By:
Ray Chelstowski
Hilton Barbour
For most people, loyalty programs are all about retailers,
hotels, airlines, and restaurants. A sturdy B2C link between a Business and
their Consumers. Recently the “loyalty” idea has taken on new life in the B2B world
– and it seems clear that the B2B arena is ripe for a loyalty offering. In a recent PwC customer survey, almost 60% of B2B customers reported they had never
had an experience with a brand that made them feel special. That single stat
should have alarm bells ringing across every B2B marketing organization.
Consider that, in B2B just as in B2C, it typically costs 5X to acquire a customer
than to retain one, and on average the most loyal customers can account for up
to 80% of a company’s revenues.
For companies willing to reimagine the traditional
transactional nature of their B2B relationships, a loyalty program represents
an important growth opportunity. Though it does present a unique set of challenges.
The “typical” B2B buyer is more often a group than just one person—so who
are you rewarding and what reward be most appealing to the buying group?
Dollars off might be simple to execute but that doesn’t increase the perception
of your brand. Ultimately, any successful B2B loyalty program must align with
the customer’s strategic goals and transform transactional relationships into
dynamic partnerships designed to promote mutual success.
One organization taking this opportunity on is Fiverr. Since 2010, the Fiverr platform has been at the forefront of the topical “future of work” conversation connecting businesses with skilled freelancers in more than 500 categories, across 9 verticals. In August, they launched Seller Plus, a subscription-based loyalty program for their freelance customers. For $29 a month, freelancers who subscribe can access a suite of unique benefits that include a dedicated success manager, faster payment clearance, growth program priority, priority support, advanced analytics, and customer engagement tools, as well as exclusive events and educational content. Now that’s an elegant – and insightful – package of benefits and rewards for any freelancer.
Ultimately the Seller Plus service provides
freelancers significant opportunity to take their business to the next level.
Subscribers are given access to a variety of additional data and tools that
allow them to better evaluate the health of their business, to improve their
offerings, and to better serve their own clients. The added analytic features provide
the ability to look at the keywords that are leading to purchases as well as
see where their orders are coming from. Each subscriber is assigned a dedicated
success manager to help them navigate through all the tools and provide
personalized advice. Success managers can also help prepare subscribed
freelancers for potential inclusion in Fiverr’s various other growth programs,
including Fiverr Pro, Fiverr Choice, and Rising Talent. In the end, it’s all
data driven and by design a sure-fire hit.
As the economy springs back from its pandemic lows,
progressive B2B organizations will see the benefit loyalty programs and begin
to seek out ways to deploy them. No organization wants to face the huge
investments associated with customer churn, a classic B2B nightmare. We’re
watching this evolution closely, as the ability to bring B2B organizations into
the uniquely collaborative environment of Kognitiv is one that we know can add
benefit to all parties and partners. We think Fiverr is on to something. Watch
this space!
ray.chelstowski@kognitiv.com
hilton.barbour@kognitiv.com
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