2C clients already understand the importance of digital customer facing, and have left no stone unturned in handling customer service issues more and more directly. In the Age of the Consumer, delivering solid client management is a priority for everyone.In order to more effectively deliver their services, law firms and other B2Bs must digitally transform. More than ever, their clients are asking for highly detailed reports of where their money is going -- in other words, drinks on the 19th hole are a thing of a bygone era.Racing to the head of the pack in the services business requires a commitment to a customer experience strategy. And a services company's digital marketing efforts and cultivation of a digital ecosystem (including web, mobile, social presences) together form the first channel through which it can acquire new clients. Plus, a well thought-out content marketing strategy will elevate a services company to the status of thought leaders in their space and provide opportunities for further engagement with potential clients.

Conversion Counts, No Matter How Micro They Are

Many services businesses deal with longer sales cycles, which means clear, cause-and-effect conversions are rare. Companies can’t point to one event in the lead-up to a sale and say, “That’s where we got them.” Instead, the need to monitor and identify micro conversions -- whether that’s clicking on a blog post or signing up for a newsletter.After a lead has come in through a services company's digital marketing efforts or digital ecosystem, its internal systems need to be optimized efficiently to ensure conversion. Internal digital dashboards allow for easy collaboration on new opportunities and enable cross-functional teams to work together. Furthermore, appropriately chosen CRM, email marketing, and document management platforms together make managing the sales cycle more seamless.With this strong digital architecture in place, businesses can access valuable data that will help them determine when and how they lose or keep a client.Customers in every industry expect more and more from the services they pay for. And with B2C companies setting the bar for customer service, B2B industries must digitally transform their processes or risk losing valuable clients as a result.