B2B: Principles of construction and operation. Customer service and trusting relationships
The B2B market segment has much in common with the B2C segment. Sites in both the first and second cases have a clear information architecture, clear principles interactions, contain unique selling content, invite the visitor to study the details of the product/service, etc. In fact, almost all the standard UX principles that were originally applied to B2C are now used for B2B properties.
However, B2B audiences often have their own needs, which are quite different from the needs of ordinary visitors. In addition, there are many differences in the sales cycle: the B2B audience is characterized by a long decision-making phase, often significantly higher price tags, etc. All these factors cannot be ignored when developing and testing a resource. We bring to your attention 5 main differences in UX (user experience) of the B2B sector.
1. B2B content should take into account the long buying phase
The B2B sector is not characterized by impulsive purchases; most often, a transaction is the result of a long, complex decision-making process. This happens for several reasons: firstly, the cost of the transaction is usually relatively high. In addition, the process usually involves several people at different levels of the corporate hierarchy. These clients often spend weeks, months, or even years researching products before a final decision is made. Throughout this process, they will share their options with other team members, discuss them, explore the pros and cons, and only then commit to their choice.
The B2B procurement process often begins with one person within the company examining the problems facing the organization and trying to find ways to solve them. At this stage, the client may have little understanding of the market segment and product features. Often he is more focused on the problem, but after a while he begins to explore the subject more thoroughly and study your competitors.
In order to support B2B clients at every step, you need to:
1. Use content (articles, blogs, webinars, technical documentation, buyer's guides, case studies), helping visitors understand the problems for which you offer solutions at the first stage of their search. If your product/service is a key part of such a solution, indicate that.
2. Make sure your content meets the criteria your visitors will use to evaluate your competitors. Don't forget to demonstrate your knowledge and successful experience in solving a certain type of problem. Just as a photographer frames an image to focus on the most important subject, so too should you highlight those points that will impress visitors.
3. Acknowledge the presence of competitors, but prove that your product is better through comparison tables or additional text content.
Quadgraphics.com uses case studies to demonstrate how a company's expertise and products solve specific business problems. Resource structure: tasks (problems), their solutions, results and details that are most important to users. Bulleted list of the main points allows you not only to focus on the content, but also makes it possible to compare the company’s offer with those of competitors.
2. The resource must be presented full information about product compatibility
Many B2B purchases are not stand-alone products per se - they are purchased as part of a larger large system. This fact requires a thorough study of compatibility, and this applies not only software or computer equipment. B2B clients must be confident that new products and services will fit into the company's existing daily processes. If a resource visitor cannot find information about compatibility and integration, he will simply close the tab and move on to competitors’ offers.
Compatibility information must be provided for the following products:
- Software;
- Computers, printers, scanners, other office equipment;
- Production equipment, including robotics;
- Ventilation and air conditioning systems;
- Technical testing equipment and automation equipment;
- Projectors, Acustic systems and other equipment for making presentations;
- Chemical, biotechnical, laboratory, testing equipment;
- Security systems;
- Equipment for loading and transportation;
- Equipment for points retail, terminals and kiosks, etc.
Compatibility information should include several items:
1. Product integration: the name of the standard services with which your product works.
2. Options: indicate the versions of those products that can be integrated (for example, if your application requires certain version salesforce system, be sure to indicate this).
3. Advantages: If your product goes better with one of the possible options, write about it. For example, if the application is available for both Android and iOS, but in the latter case you can offer additional functions, clearly indicate this. Sometimes customers make decisions not only based on the benefits of a product; information and how it is presented on the resource often play a big role.
4. Technical support: Tell users what kind of support you provide for hardware integration or migration to new system. This clause will let your clients know that you will remain in contact after the deal is concluded.
5. Standards: When using industry standards, list each one and give maximum detailed information(for example, organizations that have approved this standard).
6. Documentation for connecting the product: place technical details, requirements, etc. on the resource. If the user needs to carry out any manipulations before connecting, be sure to write about it. Don't forget to specify external requirements such as temperature, network power, version operating system etc.
7. Cloud integration and API information support for software.
Remember also that many companies (especially in the industrial sector) have strict rules or standards that they must adhere to. These may be environmental requirements, safety standards, etc. For such customers, the choice of products or services will depend on the availability of detailed compliance information and compliance with certain standards.
