by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA
Few things can be as effective at generating sales as positive customer reviews. Similarly, and conversely, few things can be as damaging to sales as negative customer reviews. In terms of online retail, a recent survey found that positive reviews influence the purchase decisions of 90 percent of respondents, while negative reviews influence around 86 percent. But that’s in the B2C (business-to-consumer) world. In B2C, there are a relatively large number of customer interactions compared to B2B (business-to-business). This means that while B2B has fewer potential customer reviews to base a purchase decision on, each one is that much more impactful. Continue reading “Cultivating Customer Advocates in a B2B Environment”
Sales professionals will be quick to tell you that a positive customer review goes a long way toward converting prospects into eventual customers. What better way to convince the market that you can walk the walk than to have satisfied customers tell your story for you? Conversely, negative reviews can be quite damaging. 
In a recent Entrepreneur article, John Rampton explains to readers “
Most people who have worked in any customer-facing role, whether as a waiter, retail clerk, or business relationship manager, have had to deal with difficult customers. And, when you’re working for someone else, you typically just have to grin and bear it. However, for freelancers and small business owners, you have some flexibility. You have the ability to make decisions about whether or not to keep a client or customer.
To a large extent, the sales and marketing world can be divided along two broad lines: business-to-business (B2B) versus business-to-consumer (B2C) and products versus services. Sales strategies for B2C services will differ from B2B services, which differ from B2B products, etc. There are best practices and pitfalls for each quadrant of possible scenarios created by this way of looking at sales and marketing. 
Customer relations is a crucial aspect of any business strategy. And for good reason. Amy Gallo of Harvard Business Review 
A frequently quoted “formula” in the field of customer relations tells us: “expectations – reality = disappointment.” While this may seem simplistic, don’t relegate it to the ranks of witty sayings or bumper sticker slogans. There is a great deal of truth in this straightforward equation. Most business owners, managers and customer-facing employees have dealt with unhappy customers. It’s part of the job. But all too often, that customer frustration or disappointment can be avoided by properly managing expectations. 
No company retains every customer they do business with. There is a natural ebb and flow of customers over time, whether your company provides a product or a service. Understanding that ebb and flow is important. Calculating the lifetime value of your customers, anticipating potential losses and determining how much time and effort to spend on prospecting for new customers are all very important elements of running any business.