Business to Business Marketing

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS DIRECT MARKETING is a more refined and nuanced practice than business-to-consumer.  Identifying and reaching key decision makers is much more challenging.  The reasons for buying and the marketing techniques that drive purchases are entirely different than those used for consumers.  LENSER’s newest consulting arm has been designed to meet the specific needs of business-to-business and hybrid business-and-consumer direct marketing firms.  We are keenly aware of just how complex, fragmented and dynamic this marketplace is.

It is important for a business to periodically evaluate its market position and operations, and to do so with the benefit of a fresh, seasoned and objective perspective.  Experienced LENSER consulting professionals bring an unmatched level of expertise and insight in areas critical to the success of all business-to-business direct marketing companies, including:

Strategic Planning – The development of a strategic business plan that incorporates management and shareholder goals, company history, market research, and operational best practices is essential to success.

Integrated Marketing Plans – The creation of a coordinated, buying cycle-cognizant advertising and promotions calendar maximizes the value of the marketing investment, including:  a catalog and direct mail circulation plan that complements and enhances existing sales force efforts, and e-mail campaigns that promote a consistent image across all channels and deliver results.

Business Competitive Strategy – The identification of the core competencies and key differentiating factors of a business, and the development of a marketing plan that fully leverages those, improves and solidifies a company’s position in the competitive marketplace.

Business-To-Business Segmentation – There are different ways to segment the same customers, depending on a company’s strategic and targeting needs.  It can be done at the individual or key person level, at the site or building level, or even at the institutional level; by industry (SIC); by region (integrating regional sales staff to support wider branding efforts); by channel (i.e. distributors or wholesale customers, as opposed to direct, individual customers), and by various firmographic characteristics (e.g. number of employees, annual sales, business credit score or awareness of bad debt, change in ownership date, years in business, share of wallet).  A detailed, multi-level house file segmentation review always proves invaluable. 

Circulation Management – The customer database and the transactional data contained within it are the most valuable assets a company has.  Maximizing the value of this data requires careful management and planning.  In addition to its team of consulting professionals, LENSER employs an entire department of highly skilled and dedicated circulation professionals specifically assigned to business-to-business and hybrid accounts.  The services we provide on an ongoing basis for many of our clients include:

• Customer Relationship Management:   LENSER takes a holistic view of the business market, establishing multiple goals for its segmentation system so that is serves on-the-ground sales staff, customer service representatives, and database marketing departments.  Who is the B2B customer?  Which buying groups and individual job titles should be isolated?  No matter what the answers to these questions are, business-to-business direct marketing is still a one-to-one relationship.  Establishing the key purchasing contact and his or her preferences (i.e. where s/he is in the buying cycle) allow companies to provide the appropriate offers, supporting literature, and support contacts at the appropriate time.
  
• Merge-Purge & Cooperative Database Direction:  Merge-purge projects should be designed specifically to meet the strategic needs of business-to-business and hybrid companies.  Small and mid-sized businesses often experience rapid data decay – many B2B marketers report that upwards of 70% of all business contact information changes during any given year.  Also, inconsistencies in how fields are populated within a given list or across multiple lists often occur.  Enhancing data standardization results in improved address correction, higher rates of dupe identification, and more accurate site penetration.  LENSER partners with service bureaus, as well as a group of specialty cooperative database firms, that focus on the business-to-business sector.

Best Practices Review – The business-to-business direct marketing industry is exceptionally competitive.  LENSER professionals are prepared to conduct a comprehensive review of your business, providing recommendations based on B2B industry best practices in the following categories:

• Print Buying:  LENSER will review your print quality and costs, identifying areas where the cost-to-quality relationship could be improved.
• Call Center:  We will evaluate the effectiveness of handling customers, orders and customer service, as well as operational costs and efficiencies.
• Fulfillment Operations:  LENSER will review the costs and effectiveness of pick and pack operations, inventory management, and logistics, and will benchmark your numbers against industry standards.
• Information Systems:  We will evaluate the effectiveness of company order processing, fulfillment, marketing, merchandising and back-end software and hardware solutions.