The Amazon Services website provides detailed information about the compliance of its services with ISO 9001 standards, with confirmation in the form of a certificate.
3. Content must meet the needs of users and decision makers
As already mentioned, procurement for the B2B sector, as a rule, involves several representatives of the company. For example, if one organization needs to purchase a new oscilloscope, the initiative will most likely be approved by a middle manager, the executive director will make the final decision, and one of the ordinary employees of the company will make the purchase. Many sites for B2B audiences provide information only for decision makers, and this is a big mistake! Directors and senior managers certainly play an important role in the purchasing process, but they will never use the product (in most cases).
Recent studies have shown that during the decision-making process, representatives of the “top” repeatedly discuss purchasing options with those who, in fact, will use the product or service. Often, the end user, such as a researcher, will research the problem themselves and later present options to the company's decision makers.
Your content must meet the needs of both end users and senior management of the company. The first, as a rule, needs information about the features and details of the product, confirming its ease of use and guarantees of further support. In addition, they must provide a compelling demonstration of the chosen solution to their supervisors. So help them: post necessary information, intended for end users, and prepare materials for company management (for example, brochures or PowerPoint presentations).
What are decision makers expecting? Content for this audience should answer questions about cost, reliability, integration, and should prove that the purchase will provide maximum ROI and compare favorably with competitors' solutions.
4. Complex pricing algorithms need to be made easy to understand.
Most products in the B2C segment are characterized by simple prices, which do not change depending on the client. The only exception may be special promotions. Prices in the B2B segment are not so simple. Here the product or service is “tailored” to the needs of each client, who can receive significant discounts in connection with the purchase large quantity goods or agree on special terms of the transaction.
As a result, the final cost of a product for B2B and B2C areas may be different, and it is sometimes very difficult to indicate it on the resource. What to do?
Of course, for a B2B audience, often not only the price will be a decisive factor, but still indicate the exact price. If this is not possible, take a representative sample of your pricing. Provide several typical scenarios or a calculator to calculate the cost of goods. At an early stage, each B2B client needs to navigate the price range in order to approve the budget; and the exact price can be confirmed later.
Chargify's website shows a simple pricing structure using several typical scenarios to suit the size of the organization. For example, for large enterprises with the conclusion of user agreements approximate cost is $0.06 per client. Nearby you see a noticeable call to action button, which encourages you to discuss more specific conditions with the manager (“Let’s Chat”).
The price posted on the website (or, according to at least, price range) also has another positive effect on your business: this information acts as a filter. Your sales team won't have to waste time dealing with customers who can't afford your products or services. However, they can add your product to their “wishlist” until they can afford it.
Conversely, if you offer cheap solution, you can emphasize this by explaining the reasons and tell that it can be scaled as needed depending on the size and needs of the company.
5. UX for different segments, different audiences and different scales business
B2B companies often need customer support, and this can range from a small business to a huge international company. Let's face it: some products may not be suitable for every customer segment. To provide maximum clarity and inspire trust among your audience, indicate on your B2B resource how your products solve problems for companies of different sizes.
For example, the security system supplier must provide various information for the small business owner who wants to protect his store after hours, and for the bank representative who is looking for a solution for a network of branches across the country. Both clients are in the B2B sector, but they have very different needs. It's important that your site helps your visitors find options that suit their specific needs.
A typical approach to solving this problem is to build information architecture site around these customer segments. Phrases such as “for small businesses”, “for corporate clients”, etc. are often used. However, be careful not to confuse your visitors. The categories must be clearly separated from each other and mutually exclusive. If you are dividing businesses by number of employees, write specific numbers (for example, for small and medium-sized businesses).
Sharp's business website categorizes clients by industry. Because some of these groups overlap to some extent, Sharp also provides other navigation options to highlight products by type.
Another option for solving this problem is to use filters that help you make a choice based on your needs, rather than the size of your company or market segments. This allows you to identify products that meet several criteria at once. But be careful: if your product targets different customer segments, overly specific product usage patterns may alienate customers from other industries.
Conclusion
Of course, B2B and B2C sites have a lot in common, but it’s worth remembering that B2B audiences have different needs. When designing a B2B resource, make sure you take the long buying cycle into account and ensure that your content is relevant to each decision stage.
