Idea Gathering: Customer Experience News - B2B vs. B2C

Not just hearing, but translating innovations and insights is a huge part of the value of the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit. Our unique idea gathering wrap-ups between sessions facilitate alignmentof customer strategy inspiration with business relevant actions and have been one of our most highly rated features in the past.

Here on the blog, we'll be presenting weekly idea gathering wrap ups of some of our favorite customer experience strategy, design and alignment news and views. This week our focus is on B2B experiences. Customer experience is too often associated with B2C firms which is a mistake that B2B firms are beginning to pay for.

A recent study by The Temkin Group revealed that as far as customer experiences go, B2B firms lag far behind their B2C counterparts. According to the report, apart from employee engagement (which B2B firms led by a small percentage), B2B firms are far behind B2C firms in most other fields. B2B firms struggle the most in creating compelling brand values and purposeful leadership.

What can B2B companies do to narrow this gap? Can the same customer experience development strategies be applied to both B2C and B2B companies?

Companies should be wary about blurring the lines between their B2C and B2B clients. While some basic customer experience strategies can be applied to both, certain distinctions must be made when dealing with B2B clients. B2B clients are multifaceted and not just the product user but also the decision makers regarding the product need to be considered.

If B2B firms want to catch up to the brand value and customer experiences that are being generated by B2C firms then they will need to invest more resources into developing their understanding and relationships with their often more complex clients.

For more conversation on topics like this, join us at the Total Customer Experience Leaders Summit: register as a reader of our blog with code TCEL13BLOG to save 15% off the standard registration rates. Visit the webpage to register today.

Jeffrey Marino is a contributing writer concentrating his focus on Business Administration, Management Information Systems, and Tech Innovations. He blogs at Fordham Nights and can be reached at JMarino@iirusa.com.