Aiming to deliver value outside the sales funnel allows your business to build long-term relationships with customers, rather than focusing on a single sale.
Congratulations! You closed the deal. You hammered out the terms and set up the billing. But, according to marketing experts Mark Bonchek and Vivek Bapat, now the real work of growing revenue begins.
Successful 21st century businesses focus on what happens after they close a sale, not the transaction itself. That’s because consumers — and B2B customers — have higher expectations than ever before. They read reviews, listen to webinars, and download white papers before they buy, and they expect a better experience after.
Purchase brands vs. usage brands
Bonchek and Bapat describe two types of brands: “purchase brands” and “usage brands.” The usage brands “focus on the moments of truth that happen after the transaction, whether in delivery, service, education or sharing.” As a result, they command greater loyalty and higher prices than competitive brands that are content to end their relationship with an invoice.
[bctt tweet=”Suppliers need to shift focus from persuading people to buy, to persuading them to become a committed advocate for their brand.” username=”Fronetics”]
What does that mean for you as a supplier? You need to shift your focus from persuading people to buy, to persuading them to become a committed advocate for your brand.
“Be” the B2B customer
B2B accounts are complicated. They have many decision makers and many points of contact. You may have a sales team with multiple reps and sales support people on one account.
With so much going on, it’s important to “be” the customer. Try to identify and understand the people who depend on your product or service to get their work done every day. Those are the people you need to impress.
“What is the likelihood that you would recommend Company X to a friend or colleague?” According to Bain & Company, this is the one question that most closely correlates to customer satisfaction. “High scores on this question correlated strongly with repurchases, referrals and other actions that contribute to a company’s growth.”
And what makes people recommend a product or service? Success while they’re using it.
Social media: An important part of the B2B relationship
Bonchek and Bapat say, “The purchase and usage mindsets are equally, or even more, relevant for B2B brands. Business solutions tend to have longer life cycles than consumer products and there is an even greater opportunity to deliver value outside the sales funnel.“
So yes, you may have to tweet. And stay present on LinkedIn. Because your customers look there to follow trends and find good information to help run their businesses. Industry forums, YouTube, and Instagram are also great places to provide value beyond the sale.
Don’t worry if you’re not a creative genius. Most of us aren’t. Do try to talk about issues that are relevant and maybe even unsettling to your industry. If your customers are having a problem, chances are other businesses have the same concerns and vice versa.
You probably have an opinion, maybe even a solution. Use social media to share it with a larger audience, your users will thank you for it.
How do you deliver value outside the sales funnel?
If you’re looking to generate more leads on your website, you need to create opportunities to capture visitors and implement a strong content strategy to encourage engagement.
Lots of supply chain and logistics companies are catching on to the benefits of content marketing. And of those, many are implementing a content marketing strategy to plan and execute their marketing.
[bctt tweet=”There’s no point in pouring a bunch of time, money, and resources into a robust content marketing program if the website that you’re driving traffic to stinks.” username=”Fronetics”]
But there’s an issue a lot of supply chain and logistics companies are running into: a weak website that doesn’t encourage the generation of leads. Essentially, there’s no point in pouring a bunch of time, money, and resources into a robust content marketing program if the website that you’re driving traffic to stinks.
In a recent post, we talk about what a weak website looks like. If you think you may fall into this category, don’t fret. There is still time to generate more leads on your website.
Consistently producing quality content and making sure you’re utilizing various distribution channels — social media, a blog, etc. — will help draw your target audience to your website. Once they’re on your site, you need to make sure they have a positive user experience. And more importantly, they need ample opportunities to learn more about your products and services.
These opportunities to engage with your content help move users down the sales funnel. You’ll capture leads that have the potential to become sales.
So how do you ensure your website is a lead-generating machine? Here are five tips to generate more leads on your website.
Infographic: 5 tips to generate more leads on your website
Most importantly, remember to be prudent about the role your website plays in the lead-generation process. A strong website with quality content, great visuals, and easily identifiable calls-to-action only works to generate leads and push users down the sales funnel. You’ll still need someone to help close the deal.
Tesla has been long-favored to lead the charge in the mass adoption of EVs, but recent challenges have halted production. Can the Tesla become the next Honda Accord before they run out of money?
Plug-in electric passenger cars achieved a market share of only 1.16% of all car sales in 2017. That’s tiny. Some predicted 2018 might be the “year of the electric car,” but sales aren’t expected to break 2% this year.
[bctt tweet=”The auto industry is betting billions that electric vehicles will soon be as “cheap and ubiquitous as conventional cars.”” username=”Fronetics”]
Nearly all experts believe, however, that change is indeed coming. The auto industry is betting billions that electric vehicles (EVs) will soon be as “cheap and ubiquitous as conventional cars.” Some projections put electric vehicle sales over 20% by 2025. Others are more cautious and predict a slightly delayed rise to 25% by 2030. If the industry hits those numbers, it will be a boon to the electronics industry, as the number of cars with electronic components and the number of electronic components in each car grows by leaps and bounds.
