The B2B Marketing Forum will be held on March 17th in Utrecht. Marije van Donselaar, Marketing Strategy Manager at Nuon Business in The Netherlands, will be one of the speakers. Her conviction is that the customer should take the leading role. Yes, also in B2B marketing.
You will discuss ‘Game change: from transaction-minded to customer-minded’. May we have a sneak preview?
“I will discuss how to make a change from a sales-driven, transaction-minded organisation to a customer-minded organisation. You will learn more about how important market segmentation is, how to segment based on relevant customer needs and how to make choices in these. I will explain which steps we have taken at Nuon Business to become a true customer-oriented organisation, where positive customer experience has to be met at every step of the way. We learned that the Net Promoter Score – NPS – is a good way of measuring customer experience and loyalty intent. It is essential that the entire organisation works to meet a common goal. In our case that is the NPS. I will discuss what NPS is, how to apply it, on both a strategic and operational level. Practical examples will be used to illustrate how you can – structurally – improve your customer relationship and service level.”
What does it mean to be customer-minded?
“That is actually the big question. Sales will tell you: But we’re customer-minded. And then I answer: Sure, our relationship management is good, we’re friendly, approachable, we offer great solutions. But is this enough for a B2B company? We think we have it all covered, but we don’t. If you are really customer-minded this will impact all the teams in your organisation. You have to breathe consideration for the customer and his experience. Sometimes a cultural change-about is needed. Everyone in the company contributes to customer experience. It’s a new mindset, it’s involvement but it’s also continually asking your customer for clear feedback on how to improve your proposition. That starts while you are still developing the product. We are used to taking the technical situation as a starting point and selling from there on. But it should be the other way around: customer wishes should already be taken into account during the development phase of the product.”
What is your key message for the B2B Marketing Forum audience?
“I hope to trigger visitors to ask themselves whether their organisation is really customer-minded? Or are you just trying to sell as many products or solutions as possible? I look forward to sharing my experiences to show which steps you can take to realise change.”
Why should marketers come to this event?
“There are not many really good B2B marketing forums. This actually is an important forum, a good place to gather new information and meet new people. I will be there to talk to colleagues from other branches, follow workshops and get inspired.”
When would you consider the day a success?
“If I can inspire peers or bring them to consider new options. And as for myself: if I have been inspired and drawn to consider new options. It’s always interesting to get to know people from other branches and find out which challenges they face.”
Apply here for the B2B Marketing Forum: http://www.b2bmarketingforum.nl/en/
This blog has also appeared on MarketingTribune (in Dutch only).
