Reimagining Solutions: Looking Beyond the Product in B2BA Dive into Innovative Customer Experiences and Transformational B2B Strategies
On this episode of B2BDM, we are honored to have Allen Adamson with us to talk about the importance of looking beyond the product to offer extraordinary experiences in B2B sales. Allen emphasizes the need to identify new problems, focus on specific touchpoints in the customer journey, and partner with others to provide better solutions.
In addition, he discusses trends in renting rather than buying and the need for businesses to constantly relearn and stay open to change. This episode offers valuable insights and takeaways for anyone in the B2B world looking to improve their customer experience and stay ahead of the competition.
Allen Adamson began his career in marketing at Unilever, where he learned the importance of standing out in crowded consumer goods markets. He then worked at an ad agency, focusing on meeting consumers’ needs in the decision-making process between similar products like Crest and Colgate. Later in his career, he worked at global brand firm Lander, applying traditional marketing tactics to the challenges of working in B2B with companies like IBM and Accenture.
Podcast Timestamps/Outline
01:39 – Introduction
04:39 – Principles for success in B2B & B2C.
06:37 – Zoom out, don’t just focus on product.
12:18 – Customer-centricity requires fresh eyes and curiosity.
16:52 – Innovation through reimagining, extraordinary service important.
19:56 – “B2B lens: see like concierge”
22:31 – Identify new problems; focus on touchpoints.
27:18 – Tailoring/customizing sales requires preparation and observation.
30:01 – Growing rental trend for business and personal needs.
33:16 – Renting, leasing, and virtual solutions in B2B.
36:30 – Partnering for better solutions and content.
42:08 – Sales down? Innovate or die.
44:14 – Impatience and rational skepticism drive success.
45:02 – Connect with Allen Adamson
Memorable Quotes
“If your entire focus is the product, that’s one way to grow the business. But if that’s your only way to grow the business, you’re cooked.”
“So the best customer observations, best customer insights often don’t come from asking them, what do you want in an insurance company? It comes from either observing them or showing them an idea about what about this, what about that? People will give you a hint when you watch them and watch how they behave more than just telling you.”
“No one shares ordinary. No one says, I took a flight to LA and the plane landed roughly on time. They found my bags after 20 minutes. And they will tell you the pilot got lost and landed in Cleveland. And they’ll tell that to everybody. But they’ll also only tell you something extraordinary that when I did this.”
“If you have somebody in your customer care department who can really see beyond just the table stakes and think like a concierge, you will get more wow experiences.”
“Can you really identify, because all businesses need to solve problems, a new problem that happens in the new world, because if you’re only solving yesterday’s problem, you’re cooked.”
“Everyone says we tailor things, and everyone knows that if somebody tailors something to you, it’s going to feel better going back to when you had that experience. But doing it is hard.”
“Lots of companies need help and owning something versus renting it or leasing it. So just because you have a high price…more of that’s going to happen as customers realize that they don’t need to buy everything all the time.”
“Nothing beats the intimacy, whether you’re helping a customer do something easy or hard of being available to see through their eyes virtually.”
“Only the paranoid survive because the best time to innovate is when your business is booming. But that’s the time human nature says, ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
Episode Links and Resources
Seeing the How (Amazon): https://amzn.to/42oEgkE
Seeing the How (website): https://allenadamson.com/seeing-the-how-book/
Metaforce website: https://www.metaforce.com/
Allen’s website: https://allenadamson.com/
Allen’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allenadamson/
Allen’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/adamsona
Digital activity ROI assessment: https://b2bdm.com/digital-activity-roi/
More episodes related to branding: https://b2bdm.com/brand-advocates
