In B2C businesses, customer service is everything – or almost everything. 96% of consumers say that customer service is an essential factor for deciding which retailer to buy from. For B2B companies, especially CPG suppliers in the grocery, big-box, beauty and pharmacy sectors, the reality is no different.
Anecdotally, when we hear customer service, we think of waiters and employees on the shop floor – individuals who have a clear sway on a customer’s experience and whether they come back. In the B2B world, this translates into the quality and consistency of day-to-day interactions between suppliers and their retail customers in determining whether retailers continue to buy from suppliers in the future.
At Advantage Group International, our focus is on helping suppliers understand, measure, and benchmark their customer relationships. These relationships require listening and understanding to improve, and with improvement comes the heightened potential for growth.
How do we help suppliers improve their customer relationships and increase commercial success?
1. We share both sides of the story
Great relationships are built on shared stories. That’s why we apply a 360° approach to collecting information, asking suppliers and retailers to provide their unique perspectives to one and the other’s businesses. It’s only by bridging the experienced and perceived gaps on both sides of the relationship that partners can be better together.
2. We tailor our research to fit your business
Listening programs only work if the people that matter are the ones you are listening to. To ensure that this happens, we only survey the individuals that suppliers determine are relevant to the relationship. This ensures that the final plan isn’t biased toward irrelevant data points and that the feedback captured is representative of a supplier’s customer relationships.
3. We focus on creating a sustainable pathway for your growth
Suppliers who utilize Advantage ReportTM for customer listening experience an average annual sales increase of 4.9% after the first year1. Our reporting is strategically designed to deliver actionable insights and a clear plan for changing behaviours that drive deeper, more meaningful B2B relationships.
For suppliers and retailers across the US, Advantage is a crucial partner in helping them reach their business goals through data analysis, advice, and action planning.
For over 30 years and in over 40 countries, we’ve worked with suppliers and retailers, both large and small, giving us an incredible depth of experience, knowledge, and insight into the intricacies of effective business-to-business relationships. It’s because of this experience that we don’t leverage our customer feedback programs to sell other products and services, it’s all we do, and we do it well.
Contact Advantage Group USA today to learn more about how our services can benefit your business’ unique goals and customer strategies.
1 Based on annual gross revenue in US dollars. Based on a study of 54 top global suppliers over 5 years from 2012 to 2016 in Overall Performance at market level.
