Photo by Jenny Marvin on Unsplash
As a B2B distributor in Ecommerce, you’ve learned how and why you have a precarious business model.
As a broker in the middle of the digital landscape, you know how easy it is to be replaced.
Of course, staying relevant in the minds of prospects and customers is the key.
Even if you know how to do it, your margins are probably thin and you don’t have a lot of spare time.
So, it’s a challenge to make needed changes because you must save time and money while increasing profits.
You will accomplish this if you focus on what makes your business exceptional. But how can you? You can by creating the happiest-possible buying environment. Consider your value propositions.
Revisit your value propositions
You can evaluate your value propositions, if you start by analyzing feedback from your customers.
Then, take look at your salient competitors and ask yourself some questions: What are they doing? Are their ideas different? How effective is their branding?
Decide how you can create and execute a vision plan to differentiate your business from your competitors.
It’s important to remember you might be offering the same or similar products.
So to stand out by being unique, your products aren’t the sole reason.
Branding
Effectively, tell your company’s story in a compelling personalized way.
Build trust by providing data, product specifications and informational videos.
If it isn’t, social media should play a role in your branding for digital expertise.
If possible, package services with your products such as installation, maintenance or training.
Pricing
Nor should your pricing be the differentiating factor. You will likely lose in the marketplace if you focus on being the low-price leader. Mega competitors can easier lower their prices to stay in business.
Typically, according to my firm’s research, only 18 percent of your customers will buy from you if your products are the cheapest available.
Even so, they’re the most undesirable customers for other reasons:
They’re the most likely to vociferously complain, post negative reviews, bad mouth your business, the most-likely to return their purchases and not become repeat customers.
So, it’s best to focus on the 82 percent prospects and customers who are motivated to purchase from you depending on their emotions — their five value-perceptions about your company and site:
- Employees, spokespersons (via live chat and email) – 52 percent
- Image of Company – 15 percent
- Quality of Product or Service Utility – 13 percent
- Convenience –12 percent
- Price – 8 percent
(For details on the five value-perceptions, see The 7 Steps to Higher Sales.)
Customer experience
Just because you’re selling via Ecommerce, which is a self-service platform, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to be unique. Your site should be very easier than your competitors’ to use.
For example, try multiple paths for customers to place orders for your products.
Relationships matter to quality customers. Create a happy buying environment and you’ll have brand loyalty.
Query your customers about their frustrations in buying online.
Once you have some answers, strategize on how you can transform your site to please them.
Remember the five motivating buying perceptions. Hint: They want fast and exemplary service. So, use live chat to engage customers to answer questions.
From the Coach’s Corner, more Ecommerce tips:
Sales Success: Flawless ‘Brand Personality Appeal’ Is Vital – How you can gauge your brand’s personality appeal – if it’s suitable to yield great sales. Here’s a checklist of 16 important factors to measure your brand’s personality.
Get Year-Round Retail Customers from Your Holiday Sales – Once you attract new holiday shoppers and make them happy, it’s more advantageous to convert them to loyal customers throughout the year. It’s also easier to entice them to refer their family and friends to you. Here’s how.
To Grow Your E-commerce, Select the Right Software – If you want to save time and make more profit on top of your revenue, consider fine-tuning your approach to shipping – from carrier discounts to shipping labels. That means analyzing and choosing the best software for your situation – now and down the road.
How to Overcome Churning Headaches in Subscriptions – Trending in B2C and B2B, the subscription economy with monthly fees has taken over commerce. However, many companies are experiencing losses from churning in subscriptions. Here are some solutions.
Ecommerce – How to Improve Conversion of Mobile Shoppers – To convert your mobile visitors to customers, you must understand their mindsets. You see, mobile shoppers have different goals and obstacles than desktop users.
“Customer loyalty comes from consistent experience. They learn to count on you.”
–Jimmy John Liautaud
