Engaging in Customer-Centric B2B Marketing Strategies

Amy Wohl talks with InternetVIZ

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InternetVIZ: As you look back on the marketing techniques employed by companies in emerging technology sectors, which do you believe have proven most successful?

AW: First, it is important to recognize that employing some marketing strategies are better than not doing anything.  Technology companies, just like any other company, need to engage in marketing their product. There is a significant difference, though, in marketing in an established sector and in an emerging one - companies in an emerging space may have a lot of customer education to do. This means that a lot of communication/education is going to have to precede any successful selling. We find this is best accomplished through seminars which are mainly educational and only slightly about selling , but this is expensive and relatively slow. Communicating with prospective customers through newsletters and free white papers is good, too. Be sure you tell everyone you're communicating with that they're welcome to pass the news along (and widen your efforts at no additional cost to you).

InternetVIZ: How do technology companies overcome the marketing challenge of customer education?

AW: The biggest challenge is actually not customer education.  The biggest challenge is   that these companies often don't understand the importance of marketing. They operate as though the technology will sell itself. We've never been quite sure how they think people will find out about it. If you don't think marketing is important you'll fail to budget for it (or budget adequately for it) in your marketing plan. That means you can't afford to do a good job. The best idea here is, of course, to know about this problem and avoid it. That means having someone with marketing knowledge in the company or as an outside advisor from the outset and building marketing funds into the business plan from the start. If you didn't do that then you'll need to add appropriately skilled staff (or outsource the job) and find the funds to pay for it. As you get more customers, you must reserve significant amounts of early cash flow for marketing if you expect your company to grow.

InternetVIZ: A lot of people criticize the technology space for taking a 'build it and they will come' attitude. This seems to fit in with what you are saying.

AW: Absolutely.  I believe technology companies in general have been guilty of the "build it and they will come" trap. Marketing is the cure, of course, since properly implemented and funded marketing plans will bring customers to your beautiful (but unknown) product or service.

InternetVIZ: As you have gone about marketing your own firm, Wohl Associates, what types of marketing have you found most successful?

AW: There's nothing like getting out there and meeting people, preferably in a way that (1) makes them remember you and (2) makes them want to hire you. In the old days we did that by speaking at conferences. That's harder now. Most conferences don't want speakers based on their speaking skills, but rather on their willingness to pay sponsorship fees. And since attendees know that, they're less interested in attending. Gone are the days when someone paid me to stand in front of 1,000 or 1,500 people -- and hand out several hundred business cards afterwards. We didn't do any other marketing at all in those days. Today, we do a lot of our marketing by staying in touch with our customers and contacts. Newsletters are great for that. We try to make them as personal as possible so customers will feel like they just heard from us and will keep us clearly in mind if they need our help.

InternetVIZ: Certainly one of the marketing strategies we believe in at InternetVIZ is permission email marketing.  Do you see permission email marketing effecting the B2B technology market?

AW: Without question.  Permission email marketing lets technology vendors stay in touch with their own customers and with rented lists of eligible prospects who are interested in what they have to sell. The best permission is direct permission. The customer has been at your web site or shaken your hand and has said, yes, let's stay in touch. Then, every time you send him a message, you're doing what he's asked you to do. As long as you send him what he expects and wants (and values), he'll be happy to hear from you. With any luck he'll buy something from you 2 to 10% of the time and he'll remember you when a friend asks him if he can suggest a good source for whatever service or product you happen to be selling.

InternetVIZ: As email marketing has continued to develop, corporate email newsletters have really started taking off.  Why do you think we are seeing a growing interest in company newsletters?

AW: Quite simply because they work. They're also inexpensive and can accomplish many different goals -- educate, communicate, sell, recruit -- sometimes all at once. We like to do some research in ours. We know we're getting to our readership because we get letters to the editor with every issue. We answer EVERY ONE.

InternetVIZ: Do you feel permission marketing provides additional marketing lessons for technology companies?

AW: Definitely, because permission marketing encourages companies to become customer focused.  The rules to succeed these days are pretty simple - ask your customers what they want all the time; stay in touch with all your customers, but pay more time and attention to your best customers; and keep asking your customers if they like what you're doing and if you're doing what they like.

InternetVIZ: Looking backwards, what technology marketing blunder stands out in your mind?  Would a more customer-centric approach have help to avoid it?

AW: Intel's failure to handle its "bad" chip, telling customers it was good enough for the work most of them did, is the classic marketing blunder.  It's got every element of an arrogant technology company telling its dumb customers it knows better than they do. If we have a dissatisfied customer -- or if you do -- the first question you should be asking is "How can we make this right for you?" You may not be able to do it -- some customers are not to be satisfied -- or are just plain crazy -- but you should at least know what they want and see how close you can come. Most technology marketing blunders occur because a technology company makes a set of product or marketing decisions without checking to see how they fit into the real (customer) world. They usually don't.

InternetVIZ: From a customer-centric perspective, what technology marketing success story stands out and why?

AW: I can think of three immediately.  First, there's Palm - they did real market research to see what the customers wanted in function, architecture (companion, not a standalone computer), and size -- and then delivered it.  Second, there's Napster - who proved Viral Marketing really works. They got out of the way and let the customers sell to each other.  And, third, there's Lotus 1-2-3 - they built a better mousetrap for an existing product category (spreadsheets) just as a market discontinuity (enter the IBM PC) occurred.

InternetVIZ:  Amy, I'd like to thank you once again for taking time out to discuss these marketing strategies with us.  Do you have any final thoughts?

AW: The skies are wide and very blue. We have endless new technology ahead of us and we will need a lot of marketing to sell it. We shall all be very busy.

(To see what other experts say, click here)

Amy D. Wohl is President of Wohl Associates, a consulting firm located in Narberth, Pennsylvania which consults on new and emerging technology and new market formation. Wohl Associates' current interests include all types of personal and group software, the Internet, and information appliances. The firm provides services on strategic planning,  marketing strategy, marketing research, and training to manufacturers of information systems and hardware and software.