MAIN INSIGHT 26
Khyati Pal
HEAD OF MARKETING
According to Gartner, 64% of surveyed customers cannot tell the difference between one B2B brand’s digital experience and another's, therefore questioning an overreliance on digital channels for customer acquisition. In a world of ever-increasing digital dominance, do you think human engagement will be a point of competitive differentiation in your market?
No matter how much amazing software and technology we get presented with in the future, as long as humans are the ones making the final decision, human engagement will be important.
When it comes to digital experience, I think that it can be quite chaotic and overwhelming. For example, most of the websites out there come across as extremely complicated. You’re offered multiple call-to-action buttons, you have a “chat with us'' button, you have a “request a callback” button, and so on. There are so many things that you have to close or mute before you can actually get to the information that got you on that webpage in the first instance.
In my opinion, the reason why people can’t tell one B2B brand's digital experience from another is because we're all following the same path. We all want to use new and shiny tools without really understanding whether or not it's relevant, required or redundant. Digital experience doesn't have to be complicated. Your customers and their needs should always come before all the new shiny gadgets and features available in the market.
Tailored to the question above, how would you explain the way in which your business has managed simplification?
The public sector is still, unfortunately, very ‘old school’ and very little is being challenged. Oftentimes it seems as though what has been happening in the private sector is only later introduced in the public sector. It's almost like they have their own evolution.
So, when it came to simplification, we began the process by simplifying our website itself. We created a simple landing page which directs them where they need to go. When they come to the group website, they can quickly understand that this group is made of four key businesses.
Our main goal was to enable our customers to choose, from the very beginning, which business is the one that they're after. One click and they can go to that specific website rather than being bombarded with information on the first page, which can sometimes be a very overwhelming experience.
Essentially, through this process of simplification, our group website became a bouquet that showcases who we are and what we’re offering.
Essentially, through this process of simplification, our group website became a bouquet that showcases who we are and what we’re offering.
The nature of our sector is such that there are a lot of confidentiality agreements preventing us from talking about contracts we win and really showing off the results from certain projects.
As an organisation that caters mostly to the public sector, what are some challenges you’re facing when it comes to customer acquisition?
The majority of our customers work in public safety and they are accustomed to dealing with a lot of paperwork. So, when it comes to customer acquisition, we want that digital process to be as simple and as easy as possible. At the same time, we offer a variety of services which means we need to find a segment for each service or see where they overlap and that was one of the challenges we had to face.
Also, the nature of our sector is such that there are a lot of confidentiality agreements preventing us from talking about contracts we win and really showing off the results from certain projects. Accordingly, another challenge is to come up with content that celebrates our successes without divulging too much information.
How confident are you that you know the size of your addressable market and what can you do to get a clearer idea of it?
Our market is quite niche, therefore we are very confident that we know the size of our addressable market since this information is quite widely available.
In terms of what we can do to get a clearer idea of it, I think it’s important to ensure that the integrity of our data is maintained, either through internal or external channels. For example, if we have a lot of information on charities that deal with youth, we need to ensure we have the right person on file who is the decision maker when we get in touch with them. If this information is not updated regularly, then that’s wasted time and effort for our team.
I think it’s important to ensure that the integrity of our data is maintained, either through internal or external channels.
Your brand needs to be 360, meaning the experiences buyers have online through different digital channels, should align and only be complimented or enhanced through the telemarketing functions.
Given the gradual merging of phone-based (human engagement) with digital channels to optimise and personalise buyer engagement, what changes should organisations like yours make to more closely align the digital marketing and telemarketing functions?
Your brand needs to be 360, meaning the experiences buyers have online through different digital channels, should align and only be complimented or enhanced through the telemarketing functions.
When it comes to better aligning the two, I think it's important that information collected through digital channels is being presented to the sales teams in the right format. This way they can familiarise themselves with the customer's digital profile as much as possible and make an informed decision before they even pick up the phone. Of course, the right infrastructure should go into creating the correct sets of data. It’s not just about collecting data but also about making sure that the information from that data is being cleansed, monitored and updated.
Established in 2005, Red Snapper set on a mission to deliver quality, value, and innovative services to the Public Safety and Enterprise Security sectors. Their portfolio of services – Recruitment, Managed Services, Learning, and Media, offers their partners access to unique, end-to-end solutions, unmatched by any other service provider. With offices across the UK, they pride themselves on bringing both a national and a local point of view to all their partnerships.
