I know… The title of this blog is a little perplexing. I will get some interesting looks around the office for writing such a title, but it’s for good reason. If you are a B2B company and are not using email to build relationships, nurture relationships and sell your products, you are probably missing a big opportunity.
When we talk to B2B companies, many of them make a statement along the lines of “Our customers won’t buy our products through ecommerce?” In many cases, this is a legitimate assumption on the surface.
Maybe you are a manufacturer that sells through distribution.
Maybe the average purchase price of your products is in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Maybe there is a hight level of complexity associated with the sale of your products.
All of the above are legitimate concerns when considering email marketing. These concerns can be dealt with successfully through a strategic email marketing plan.
Here are a few examples:
Manufacturers that sell through distribution
Your prospects (end users) are using the web to better understand the features and benefits of your products. They are more than likely learning about your offerings on your website. Providing high value content to the end user in exchange for their email address is a great way to initiate a relationship with the actual user of your product. You now have a way to influence their buying decision with targeted, relevant email messaging. Email places you in a position of strength and can help drive demand from the end user to the distributor.
Complex Sales and High Purchase Prices
Email is a simple and easy way to standardize your messaging from the point that a prospect shows interest in your product, through the point of sale and post sale follow up. Rather than allowing the perception of your company to be completely defined by the sales person, email allows you to standardize messaging and influence the prospects interaction with your company.
Our clients have experienced increase sales, increased RFQ submissions and deepened the relationship with new and existing customers and in every instance email plays a significant role in generating those results.