Provide details on how your products integrate with other common industry solutions and include content targeted at both end users and purchasing decision makers.
Provide pricing schemes based on company size or other criteria, and help visitors find products that meet their company's needs.
- Expertly assess the prospects of such a development for the organization
- Conclude a design contract. During the design process we examine critically important processes in the organization, assess the volume of documents, highlight important documents, processes and tasks.
- The next stage is a contract for technical specifications. Based on the design survey, detailed technical specifications will be drawn up for subsequent program implementation.
- After the development of the portal, a stage of trial operation, testing, and preparation of regulatory documentation is carried out.
Key management tasks when implementing a b2b website
Comparison of the product catalog in 1C and on the website
As a rule, in information base The 1C structure of the “Nomenclature” directory is the result of a long history of work by different users. In most cases, the external client will not be able to navigate the existing structure. The goal is that it should be convenient for the client to collect an order in his personal account.
Pricing in 1C and on the website
As a rule, when selling through personal accounts, clients expect an individual approach to pricing. It is necessary to approve the scheme for setting prices for items in the order.
Assign responsibility to clients
An order from your personal account must be created in 1C under a predefined user, preferably depending on the client.
Decide where to store product descriptions
It’s possible in 1C, or on the site itself. The issue is ease of administration.
Formulate a customer identification policy.
The client receives a login and password. But in one organization there may be two or more employees who have access to the personal account, or there may be one employee for two organizations.
Order approval regulations
Some order items are in stock, others may take some time to arrive. The task of order synchronization is not trivial. The client sent the order and received a final invoice in response. However, the structure of his application has not changed (for the sake of history). But in the orders table he sees the invoice amounts. If orders are synchronized, it is important to approve the order status system in order to limit the phases of order approval between the client and the manager.
Order statuses and notifications
In offline mode, the Buyer's Order has two statuses - Paid or Shipped. When clients move online, there will almost certainly be an objective need to introduce additional intermediate status options - received, agreed upon, approved, ready for shipment, sent for delivery, etc.
Integration with 1C
We have all the necessary competencies to set up data exchange between the site and 1C. Personal Area with full integration with 1C this is very high level your business, now cool companies can afford it. The service is described separately in the Integration section.
How much does it cost to create a B2B website?
Such projects are always very individual. We have an interesting basic offer, for only 199,000 rubles. This price will include:
- Product license 1C-Bitrix: Site Management
- User authorization with login and password
- Creating an order from your personal account
- Manual administration of orders, statuses and documents
- Downloading documents via LAN
- Support module
Additional options on your b2b website may be:
- Integration with 1C
- Internal chat for employees and clients
- Generation of invoices for payment
- Chatbot for order tracking
Important: a convenient b2b account can only be created on the basis of high-quality terms of reference, the development of which will be based on business needs. Contact us and sign an agreement to develop your own internal portal for clients.
The goals of B2B sites are usually more complex than those pursued by typical B2C sites. This is one of the excuses why usability is so often poor on B2B sites.
However, in reality, the more complex the user scenario, the better the interface should be designed. Thus, business-to-business sites must pay even more attention to usability, since they are designed for more complex tasks.
In this article we will try to understand where to start creating a B2B website by examining successful examples sites ecommerce and services in the heavyweight category.
B2B vs. B2C
Purchases on B2B sites are often made in large quantities, and service contracts are concluded for long term. The products on these sites can be extremely specialized, with complex requirements. Finally, decisions made on B2B sites can have long-term consequences: customers don't just make a one-time purchase, they often sign up for a long-term relationship with a supplier.
Because of the above reasons, we can conclude that user experience is not based on market research and the assortment of a particular site in particular, as well as decision-making based on multiple criteria.
Therefore, B2B sites must provide a wider range of information than is typical for B2C. A B2B site should offer both simple facts that can be easily and quickly read by a busy manager, and provide in-depth white papers and statistics that can be used to understand the prospects for use, return on investment, and how the product will integrate with the customer's existing environment.
First strategy, then design
Don't create a website separate from yours marketing strategy. Before using best practices, take another look at your strategy. And then again for a recommendation. And again on strategy. Is straightforward pricing consistent with general policy? What purpose should the website serve: increasing brand awareness or making it possible to place an order on it?
