1. MANAGING B2B CUSTOMER LOYALTY LEADERSHIP MEASUREMENT ACTION
Today’s competitive markets require a well defined Customer Experience (CX) strategy. The 3 important steps to have a well defined CX strategy are
Hence, in a business to business client scenario, proactive follow up on feedback from customers is an important tool for managing customer relationships and crucial to managing clients who may be ‘at risk’. This information is critical to plan strategies to retain and grow existing customer relationships
A customer-focused culture starts with leadership. It is important for leaders at all levels- CEO, Managers, Teams leaders to insist & consider the customer voice to improve performance in daily tasks
Organizations need to put in place formal well developed mechanisms and processes to measure & leverage feedback of customers
Without action nothing gets done. Customer-focused companies drive action with training, technology and follow-up systems   
LEADERSHIP MEASUREMENT ACTION
© CSMM 2015, Confidential & Proprietary

2. CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS COMMUNICATION
Customers know more , expect more and their expectations are changing rapidly. Along with customer experience, one also needs to understand customer expectations and what impacts customer retention in order to design / upgrade the CX strategy.
In a B2B scenario, customer retention is driven primarily by an organization’s reputation and image along with actual experience that the customer has in terms of Product Quality , Relationship Management , Ordering / implementation and delivery /execution as per timelines . While, one would expect ‘Price’ to play an important role in retention, however it is not the primary driver of B2B Customer Loyalty.
Reputation parameters
(Market)
Average Benchmark *
Ethical , Trustworthy
82%
Customer Oriented
71%
Innovation
67%
% of customers who Strongly / agree with these perceptions about their supplier
When we talk about ‘Reputation & image ‘ , it no longer is restricted to aspects like being ‘Trustworthy’ ; ‘Ethical ‘ or being perceived as ‘Customer Oriented’. Our work shows that in the recent past, being perceived as ‘Innovative’ has been gaining importance. Customer expect ‘Innovation’.
Customers want their suppliers / vendors to be Innovative and use technology not only to create product differentiation and save costs, but also to improve customer interaction and experiences like placing orders, tracking delivery , invoice generation etc. Companies that decode and deliver on these aspects will be the ones most likely to create a favorable opinion and earn the loyalty of their customers.
Yes, many companies have already migrated or are in the process of shifting to automated / online processes for Ordering, Tracking , Delivery updates, Complaint registration etc . However , more often than not the transition is hurdled with difficulties . Our work with one of our clients revealed lack of customer education and communication on how to use the new technology tool as the leading cause of failure to migrate its customers on to the new technology tool. For another client, the root cause of failure turned out to be browser compatibility issues .
‘Communication’ is an underlying expectation across most customer interactions. If managed well, it can greatly contribute to enhancing all aspects of customer experience. Escalations due to lack of timely communication about price revisions or lack of communication about delays are common scenarios that one gets to see in our area of work . These are manageable and even avoidable with a well defined communication process in place.
‘Complaint management ‘is another area, which is a key customer expectation and is usually the #1 driver of Customer Dissatisfaction. Setting up escalation methods to assure customer issues are promptly addressed is critical. Our experience shows that organizations need to gear up in not only tracking but also assimilating complaints from multiple sources like online portal, websites, s, channel partners, account managers, to manage and resolve issues.
COMMUNICATION
Delivery Timelines , Resolution of issues
Product Updates , Price changes
Delays in delivery
Changes in processes
Changes in POC / Account Manager
© CSMM 2015, Confidential & Proprietary

3. % of customers who gave a positive rating on a 5 point scale
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES & LOYALTY
CSMM normative benchmark data, reveal some interesting findings .
Only about half of the Customers seem to happy with the Overall Experience in terms of products and services that they receive
In this B2B situation, where relationship building is a key tool for managing customer retention, only about half of the customers were found to be happy with the relationship building process in place
Of the customers, who had complained – less than a third were happy with the complaint management process in place
Customer Ratings On Key Metrics
(Market)
Average Benchmark *
Overall Experience in terms of products and services
53%
Relationship Building
51%
Complaint Management
29%
% of customers who gave a positive rating on a 5 point scale
Basis the CSMM normative database, it was found that on an average less than 60% of customers were ‘Truly loyal’ to their Supplier
The Trapped proportion of B2B customers was found to be relatively high, with close to 20% trapped in the business relationship. This 20% , is in addition to the 15% who are ‘At Risk "of exiting the relationship
Segmentation of Customers is a critical analysis for better actionability . Goal of every organization should be to reduce the % of ‘At Risk’ customers by identifying the triggers for them. These Customers are likely to spend significantly less and do less business with you –thus, likely to impact business negatively. One can look at this segmentation by Customer Type, Product Type, Location for more constructive and customized action.
ACCESSIBLE
TRULY LOYAL
TRAPPED
AT RISK / HIGH RISK
ATTITUDE +
BEHAVIOUR - 7%
59%
15%
19%
Data source - CSMM normative benchmark data
Customer experiences & perceptions translate into loyalty. Poor customer experiences will translate to poor perception and ultimately impact loyalty negatively and vice-versa . Our Customer Loyalty measurement programmes , help organizations understand how loyal their customers are, what experiences have the most influence on customer loyalty, how they perform in a variety of customer experiences areas, how they stack up against the competition.
© CSMM 2015, Confidential & Proprietary