B2B/B2C - the same, but different: part one

By Stuart Lauchlan, news and analysis editor

While B2C firms have come to terms with need to manage the relationship with their customers, all too many B2B companies have been too quick to expand, develop technologies, win new accounts, integrate with other systems and, forge strategic alliances rather than focus on the customers.

But the reality is that B2B organisations also need to adopt CRM strategic initiatives to prosper or survive. They must analyse information about their existing clients and provide products and services that they value as well as attract new clients. The process of identifying and predicting the needs of the marketplace means they need to leverage databases and systems for relevant business information, collect new information, analyse it and act on it to enhance productivity and increase profitability. And that's all about the customer.

From a technology point of view, it’s not so much what’s different as how the technology is applied. “B2B, B2C and the dreaded B2B2C - essentially there is not a difference,” argues David Arrowsmith, strategy manager for customer intelligence at SAS UK. “To work effectively the goal is to use the knowledge that is available to get relevant marketing messages to the customer.”

The point is reiterated by Jason Nash, CRM product manager for Microsoft Dynamics CRM. "Contrary to the common belief that there are many differences between B2B and B2C customer relationship management systems, they are in fact similar in many ways," he argues. "The approach to relationship management is largely the same; from the purpose of relationship tracking, to system features and requirements. Indeed, the majority of CRM systems currently on the market work in both B2B and B2C environments, the key difference lies in how they are deployed."

That said, there are stark differences between B2C and B2B firms. For starters, B2B firms not only have to know their own customers, they have to know their customer's customers meaning that CRM is inextricably linked to supply chain management (SCM) issues. “I think the CRM requirements of the two are quite different,” argues NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson. “While B2B and B2C CRM may overlap in terms of the of the functionality customers in those markets require (for example, both would require customer support functionality), the markets emphasize elements of a CRM system quite differently.

“B2C CRM is quite tightly coupled with e-commerce, as the internet is the most efficient way to reach consumers. Hence, a stand-alone CRM system that is de-coupled from your webstore is pretty useless (and unfortunately for B2C customers, most CRM applications today treat your website as an afterthought). From a functionality standpoint, the emphasis tends to be around the marketing automation (keyword tracking, e-mail marketing) and customer service management, rather than sales force automation.

“In addition if you want to truly manage the customer relationship, you need to integrate more advanced CRM requirements such credit card processing and third-party shipping management firms such as FedEx and UPS. While e-commerce is certainly of growing importance in serving B2B, B2B CRM emphasises first and foremost sales force automation - primarily opportunity management, contact management, and forecast management. For more advanced CRM systems like NetSuite's that include order management, the post-sales process of cross-sell and upsell can also be automated.”

Part two, B2B databases and websites, click here.