Execution is where many businesses fail. We share a useful extract below from Michael Haynes, B2B Customer Strategy Specialist writing on behalf of Inside Small Business, regarding B2B strategy execution tips.
A recent global SME study by Salesforce identified SMEs biggest challenges as being:
- Acquiring new customers.
- Long-term planning.
- Customer retention.
- Financial management.
Addressing these challenges will be harder given the many changes that have occurred in business client needs, expectations, and purchase behaviours.
Michael Haynes provides these 4 tips:
Prioritisation
Identify which clients and prospects your firm will focus on. Then, determine what new introductions and/or improvements you will undertake within your SME to meet the needs of those target clients and prospects.
Selection of the target customers and the business innovations should be based on a series of criteria pertaining to:
- The business clients’ needs and their alignment to your company’s goals and objectives.
- Being able to identify and undertake the business innovations that meet both clients’ needs and company goals.
- The effect on driving your company’s growth.
Customer Planning
Once you have prioritised your customers and innovation opportunities, you need to create custom plans for each of your target prospects and key clients. These plans should detail:
- How your SME will deliver value through your existing offerings and processes.
- The business innovations your company will introduce.
- How your company will engage with key stakeholders.
Execution
This will require the management of key clients and prospects. If you have the resources, this should include a Relationship Lead to create and strengthen the relationship, a Driver to understand and respond to client needs, and a Technical Expert who holds the required depth of knowledge and expertise in specific areas to solve problems and facilitate valuable discussions that leads to opportunities for growth.
Review and Revise
Because business client needs and market conditions are changing frequently and new trends are emerging, you should review both your client plans and the innovation initiatives being undertaken regularly (at a minimum quarterly). This will help ensure your SME is both managing customers appropriately as well as focusing resources in the right areas.
(Source: Inside Small Business 2021)
