With the arrival of ecommerce, digital and social media, B2B buyers are transferring behaviours from the B2C environment to the B2B buying process. B2B buyers research their purchase online, using online content and reviews to inform their decisions, with high expectations around the speed and ease of access to information driven by their consumer experience. However, whether a B2B or B2C buyer, what we value most is good customer service and a personalised experience.
Human to human marketing not only provides a refreshing antidote to today’s saturated marketing industry, dominated by impersonal digital campaigns, but when it comes to customer experience, nothing can replace the human touch. Human beings are highly social creatures, and given that a qualified prospect is guaranteed to be 100% human, you're more likely to create a productive and insightful dynamic over the phone within a matter of minutes, rather than wait for an online comment to be answered.
As a consumer nation, with a substantial millennial demographic now influencing business and cultural trends, few of us are seen without a mobile phone close at hand, which begs the question: why don't more businesses simply pick up the phone for client acquisition? According to the
Statistic Brain Research Institute, the average attention span of an average online browser in 2015 was 8.25 seconds, 0.75 seconds less than the average attention span of a goldfish, while a study of 59,573 page views found that 17% of these clicks lasted less than four seconds. We're not denying that online channels and browsers have a prevalent place in the B2B industry today, but surely the sheer volume of users and their behavioural traits online concludes that, as intelligent marketers, we must amalgamate online and offline communication strategies to cut through the noise?
Multi touch online campaigns can create a coherent brand message and telemarketing, whether standalone or working alongside other channels, can inject a personal and humanised element at crucial points in the sales cycle. A dynamic two-way conversation has the ability to influence, persuade, gain trust and maintain loyalty. As a communication channel, phone can be utilised at every stage of the buying cycle, from market research and data cleansing to lead nurture and lead generation, right through to full telesales transactions and post sales surveys. Telemarketing is a flexible and highly effective way to connect with a lead efficiently, and with absolute clarity on the message and benefits that you're advocating. Here are just eight findings that establish the importance of Human Interaction in the B2B buying cycle.