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{ MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS } { MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS } 25 24 F eelings and emotions. We all have them. And marketers do their best to appeal to them when developing consumer campaigns. Just think of all those twee TV ads for John Lewis, M&S and the like leading up to Christmas. But what part do they play in the typical business-to-business (B2B) buying decision? Surely hard-headed commercial types are far more likely to be persuaded by more tangible and practical factors than raw emotions? Wrong! Recent research by Google and The Conference Board, shows that a business purchaser’s emotions are, in fact, twice as important as more rational features and benefits in a B2B sales cycle. It’s all about creating ‘brand connection’. This applies as much to how the average SME communicates its offering to clients and, critically, the specific messages it conveys to them through a sales cycle, as it does to large corporate advertising campaigns. And here’s why. The research reveals that if a B2B buyer has a high brand connection they are: • 5 times more likely to consider buying from the company; • 13 times more likely to purchase from them; • 30 times more likely to pay premium prices for their services. ‘High brand connection’ customers are defined as those who give brands top scores for trust, image and industry leadership. In other words, they feel confident using the brand, believe it is an industry leader and see it as having a unique and positive image. The Google researchers tested ‘brand connected-ness’ by dividing the perceived benefits of B2B brands into two distinct categories – business value and personal value. Business value included the facets of a brand that we are familiar with – the traditional appeals to logic and reason regarding a product’s functional benefits in areas such as performance, comparative data, structure and order, as well as business outcomes e.g., achieving business goals and objectives demonstrated though case studies and thought leadership. (This is the material that you should be presenting to clients on your website and in your sales collateral. It’s how you can demonstrate the practical superiority of your product. Performance data, client case studies and quotes, technical fact sheets, awards won and sector-leading articles and thought papers offer clear evidence of business value.) Personal value included how the brand could impact on buyers professionally, socially and emotionally. Would the purchase result in the buyer being perceived as a leader? Would it help them to fit in with colleagues and receive admiration from others? Would the product provide excitement, happiness and/or a sense of accomplishment? (This is a much more subtle area and one where large B2B companies sometimes struggle. The triggers are much harder to communicate though owner/managers tend to unknowingly deliver them through the close relationships they form with individual clients.) Researchers analysed the impact of both values on 14 commercial outcomes including consideration, propensity to purchase, pay a premium, and advocacy. Personal value was shown to have twice as much impact as business value. So not only do emotions matter in B2B buying, they actually matter more than the rational aspects of business value. It clarifies what many marketers have always suspected – that business purchase decisions are, like consumer ones, largely based on emotions. Indeed B2B buying decisions are more emotionally charged than consumer decisions because there is often so much more riding on their success. Although buyers who don’t perceive any business value at all won’t consider buying a product or service, in reality this is rarely an issue as a massive 74% of B2B buyers believe that most B2B brands will create the value they seek. However, 86% of B2B purchasers don’t see or believe the facets of B2B brands that suppliers claim are unique. This lack of perceived differentiation has a dramatic effect on willingness to pay a premium. Only about 14% of customers perceive a real difference in a supplier’s offerings and value that difference enough to be willing to pay for it. So business value is important as a qualifier – something to establish you in a buyer’s consideration – but it won’t make you stand out against your competitors. This state of ubiquitous business value eventually leads to the need for price competition. No clear differentiation means buyers will select the supplier that is willing to drop their price. How then do you appeal to the personal emotional triggers that will create a differentiator? Once your business value is established, and you therefore qualify to be considered, achieving the above will set you apart, appeal to the buyer’s fears, emotions and prejudices, and provide a route to differentiation and greater margins. Part of the answer must lie in your brand positioning and messaging, as well as at a more tactical and relationship level. For example, in complex, high value sales processes it might be possible to weave subtle messaging into conversations, correspondence and meetings. In summary then: • Can you easily and clearly articulate the functional and performance benefits (bus value) of your product or service? • Importantly, are these benefits quantifiable and do they have third party endorsement? Are they unique? • Can they be customised to the needs of the particular client or sector you are targeting? • Don’t forget that these benefits merely qualify you to play. • Think carefully about what you can do to appeal to more emotional personal benefits. This will become easier the more you know about your clients either personally or through careful research around the buying cycle. • Can you make the client look good to his colleagues? Can you involve the client in some philanthropic exercise in the course of your business? Can you raise the profile/boost the ego of your client through PR? There are a myriad of ways of tackling this critical aspect of business development strategy that will play at different volumes and at different times. I suspect that after some examination, getting emotional about your brand won’t seem quite as barmy as you might first have thought. PUT SOME EMOTION INTO YOUR SALES EFFORT “Feelings and emotions. We all have them. And marketers do their best to appeal to them when developing consumer campaigns” By Chris White, Marketing & BD Consultant, EMC CONTACT: EMC Management Consultants Ltd, Rochester House, 48 Rochester Gardens, Hove BN3 3AW Chris White Tel: 07970 710543 Email: [email protected] Web: www.emcltd.co.uk Professional benefits – how will choosing your brand enhance the buyers career? His professional kudos? What will make the purchaser look good to his boss? Social benefit – how will it enhance the purchasers popularity amongst their peer group, sector, colleagues? Emotional benefits – There is often a huge amount of personal risk at stake in the purchase decision how can you give the purchaser more confidence? (No one ever got fired for hiring IBM?) Self-Image benefits – How will a choice for brand create pride in the buyer? Have Apple achieved this through iPad in the work environment? - Can you create and publish a case study or press article featuring the client? - Are you associated with sector forums or networking events that you can invite your client to? - Can you structure success based pricing? Can you underwrite product performance? Can you introduce him/her to clients that have faced similar risks? - Are the products that you are supplying best in class? Aspirational? - What is the CSR or social business aspect to your strategy? Can you involve the client in some way? Personal value triggers Practical strategies