Tesla has been long-favored to lead the charge in the mass adoption of EVs. But production of the company’s Model 3, the carmaker’s attempt at a mass-market sedan, has had major challenges, including issues with its supply chain. Can Tesla beat the ticking clock before the massive influx of money dries up?
Tesla’s ticking clock
Tesla is racing to overcome obstacles that have slowed the Model 3 progress, and the company’s make-or-break moment is fast approaching. The carmaker must boost production of the Model 3, or they will run out of money by the end of the year.
Since going public in 2010, Tesla has burned through an estimated $10 billion. Last year alone, Tesla spent more than $3.4 billion in cash — almost $1 billion a quarter — largely to bring production and sales of the Model 3 to sustainable levels.
Earlier this month, Tesla revealed that it nearly hit its target to manufacture 5,000 Model 3s a week, a production goal that is necessary to generating enough cash in house to sustain its own operations. Without it, the automaker will need to raise even more capital from outside investors.
Everyone expects that Tesla could, in fact, raise more funds if necessary. But proving it can build Model 3s at the thrice-promised target rate would go a long way in securing it.
The issues working against EVs
Even without its production issues, Tesla and other electric-vehicle manufacturers have their fair share of roadblocks.
The biggest logistical issue? There are currently not enough places to re-charge.
Where exactly will we charge all those electric cars we plan on buying? Experts say that simply duplicating the existing refueling system, where motorists “charge up” like they “gas up” today would likely require dozens of new power plants or massive new investments in solar and wind farms.
The biggest issue to the American consumer? Battery-powered cars still cost more. Until that changes, consumers will still have a reason — a big reason — to go for more traditional gas-powered vehicles.
Could the Model 3 become the next Honda Accord?
So, even with all these current issues, could the Model 3 still be the highest-selling car of the next 40 years?
Tesla may still have a fighting chance if:
they can solve their production issues;
the battery market can find alternatives to its raw-materials shortage;
the American public can feel confident that their batteries won’t die on the highway;
the cost of EVs can rival that of traditional vehicles
Admittedly, that is a lot of “ifs,” but somehow no one is REALLY doubting that Tesla will pull it all off. But, not yet. A study last year found that 70% of millennials don’t yet want an electric car. Huh. Electric cars have mystique but simply don’t yet have widespread appeal.
Even taking these surprising stats into consideration, that still means 30% of young buyers consider an electric vehicle even now. So, by 2025 or 2030, when all the kinks are ironed out, they just may be as vanilla as Honda Accords. Except that the Model 3 is gorgeous, and electric, and made by Tesla. So maybe more like vanilla with rainbow sprinkles.
Looking for blog post ideas? Try using these resources to create topics that are original, relevant, trendy, and — most of all — relevant to your business.
That’s all very well and good, but what happens when you have no idea what to write about?
As usual, the internet is coming to your rescue. Here are four of our favorite online tools to help you generate blog topic ideas.
4 online tools to generate blog post ideas
1) HubSpot’s Blog Ideas Generator
Remember Mad Libs? Give HubSpot three nouns, and its Blog Ideas Generator will give you blog ideas.
While not exactly a Mad Lib, this tool is a great way to focus on topics where you want to cultivate your authority. It’s an excellent way to generate blog post ideas for a topic cluster, in line with existing pillar content.
2) Alltop
Co-created by legendary business advisor and author Guy Kawasaki, Alltop describes its goal as helping you to answer the question “what’s happening” in topics that pertain to your business.
Essentially, it’s a list of recent posts from the most trusted blogs on each topic. Select your topic, and you’ll get posts relating to that topic from the top blog in each industry. It’s gives you a great “in” on the most important conversations going on among thought leaders in the supply chain — and your goal is to become one of them.
3) Ubersuggest
It may not be the best tool for coming up with actual post titles, but Ubersuggest is a great way to generate general topic ideas for new posts. Enter a word or phrase, and Ubersuggest produces a long list of results containing the word or phrase followed by related phrases.
4) Twitter
[bctt tweet=”Yes, you read that right. Twitter can actually be a great way to generate blog post ideas.” username=”Fronetics”]
Try running a Twitter search using your keyword proceeded by a hashtag (#procurement, for example) to get a list of tweets containing your keyword. Twitter also has the bonus of being likely the most up-to-date conversation you can find on the web.
If your supply chain company isn’t active on social media, know that your competitors are. Here are three ways social media can help the supply chain, improving processes and expanding your audiences.
