START-UP & SME CLUB - 23 February
How to generate higher growth Caroline Villa, Head of CRM at Net-A-Porter and Adina Luca, Director of Profitable Insights, shared from different perspectives how growth can be generated. These are some of the keys they identified
FOR E-COMMERCE ENTERPRISES
IN THE B-TO-B CONTEXT
Know your audience and how they interact E-commerce is largely driven by data, both explicit and implicit, derived from customers. This may be rich but it is disparate and needs to be brought together in a way that is digestible and clever before it can be used to make decisions.
Anchor your strategy in client revenue and pipeline data Looking at revenue and pipeline data will allow you to confirm or discredit long-standing beliefs and strategies, develop the right sales and most efficient account management strategies, and develop growth strategies that have the highest impact on the long term.
From the data, define a strategy The strategy will encompass customer acquisition, ways of building trust, engaging and nurturing customers, driving first conversions, driving repeat custom, re-engaging with lapsed customers and general advocacy such as sharing options, referral programmes and rating/review schemes. All of this has to be relevant to where customers are. Review your communication channels and touch points Digital retail offers many different and varied options of reaching and communicating with an audience, but it is important to understand what works for your own customers, and be aware that this may vary in different geographical locations. Send communications based on customer preferences, and be promotional if you can. Have a clear call to action. Messaging should be consistent across all touch points, and the whole journey should be seamless. Think social (whether organic or paid) and go mobile. 75% of emails are opened on mobiles and designs should be adapted to this. Apps are only used by those who are very engaged with the brand. Personalise and create stories Use all the data you have to show the right product at the right time to the right person – create emotional connections with relevant stories that will stay in their minds; use their first name in all communications. This involves acting on a combination of customer data, geography and retail moments. Use recommendation engines to get customers beyond the first page; always show them one more product. Test, test and retest Run tests on all elements to find what works for and is relevant to your customers. Monitor performance through strong analytics and optimise and be prepared to adapt constantly. Treat everything as learning and there will be no such thing as failure.
70 - info - may / june 2016
Check your assumptions Entrepreneurs have created their own way of doing business and their success often lies in their stubbornness, but what was true some years ago may no longer be. Look at what has happened and maximise it rather than try something new, e.g. your ‘wins’ came mainly from web-based enquiries in the past but you notice that they now come from client referrals and personal contacts, so maximise the new source and don’t continue investing in the wrong channel. Go and ask your clients It is not enough to just look at data. Go and do your market research. Get feedback: ask your clients and prospective clients how they perceive you and why they buy from you. Review your pricing strategy If you are a small business selling to big organisations, price is not the reason your clients buy from you. They buy because they trust you. Analyse the pricing levels of the won proposals versus the lost proposals to get a true picture and verify your assumptions. Review your market Look at where genuine enquiries are coming from as it could open up others to explore. It may not be the market where you have focused your marketing budget and energies. Look at your conversion rates Look at what happens in the sales process at closing – who goes to the sales meetings, what they say and what they propose. In reality, not all small business owners are the best at selling their products so you might need to get someone else to do it. Develop client relationships Develop relationships with existing clients and improve the quality of service so that you get more referrals. I KF