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Customer Centric Marketing

Understanding the Differences in B2C & B2B Marketing

Most of our marketing experience and understanding comes from large corporations selling their products or services to consumers. This is B2C, or business to consumer marketing. After all, we are all bombarded everyday by American Express, Capital One, and Verizon, etc…Telling us what we need or want.

Ninety-nine percent of all companies and individuals market their products and services based on this big business form of B2C marketing. Why, because it is what we have all been exposed too and then we mimic it and apply to every other marketing situation rightly or wrongly. However, when you are attempting to sell to other businesses this is definitely the wrong approach.

The marketing approach that big corporations employ in selling to consumers we refer to as capabilities and capacities. They say we have this capability or this capacity to __________, fill in the blank. What does this mean? It means that most people cannot wait to tell you what they can do for you. Even though they don’t even know what it is you really need and they don’t care, they just want you to buy what they are selling.

Most business-to-business marketing and selling approaches are also, either capability/capacity, or a derivative called information selling, which is let me educate on why you should buy from me. I’m smart and I know what you need, therefore you’re not, that is why I know best and you should buy from me.

While often described as consultative, because it seeks to educate prospective customers about their problems and the solutions they can provide. Neither of these approaches comes close to addressing the heart of why someone actually buys from one-person verses another, relationship.

Customers do not want to buy based on what you have to sell no matter what your features, benefits, or because it’s on sale now. Fooling them into buying something they don’t want or need may result in a one-off sale, but does not create a customer.

Long-term, loyal customers buy based on the power of a relationship you forge or don’t forge with them. Things like creditability, trust, integrity, and putting your client first are essential.

There is yet another choice although far less espoused but more effective. It is called customer-centric marketing. Customer-centric marketing is as its name says, centers on the needs and wants of the customer, and not about what the person doing the talking wants to sell you.

Customer-centric marketing focuses on understanding the problems, concerns, needs and wants of your customer. It assumes nothing and seeks to gain insight into the concerns of your potential customer leading to a mutually beneficial relationship and well-satisfied customer. The sale is the natural result of forging a solid relationship built on listening and problem solving. It begins with building rapport and ends with a lasting business relationship.

People often confuse the method used to deliver a marketing message with a type of marketing. Many people equate telemarketing, direct mail, advertising, public relations, seminars, newsletters, audio and video presentations, email, and Web sites as marketing. These are not marketing approaches they are delivery methods used to broadcast types of marketing messages. People can and do use all of these delivery methods to send various types of marketing messages. I can send a capabilities/capacities message, a consultative/informative message or a customer-centric message using any of these delivery methods.

The key to successful marketing is not about how you deliver the marketing message, it is all about the marketing message you deliver to the right audience at the right time.

Understanding the differences between and among marketing approaches, (capabilities/capacities, consultative/informative, or customer-centric), the application of the appropriate approach to your target audience, (B2C or B2B), and a multi-layered approach to utilizing delivery methods all at the proper time is the formula for marketing success.

Utilizing the wrong marketing approach actually stifles sales:

1. Potential customers do not respond to your marketing because it all sounds, looks and says the same thing.
2. People avoid meeting with you because they do not want to “be sold” anything.
3. Prospects lack trust because they are tired of sales people who put themselves first with their own agenda and will say or do anything for a sale.
4. Prospective clients take a defensive posture immediately because they don’t want to be "hustled" into purchasing unneeded or wanted products/services.

Customer-centric business-to-business marketing creates relationship sales: 

1. Understand the problems, concerns, needs and wants of your customer. Ask a lot of probing questions to understand the real problem issues.
2. Assume nothing and seek to gain insight into the all concerns of your potential customer, explicit and implied.
3. Focus solely on building a well-satisfied customer and a mutually beneficial relationship will follow.
4. The sale is the natural result of forging a solid relationship built on listening, caring and problem solving. Prospects ask you to help them. Never ask for an order.
5. Don’t be concerned with over coming objections, avoid any objections in the first place. Trying to over come objections often leads to arguments & lost sales opportunities.
6. Customer acquisition begins with building rapport and ends with a lasting business relationship.

Benefits of the Customer-Centric Marketing Approach to You 

1. Selling becomes effortless because there is no sales pitch. You simply offer to help a person become more successful and by doing so you benefit too.
2. Enjoy increased referrals the best form of marketing and least expensive
3. Reach prospects before they have begun to seek solutions from others
4. Eliminate wasting marketing dollars on ineffective marketing approaches
5. Pre-qualified sales prospects actually call you
6. Earn profits not response rates. Quality not quantity is the way to a profitable ROI on your marketing investment. One hundred responses and no sales = $0.00 profits. Ten responses and three sales is money in the bank.

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