I remember my first supply chain job after college. My boss was stuck on the word “social” and didn’t see any value in social media at the time. He believed that you came to work to be productive and that social media was counterproductive. There was no need for a crossroads between social media and the supply chain.
Fast forward a few years — ok, maybe more than a few — and there are still plenty of supply chain companies that aren’t utilizing social media to help grow their brands. Social networking isn’t about being social; it is about facilitating communication and collaboration, distributing content, and engaging with target audiences. It’s about making processes more efficient using innovative technologies, like automation tools.
[bctt tweet=”Social networking isn’t about being social; it is about facilitating communication and collaboration, distributing content, and engaging with target audiences.” username=”Fronetics”]
As part of a comprehensive content marketing strategy, social media can actually help your supply chain company meet ROI benchmarks. Utilizing social media increases your brand’s visibility and promotes transparency. The distribution of high-quality, thought provoking content will help your target audience see you as an industry leader, which will help you boost sales and increase customer engagement.
Here are three ways social media can help the supply chain improve communication, increase information sharing, and engage with new (and current) customers.
Video: 3 ways social media can help the supply chain
Recommendations
Still apprehensive about diving into social media? Try not to focus on the ‘social’ aspect. Instead, focus on using the tools available through social media platforms as a means to get things done.
Looking to increase leads? Increase engagement with potential customers through content? Find innovative ways to grow your target audiences? Find ways to support these goals through social media.
And if you’re not comfortable in the social media world (we think you need to be), find younger professionals on your team that are. Encourage these employees to find new and exciting opportunities to increase visibility and engagement through social media.
What ways do you think social media can help the supply chain?
Most agree the supply chain is integral to our economy. But what, exactly, comprises the U.S. supply chain economy?
Ask a random sampling of 10 people on the street whether or not the supply chain is an integral part of the U.S. economy, and, more than likely, you’ll get at least 8 affirmative responses. But ask that same random sampling to talk in detail about the supply chain economy, the jobs it contains, and how it pertains to innovation, and you’ll most likely hear crickets.
While most Americans recognize the value of the supply chain, the details remain fuzzy. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, economists Mercedes Delgado and Karen Mills attempt to clear things up. They identify the industries that comprise the supply chain economy, quantify the number and quality of jobs it contains, and assess how much it matters for innovation. Here’s a summary of their findings.
What is the supply chain today?
First off, Delgado and Mills define the nature and scope of the supply chain industry, making the key distinction that supply chain industries are B2B, meaning that they sell to businesses and the government, rather than B2C, or business-to-consumer.
Industries that comprise the supply chain include traditional suppliers, like “metal stampers or plastic injection molders — businesses that manufacture parts to be used in a final good.” The authors, however, point out that thinking of the supply chain purely as a manufacturing sector is a flawed model.
In fact, “only 10% of employment in the [U.S. supply chain] economy is in manufacturing, and 90% is in services.” Jobs in this 90% include “many different labor occupations, from operation managers, to computer programmers, to truck drivers.”
Delgado and Mills take their analysis a step further, identifying the subcategory of “supply chain traded services – i.e., those that are sold across regions like engineering, design, software publishing, cloud computing, and logistics services.”
It’s worth noting that supply chain traded services have the highest wages in the supply chain economy, averaging at $80,800 annually — 3 times higher than traditional “service” jobs.
[bctt tweet=”The U.S. supply chain accounts for 37% of domestic jobs, employing some 44 million people at “significantly higher than average wages.”” username=”Fronetics”]
The U.S. supply chain accounts for 37% of domestic jobs, employing some 44 million people at “significantly higher than average wages.” The supply chain also accounts for a high proportion of the innovative activity in the economy as a whole, with STEM jobs, “a proxy for innovation potential,” at “almost five times higher in the supply chain economy than in the B2C economy.”
The authors point out that the prevalence of higher-paying jobs and innovation is a result of the fact that “supply chain industries have downstream linkages to multiple industries, which allows the innovations they create to cascade and diffuse across the economy, potentially increasing the value of those innovations.”
Policy recommendations
After defining and discussing the modern U.S. supply chain economy, Delgado and Mills move toward policy implications.
“Our supply chain economy framework leads to a more optimistic view of the economy,” they write. “If we were to focus on supporting supply chain services, particularly those in traded industries, the result might be more innovation and more well-paying jobs in the United States.”
They make three key recommendations for national economic policy, focused on improving suppliers’ access to skilled labor, buyers, and capital:
Invest in skilled labor.
Support regional industry clusters.
Ensure that suppliers have access to capital.
The bottom line: the supply chain industry is robust and dynamic, with “a crucial role in driving innovation and creating well-paying jobs.”
The idea of “bringing manufacturing back” is stale and reactionary. Delgado and Mills instead suggest that “we must shift our policy solutions to focus on cultivating the supply chain service jobs that will drive America’s economy forward.”
