In a vast B2B landscape where different companies compete with each other to draw prospects and win new customers, what can set you apart? Customer segmentation and emotional intelligence.
Over the years, customer segmentation has been the go-to strategy for many B2B companies when it comes to lead tracking, with the eventual goal of lead conversion. But what if we told you that you could also better understand buyer behavior and improve your customer service team’s emotional intelligence?
Keep reading to learn how your B2B organization can make the most of customer segmentation and emotional intelligence.
Customer Segmentation and How It Helps B2B Companies
Customer segmentation can help B2B companies classify customers based on their buying behaviors to help them tailor their marketing strategies accordingly. Buyers with similar characteristics are grouped and placed at a specific lead stage so that the company can make the best decisions and adopt the best approach for them.
As a B2B company, customer segmentation can also help you categorize leads as hot, warm, cold, etc. Such data is crucial for you to deliver exactly what a segment of customers needs to make a purchase with you.
However, in a B2B setting where your audience has a fair idea of the whys and hows of your marketing strategies, you need to do something extra.
As a business entity, you have top-of-the-class technology and data at the tip of your fingers. However, purchases are not only utilitarian in their purpose but may also have an emotional significance. By factoring in this emotion-based buyer behavior, you can emerge as an emotionally intelligent business and better understand your customers' needs.
But before we dig into emotional intelligence, let's look at the different types of customer segmentation.
The 7 Types of Customer Segmentation
The most common types of customer segmentation are:
Firmographic Segmentation
This type of segmentation focuses on the basic characteristics of your target audience. When catering to B2B companies, it may mean the size of the company, its scale of operations, industry, type of services, revenue, and/or ownership type (public, private, semi-private, government, etc.). Obtaining such primary information is elemental in establishing the companies you want to serve and constituting the most suitable marketing strategies.
Geographic Segmentation
Geographic segmentation will help you land the set of customers who might be looking for you. This type of segmentation focuses on location, climate, culture, etc.
For example, as a local business that does not serve international clients yet, you may want to narrow your potential clients to your state or country.
Behavioral Segmentation
As the name suggests, behavioral segmentation is based on mapping out the buyer behavior of a client and assigning a lead stage to them. Everything from a client's repeated purchase of your services to opting out of them can be a part of this segmentation.
For example, based on the social media users who visit your profile or have shown interest in your services, you may show them ads detailing why your company is the best at what you do.
Psychographic Segmentation
While considered to be the most challenging type of customer segmentation of all, psychographic segmentation can also be the most helpful. It looks into the psychological factors of clients, like their interests, beliefs, preferences, attitudes, hobbies, personality, etc. It leads the way to a more tailored experience for them.
Some clients choose to collaborate with you simply because their values align with yours. For example, if your companies promise animal cruelty-free services, you may attract some environmentally and ecologically aware clients.
Benefit Segmentation
Often one of the wisest insights into your customer base can be derived from a straightforward thought: How can your products/services benefit your customers?
By pondering about your products' usefulness for your customers, you can not only assess your company's standing but also zero in on the buyers who truly need what you offer.
For example, a company may create a skincare product based on different skin types like an oily, dry, combination, or acne-prone skin. Make certain to identify how your products and services align with your client's diverse needs.
Technographic Segmentation
The type of segmentation which groups customers based on their technology consumption is technographic segmentation. It's more commonly used in industries like IT, SaaS, and online marketing analytics. Technographic segmentation comes in handy to target clients who are thoroughly involved or dependent upon the use of desktop or online software to operate their business.
Value-Based Segmentation
As a business, your ultimate goal is maximum revenue. Value-based segmentation helps you analyze which group of customers provides the most value to your company in terms of greater ROI.
B2B companies that are loyal customers of your services, engaging in repeated purchases, recommending your brand to others, etc., bring you the highest ROI.
How Emotional Intelligence Impacts Customer Service in B2B Companies
Modern-day businesses heavily rely on customer relationships. Presently, the most successful business model is the one that combines the powers of marketing strategies and interpersonal skills like empathy, social skills, and self-awareness. Customer relationship is also an unspoken customer segmentation type. Understanding your partner companies by delving into their preferences as well as their behavior does the trick.
While personalization always takes away the spotlight, an emotionally intelligent business would also know that there is more to it. Humans thrive on emotions, and gradually, we are seeing a dissolution of the divide between business management and emotional connections.
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