Mark Millar Successful Marketing Strategies for the B2B Services Sector.........
Within the Business-to-Business (B2B) Services Sector, sales and marketing practices have some specific nuances that
business development practitioners should seek to continually develop as an integral component of their competitive
advantage.
Regardless of which side of the table you are sitting - buyer or seller, service provider or customer - the key part of any
successful business arrangement is agreeing and defining the services that are going to be provided - and the related
service level expectations.
Sounds simple, but some of the biggest challenges in service provider relationships revolve around reaching a clear
and common understanding of what each of the parties expect to deliver - and to be delivered – in return for the price
being paid. The process of clearly defining the services and the agreed performance levels at which those services will
be provided requires skilled and mature professionals in order to reach that much sought-after goal – the win-win
agreement.
International Best Practices
Managing your outsourced service provider entails a portfolio of expertise and disciplines, harnessed within two key
frameworks that clearly document the agreed services and performance expectations – the SOW (scope of work) and
the SLA (service level agreement), both of which are developed on the basis of mutual agreement and form the
commercial basis of the outsourcing arrangement.
The Scope of Work (SOW) defines the activities being outsourced; clearly outlining the requirements and expectations
from both parties and must be carefully crafted to encompass all the activities involved in the outsourcing
arrangement.
The Service Level Agreement (SLA) defines performance measurements and expectations. These are best defined
through a set of Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) that are both meaningful (not micro detail) and aligned to the
business objectives.
Within your company’s extended ecosystem, the outsourced service provider should be considered an extension of
your business, a partner used for delegation not abdication, managed through collaborative B2B relationship
management methodologies and continuous improvement processes.
Three additional P’s of Services Marketing
By nature of becoming outsourced, the business activities concerned are subsequently purchased as services and
therefore become subject to the critical success factors of services businesses. Over and above the traditional four P’s
of Marketing – Product, Price, Promotion and Place - Services businesses involve an additional three P’s:
Physical Evidence – the results, the deliverables - typically measured through key performance indicators
People – the personnel that are involved in delivering the services
Process – the processes used for effective delivery of the servicesIn the context of delivering services, prior experience is a very powerful means to evaluate alternative providers –
think about restaurants, schools or hair dressers. Successful service delivery manifests itself through these three P’s of
Services - the Physical results, the Processes and the People.
As you do not yet have any prior experience of the service providers being evaluated, you should place considerable
emphasis on those that do – existing customers as client references plus market references from former customers
and industry advisors. In the context of references in service businesses, I like to use my simple litmus test of customer
satisfaction, just two key questions: Would you buy again? And would you recommend?
Mark Millar MBA, FCIM, FCILT, GAICD leverages 25 years global business experience in
B2B to help empower companies and individuals to increase performance in Asia. As a
speaker, moderator, MC and conference chairman at over 300 events in 22 countries,
Mark works closely with clients to enhance their delegate experience and deliver
unprecedented value with his knowledge and energy. [email protected]