Transparency in pricing remains a perennial topic of debate. Should you open the cards right away or is it better to introduce them first? potential client with a sales manager? No need to reinvent the wheel: let's turn to the general marketing strategy.
Common mistakes on B2B websites
Using a template in a design or description is always easier. Firstly, you don’t have to think, and secondly, there is less responsibility - after all, that’s what everyone in the industry does. On business-to-business websites, clichés can be found everywhere. Here are a few common mistakes.
Customer service and trusting relationships
Do you know this girl?
What if you take a closer look? Where could you see her? Perhaps everywhere.
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Use photos of real employees - it creates trusting relationship with clients. Cooperation between businesses is often long-term, and during work they establish certain connections between colleagues from different companies. It’s much more pleasant to call Anya or Gena, and not the soulless Support Agent No. 3.
About company
It happens that when you go to the page of the same name, you begin to wonder: “Who did the boss commission to write this text?” Secretary? Accountant? Purchasing manager? Programmer?
Don't be boring. Free style writing will not be equated by visitors with superficiality. Keep the important content, but change the form - get rid of cliches.
Maxim Ilyakhov will tell you best how to write text in the “About the Company” section.
More specifics
Everything that is not a number is all a lie. When communicating benefits, remember who your buyer is.
You are not selling to a mom, but to a skeptical, busy person who is initially on the defensive.
Operate with statistics, real achievements and benefits that the client will receive when working with you, expressed in numbers.
E-commerce to B2B
As examples, consider large American e-commerce sites in the business-to-business segment: quill.com, grainger.com, amazon.com.
B2B and B2C users
People who come to the site are not abstract corporate clients, A ordinary people, which in Everyday life buy things for themselves in online stores. And they have already developed certain patterns of behavior on e-commerce sites.
A B2B site visitor is a user who has a clear goal and purchasing criteria, but is still susceptible to emotions, still does not like filling out forms with 20 fields and waiting for a long time for pages to load.
The slogan of the largest B2B online store for offices, Quill, is:
A small part of your work is 100% of ours.
The most important difference between B2B and B2C users is that the former visit your site because it is their job. Therefore, we must try to alleviate their lot. Provide users with:
- Payment without registration or automatic registration account
- Connecting a credit card
- Integration with ERP system
- A clear self-service system
- Easy repeat purchase process or delivery after a certain period of time
Help me find the products I need
70% of user activity on a B2B website is related to search.
Finding information = navigation + product categories + tags + filters + search.
- Create an intuitive navigation structure
There are thousands of products on the websites of online hypermarkets, but thanks to the clear structure of sections, any product can be found in a few clicks.
- Use an F-shaped page design
In this design, the main menu, navigation and page content form a Latin F.
- Show recommended products
- Add bread crumbs
- Multiple filtering and sorting methods
- Display sales statistics for each product
- Provide the opportunity to compare products
Aerobatics - detailed comparison detergents.
Site search
50% of users use internal search to find required product. What is important for searching on B2B e-commerce sites:
- Ease of use and speed
- Search is available on every page
- Typing hints
- The ability to go to purchase a product from the search results page
- Search results can be sorted or filtered
All roads lead from Google
As a rule, purchases begin with a search not within the site, but with global search online. Therefore, internal and external search engine optimization for B2B sites remains relevant. However, like contextual search advertising, the ads of which should lead to product pages, and not to the main page.
Don't forget to create the files XML sitemap And XML file for the catalog (product feed).
B2B buyers know exactly what they want
For company procurement, the requirements are more formalized than for shopping. regular user. The buyer often knows what he needs down to the model and QR code of the product. What should we take care of for determined buyers?
- Opportunity direct input in the code search line (part of the number, article)
- Allow downloading of Excel, XML or CSV files with codes and required quantities
- Remember planned and recurring purchases
Product card in B2B
The second most important page of the site is the product card. It is product cards that collect the most traffic. What should be on the page:
- Detailed description
- Specifications
- Price (price range depending on lot size)
- Batch number
- Zoomable images
- Video or 3-D images for high-value items
- Alternative Products
- Accessories
For example, counterparty debits, online reconciliation (accounting debt), integration with 1C, SAP or AXAPTA, display of multiple warehouses or availability of goods “in transit”.
