Why Relationship Marketing Is Essential To B2B Lead Generation

Below are three reasons that will make it clear why relationship marketing is essential to lead generation in the B2B space.

Reason 1: Builds Customer Relationships And Brand Loyalty

Effective communication is one of the critical characteristics of relationship marketing.

You try to connect with your customers on a deeper level, unlike other methods of marketing where communication is on the surface level.

For instance, you answer their queries and concerns and provide them with a solution that aligns with their businesses’ needs and objectives.

Statistics show that 84% of B2B buyers surveyed will likely choose a vendor who clearly understands their business objectives.

So, make sure that you don’t let go of the chance to be the business that clearly understands the evolving needs of its target audience.

Moreover, in relationship marketing, you promote your business and try to maintain transparency and accountability.

Telling people how you can offer help in a transparent way makes them like you even more!

When you accept the mistakes of your business and promise not to repeat them by backing them up with a plan, the customers will trust you with their work-related needs.

If you give them special treatment, whenever a problem occurs, the customer will openly talk to you about the issue they are facing since they won’t consider you rigid in accepting your mistakes.

Instead of drifting away, they will try to sort out their ways with you.

This is of utmost importance in B2B and its lead generation process.

It builds a positive brand image, and more customers will likely be drawn toward you, seeing how well you deal with your old clients.

An excellent example of this is Sendoso.

It is a B2B company that uses its software to foster better customer relationships online and offline through its gift-sending management platform and multi-channel integration.

According to their website:

“Sendoso brings together your digital and corporate gift sending in one place. Stay connected with customers throughout their buying journey. Grow revenue faster with a gift sending strategy that’s differentiated, impactful, and builds stronger, more trusted relationships.” (Source: sendoso)

Due to this relationship marketing strategy, they attracted a broad audience online and offline, like Nasdaq, SurveyMonkey, Quantum, etc., in such a short span of time.

Reason 2: Improves Customer Retention

Since the cost of acquiring new customers is typically higher than retaining the existing ones, relationship marketing can help save you this cost.

It works best for customer retention.

To do this, you must continue to educate and update your customers about any new services and products.

Let’s say you own a business that sells fragrances in bulk. Now, if you’ve added a new product line such as cosmetics, you should let your customers know about it.

Why? Long-term customers often ask for or expect preferential treatment, such as discounts on purchases.

That’s how you can cross-sell and upsell your products. Offering exclusive discounts to your customers will help you to encourage sales and generate profits.

This ensures that the customer is getting value and your business fully accommodates them—as a result, they feel heard and are more likely to choose you.

Not just this, the stable and long-term relationship helps you identify the market insights better since you can get into the details with your customers.

Once you reach out to them, you engage in a business conversation where you inquire about their business whereabouts and problems.

Don’t pitch; rather, provide them with a solution that draws them towards you naturally.

All of this can help increase your business’s Customer Lifetime Value (CLV), and that’s a real win.

According to research from Hubspot, 93% of customers in their report are likely to make repeat purchases with companies that offer excellent customer service.

Reason 3: Brings In Referrals That Are Likely To Convert

Relationship marketing can help ensure that your customers are satisfied with you.

In many cases, satisfied customers act as a bridge between you and the extended business-to-business network.

Customer satisfaction can bring you referrals—which means more business connections and more potential clients!

Customers who refer you to others are completely satisfied with your products, and they work unconsciously on behalf of your business.

It implies that happy customers will boast about your business in their circle and tell others about you.

There is a fair chance of these referrals becoming your paying customers, provided your solution fits well with their needs. In an older study from 2018, it was estimated that 84% of B2B relations started with a referral.

Quick Advice

In relationship marketing, we have long-term goals for our business, and instant results like sales and profits are not our direct points of interest. Building trust with your existing customer base creates referrals that can account for new sales every month.

But remember, relationships are never built overnight, and such is the case with referrals. When happy customers recommend your business to other customers, the new ones are likely to stick around. That’s because many customers trust referrals more than your marketing material, like ads.

So, take a customer-centric approach—don’t be transactional; rather, be transformational.

To Sum Up

Relationship marketing is different from traditional marketing—instead of focusing on one-time sales, it puts emphasis on customer experience.

It is an important approach to follow in order to help scale and grow your business.

When you build long-term relationships with your customers, your business can benefit from customer loyalty, retention and referrals.

And that’s when sales follow indirectly. So, make sure you offer great service to your customers that extends beyond their initial purchase.

By doing so, your business can reach new heights.