You probably already know that customers want more of a relationship with the businesses they support. If you haven\u2019t fostered a strong relationship with them, they\u2019re more likely to bounce. Building business relationships is the same as building any other healthy relationship\u2014get to know your customer well, communicate with them, and anticipate and meet their needs the best you can. If you nurture those relationships now, your customers will be more likely to stick with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of course, creating that stickiness doesn\u2019t always come naturally to specialized B2B companies, but there are plenty of examples we can look to for inspiration. This is what hospitality and retail businesses have been doing for years. They reward loyalty and make it easier for customers to do business with them. In every conceivable way, they let customers know that they\u2019re important and valuable. These industries are obsessed with thinking of new ways they can save their customers time, relieve their frustrations and make them feel cared for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to communicating with customers more often, you might also start to think of ways you can anticipate and solve more of their problems. Can you add software licensing to your list of solutions? How about including more tools and how-tos on your website?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s tempting to think of these initiatives as side projects; they\u2019re nice ideas that aren\u2019t fundamental to your business goals. But most business owners are just as exhausted and anxious as you are. Big wins are harder to come by for all of us. So, if you can save them five minutes here and there, that\u2019s huge\u2014and memorable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rough Out Your Rough Spots<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t need to know what will happen around the globe in the next 12 months in order to make a good strategic plan. Most of us know what our business\u2019s weak spots are, and that\u2019s a great place to start. Outline some initiatives to address your weaknesses and generate more revenue, knowing that things may very well change. It happens, but that\u2019s no excuse to forgo making plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your 2023 business plan should be a living, breathing document that can be adjusted as needed. But without any plans in place to achieve your business objectives, time has a way of slipping by without much to show for itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve clearly outlined your goals and how you\u2019ll achieve them, tell your staff how they can help get the results you want and how you\u2019ll define success. Even if your business is small, it\u2019s easy for 10 different people to hear a single speech and walk away with 10 different interpretations. Communicate your goals and KPIs for the year in writing and, if you\u2019re able, create incentives to align your staff\u2019s efforts with those goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of my favorite takeaways from Marco\u2019s 2022 go-to-market strategy was just how much a group of people can achieve when their goals are aligned and their hard work is rewarded. You may not achieve all your goals, but if your experience is anything like mine, you\u2019ll be pleasantly surprised by how much you can achieve in a single calendar year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your Horoscope for 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Like all of you, I\u2019m in the dark about where the economy is headed and when and how our supply chain woes will be resolved. But I do predict that some of our more aggressive competitors will try to use these things as leverage to pry our customers from us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your customers may hear one of your rivals promise that they can deliver the same printer sooner, or they have more repair parts in stock, and can therefore guarantee faster issue resolution than you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speed is nice, but having a business partner you trust is always better than a one-time deal. Your efforts to create sticky relationships with your customers, whether that takes the form of increased digital marketing, adding more tools and solutions or both, will make those fly-by-night promises much less attractive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your competitors are entitled to take their shot\u2014that\u2019s just business. But if you\u2019ve tended properly to yours, their shot is likely to miss the mark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Even though it\u2019s just a change of numbers on a calendar, it\u2019s hard not to be excited about the new year. The last few have been tough, and it\u2019s tempting to believe that we\u2019ll get to push a magical reset button in 2023. However, we already know a few of 2022\u2019s challenges aren\u2019t simply going to disappear. During these short winter days is when we need to outline our plans for the year, define our priorities and take our best shot. It\u2019s also when we\u2019re most in the dark about what the year will bring. Just because we don\u2019t know what lies ahead doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t plan for the future. We may not know what the economy will do or how and when the supply chain will start to loosen\u2014anyone who says otherwise is selling something. But if you\u2019ve been paying attention, you already know plenty. They\u2019re Rubber, You\u2019re Glue You probably already know that customers want more of a relationship with the businesses they support. If you haven\u2019t fostered a strong relationship with them, they\u2019re more likely to bounce. Building business relationships is the same as building any other healthy relationship\u2014get to know your customer well, communicate with them, and anticipate and meet their needs the best you can. If you nurture those relationships now, your customers will be more likely to stick with you. Of course, creating that stickiness doesn\u2019t always come naturally to specialized B2B companies, but there are plenty of examples we can look to for inspiration. This is what hospitality and retail businesses have been doing for years. They reward loyalty and make it easier for customers to do business with them. In every conceivable way, they let customers know that they\u2019re important and valuable. These industries are obsessed with thinking of new ways they can save their customers time, relieve their frustrations and make them feel cared for. In addition to communicating with customers more often, you might also start to think of ways you can anticipate and solve more of their problems. Can you add software licensing to your list of solutions? How about including more tools and how-tos on your website? It\u2019s tempting to think of these initiatives as side projects; they\u2019re nice ideas that aren\u2019t fundamental to your business goals. But most business owners are just as exhausted and anxious as you are. Big wins are harder to come by for all of us. So, if you can save them five minutes here and there, that\u2019s huge\u2014and memorable. Rough Out Your Rough Spots You don\u2019t need to know what will happen around the globe in the next 12 months in order to make a good strategic plan. Most of us know what our business\u2019s weak spots are, and that\u2019s a great place to start. Outline some initiatives to address your weaknesses and generate more revenue, knowing that things may very well change. It happens, but that\u2019s no excuse to forgo making plans. Your 2023 business plan should be a living, breathing document that can be adjusted as needed. But without any plans in place to achieve your business objectives, time has a way of slipping by without much to show for itself. Once you\u2019ve clearly outlined your goals and how you\u2019ll achieve them, tell your staff how they can help get the results you want and how you\u2019ll define success. Even if your business is small, it\u2019s easy for 10 different people to hear a single speech and walk away with 10 different interpretations. Communicate your goals and KPIs for the year in writing and, if you\u2019re able, create incentives to align your staff\u2019s efforts with those goals. One of my favorite takeaways from Marco\u2019s 2022 go-to-market strategy was just how much a group of people can achieve when their goals are aligned and their hard work is rewarded. You may not achieve all your goals, but if your experience is anything like mine, you\u2019ll be pleasantly surprised by how much you can achieve in a single calendar year. Your Horoscope for 2023 Like all of you, I\u2019m in the dark about where the economy is headed and when and how our supply chain woes will be resolved. But I do predict that some of our more aggressive competitors will try to use these things as leverage to pry our customers from us. Your customers may hear one of your rivals promise that they can deliver the same printer sooner, or they have more repair parts in stock, and can therefore guarantee faster issue resolution than you can. Speed is nice, but having a business partner you trust is always better than a one-time deal. Your efforts to create sticky relationships with your customers, whether that takes the form of increased digital marketing, adding more tools and solutions or both, will make those fly-by-night promises much less attractive. Your competitors are entitled to take their shot\u2014that\u2019s just business. But if you\u2019ve tended properly to yours, their shot is likely to miss the mark.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":286,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3936,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53198"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/286"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53198"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53202,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53198\/revisions\/53202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Depositphotos_150929354_XL.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n