Such systems are designed individually for the Customer’s business processes: first, a pre-project study is carried out (under the guidance of a business analyst, project manager and technical director), and only then a work estimate is drawn up and the system is designed.
b2b has been gaining popularity over the past 5 years:
Indeed, saving human resources and the possibility of growth - in one product
Non-standard functions of b2b systems
Cases
Look at our case for Dominanta - sales management of advertising structures.b2b system for ordering electrical equipment, Elevel company
Integration with AXAPTA: Personal account for 100,000 users “Caesar Satellite”.
Portal "SportMag" - more than 2000 registered companies.
International exhibition portal ExpoClub (Negus Expo).
Team
Already at the start of the project, we introduce the Customer to the team. Typical composition: project manager, analyst, technical writer, 1-3 programmers, designer, technologist and 1-2 QA specialists. As usual, all this is supported by top management: technical and account directors.The manager is the central link of the project:
remembers everything, is responsible for everything and stays with you
at further development project.
Production: development scheme, version control, autotests.
In the process of writing the terms of reference, we create a diagram of website blocks with dependencies: this allows you to program in stages, as well as assign parallel tasks to programmers.
With the help of a version control system, you can assign several programmers to a project at once, and their changes can be easily tracked. The same technology is used for further site support.
When delivering a project, we use both automatic and manual testing to ensure everything is covered. Download a sample website testing report.
Technologies and frameworks
Web: PHP (1C-Bitrix, Laravel, Symfony, YII, ZEND), Java2EE, ASP.net (C#), Ruby, Python.
Mobile: SWIFT, Objective C, java, React.
Testing: Jenkins, Selenium, Cucumber, Calabash, JUnit, Allure.
Escort
After delivery, we maintain the project using Jenkins for continuous integration - continuous shipment of updates, and GIT for version control.
How do we stand out?
Quality Standards. In 2018, we confirmed our quality management standards: we are certified according to ISO 9001:2015 (certificate) and ISO 27001:2005 (information security management).
Development transparency. Clients see all the Studio employees in our Intranet system and can communicate with them directly there. All agreements are recorded in tasks, information is not lost (unlike mail or telephone).
Guarantee period . We provide unlimited (unlimited) a guarantee for all the work we perform, our specialists will advise you free of charge on the creation of websites and further promotion of your projects.
Saving time on order processing
The system analyzes the list of goods and breaks down the order based on: warehouse, branch, manufacturer. Then it is sent to the accounting system for a specific production. Possibility of working with different manufacturers, even if the product range is the same.
Improving the quality of service
The buyer will select products faster when working with large lists of items. The system quickly synchronizes data from accounting systems clients with a B2B portal. For example, synchronizing 150,000 products takes an average of 20 seconds.
Simplifying the work of managers and buyers
The manager and buyer do not waste time agreeing on the order or launching production. The user himself creates an order - the B2B portal database always contains up-to-date information, updated according to a schedule approved with the client.
Acceleration of shipment of goods
Contractors know exactly when and in which warehouse the goods can be loaded. The manufacturer sets the criteria and closed shipping days in the ERP. Afterwards, the data goes to the B2B portal to report the status: product availability or debt.
Organization of work in different regions
Automated balance management helps large companies display up-to-date information for counterparties from different cities and regions. This is how counterparties decide which warehouse or branch to send the order to.
Pricing policy management
Markup management technology allows you to control dealer systems. If the dealership adds cost to the suggested prices, the distributor can see the resulting margin and adjust its plan.
Increased loyalty and motivation
Distributor manages marketing programs dealer: conducts promotions, competitions, accrues or writes off bonuses. In such cases, the dealer spends the points at his discretion. For this purpose, the B2B system provides the necessary functions.
Organization of work with branches via the Internet
Prices and products vary by region. Therefore, the distributor organizes and sets up pricing policy through a B2B system. Determines which products and at what price to display in different cities.
Development individual work with counterparties
Each counterparty receives personal discounts on certain products or brands. Sees the exchange rates that the company has specifically set for a specific counterparty. The decision depends on the company's pricing policy.
Pricing
Personal pricing algorithms in the B2B portal take into account the pricing policy for different types products or brands. They manage the interaction of discounts within certain product sections.