The most successful catalog/multichannel marketers follow a proven principle: They know what they do well, and they outsource what they donโt. To be a successful B-to-B multichannel merchant, you need to staff or outsource 10 core competencies, which are unique to multichannel merchants. These are merchandising/product development, branding, creative, marketing, database, Internet, call center, inventory, fulfillment and print management. Take a moment to identify which of these you staff internally and those that you outsource; then ask these questions: 1. Can you identify the person in charge of this competency? Someone needs to actively run each of these areas. If one of the
B-to-B
I had an interesting debate with a client the other day about internal site search failure rates for B-to-B catalogers. He asked me what I thought the acceptable rate of internal site search was. He suggested that 15 percent, 20 percent or even 25 percent was โnormal.โ
B-to-B marketers know the ease with which customers can find the product(s) they want when shopping on your site is key. Unlike their B-to-C counterparts, B-to-B marketers often have more than 100,000 items listed on their sites. Large B-to-B catalogers can have more than 500,000, and I know of at least one who has more than 1
In a recent webinar from the Target Marketing Group (sister unit of Catalog Success), copywriting veteran Bob Bly offered his top secrets on how to use copy to increase sales for both B-to-C and B-to-B marketers alike. Hereโs a recap of Blyโs presentation. โNext to the list,โ Bly said, โthe offer is the most important part of a promotion.โ Offers consist of the following elements: * product โ what product youโre offering, and what model or version of it; * price โ what customers have to pay; * terms โ the conditions under which they have to pay; * premiums โ what bonus gifts
The marketing manager was suspicious. The pay-per-click Web campaign results looked too good. A matchback revealed that 40 percent of the campaignโs customers, representing 60 percent of its sales, had actually received a catalog before placing their orders. Scary, isnโt it? Thatโs just one reason why order tracking still matters. Hereโs another: The chart accompanying this article is a real โ and typical โ example of key code capture rates. This unnamed cataloger captured key codes for 46 percent of its orders that represented 62 percent of its sales. Untracked data represented 54 percent of its orders and 38 percent of its sales. The
As an industry, weโve had to weather difficult market conditions before. Whether you want to call it a recession or not, thereโs no doubt that times are tough. B-to-B customers are โcautious.โ Not dead, but cautious. During such times, B-to-B marketers need to recognize the mind-set of their customers and come up with relevant products, offers and pitches. They also need to keep a close eye on costs. Often, this leads to new, less expensive ways to operate.
Over the course of history, one trend Iโve seen time and time again is B-to-B marketersโ willingness to embrace new technology to increase marketing effectiveness and/or
In case you havenโt noticed, the use of amateur video to sell products online is exploding. YouTube has made amateur video perfectly acceptable, and B-to-B catalogers have realized the power of video to educate, inform, sell, demonstrate, serve and communicate.
All this is changing online business shoppersโ expectations. I dare predict that a year from now your Web site will be โold technologyโ if you donโt have videos that inform visitors of your products and/or services. It should also include videos from your customers showing how they use your products.
No, this wonโt force you to build a big, expensive video production facility. Let
Many B-to-B marketers have product lines that lend themselves to end-of-year and beginning-of-year promotions. Those should be planned now! Of course, if you sell seasonal products, such as business holiday greeting cards or tax forms, your fourth quarter business is especially important. Most B-to-B marketers still see sales surges at yearโs end due to final spending of companiesโ yearly budgets.
Your call-center reps may need additional selling tools and promotions at this time of year to take advantage of customersโ seasonal spending propensities. The key driver is your customersโ need to spend all of their annual budgets so they can justify asking for larger
When times are tough, B-to-B marketers need to stay close to their customers via their call-center reps. On the front lines, reps hear customer objections, concerns and moods. Marketers will want to stay informed to develop sales tactics and offers that will incentivize that next purchase. As you stay close to your reps, youโll inevitably discover that some are getting better results than others. Why?
Here are some common metrics you can use to evaluate your inbound call-center reps.
1. Paid time, time ready to receive calls and time on the phone. Youโll be surprised at how much of the paid time gets eaten
In this economy, no one should be surprised to see sales slump. The question is, what can you do?
First, understand why sales are down. Just like a boat thatโs filling with water, the leak could be anywhere! Here are some areas to examine as you diagnose the problem.
* Circulation quantities โ have you cut back?
* Response rates and orders โ have they fallen across the board or just in some segments?
* Average order value โ are you getting the same number of orders, but customers are spending less per order? If so, try offering a benefit if customers place an
The concept of competitive advantage has evolved over the past 60 years. Some companies have attempted to apply advertising pioneer Rosser Reevesโ concept of the unique selling proposition (USP) as a way to maintain competitive advantage in their markets. Reevesโ brilliant conception of the USP was simple: โBuy this product, get this specific benefit.โ It remains a powerful technique for marketing individual products. However, when applied to an entire company, it has an inherent weakness. I discussed this concept during a session I led at the recent MeritDirect Business Mailerโs Co-op in White Plains, N.Y. When FedEx began overnight delivery to all 50 states