Reliability matters more than price in product marketing



A survey by the CEB Sales Leadership Council investigated the contributing factors to B2B customer loyalty – namely looking at what it took to choose one supplier over another. The results were as follows:

• Company and brand effect: 19 per cent

• Product and service delivery: 19 per cent

• Value-to-price ratio: 9 per cent

• The purchase experience: 53 per cent

One of the most fascinating insights from this research was that only 38 per cent of customer loyalty is attributable to a supplier’s ability to outperform the competition on brand, product and service. That means that investments in improving your brand, product and customer service will only get you so far. They are important, but not the key to success in B2B sales.

Furthermore, only 9 per cent of loyalty is attributable to price. Dropping prices to win business is a deadly game. As far as loyalty is concerned, customers who want to buy the cheapest will probably continue to do so. So you may be cheapest today, but a competitor can always drop their price, and provided your customer is fixated only on price you will lose their business. So all those times you lowered your price to win a deal does not necessarily make your client loyal to you.

The most compelling piece of insight from this work is that the majority (53 per cent) of customer loyalty is attributable to the purchase experience. In other words, how you compete out in the field during the sales call has more effect on customer loyalty than all other factors combined. So improving your brand, enhancing your customer service and dropping your prices may win you some customer loyalty, but none of those will matter if your sales team cannot execute out in the field.

A major finding from the research highlighted customers’ desire to learn from their suppliers. They wanted to be educated on issues to do with their business and learn new ways of either making or saving time or money. Sharing insight on ways to get customers to think differently about their businesses mattered most.

The problem comes when companies decide to start creating content – they look at leaders in their own or other industries who have created books, pamphlets, blogs, videos and other useful information and are overwhelmed. I understand where that feeling may come from; it’s usually a voice inside the chief executive or marketing director’s head saying: “Where the heck do I start?”. The truth is, it needs to start very small and simple. What shouldn’t be small is the goal, which isn’t necessarily to create content. The goal of content marketing is to create and share valuable information about issues that are relevant to your customers so they in turn know you, trust you and buy from you.

If you are thinking about taking your first steps to create content as part of your marketing strategy, here are some steps to keep in mind:

1. Think big, but start small.

Have big goals: start with why you want to create content for your business in the first place. Is it to help progress prospects through the sales funnel, or is it to keep in touch with your current clients so they know you are active and provide them with additional value? Having these types of goals in mind is a great place to start.

2. Think how you will create the content.

This depends completely on what the person in charge of creating the content within your business is comfortable with. If she is comfortable in writing, then take that route. If she is more comfortable in speaking in front of a camera, then create some videos that can later be transcribed (very cheaply on Elance or oDesk) for next to nothing. Either way, it’s mostly writing, speaking, or drawing that takes the shape of content.

3. Think of what you will create.

What issues do your clients have that you are comfortable with writing or speaking about? Which one or two things do you wish clients knew that would save them time and money? Don’t overthink it too much, and don’t start with a labour-intensive piece of content (like a book) in mind first. If you’re writing, create a short article. If you’re creating a video, make it short using your phone or a simple camera set-up. The idea is that you make it simple and prove to yourself and your company that you’re on to something.

Get your customers to think differently, to the point where they understand that they have a problem and need to change their ways. That’s when you then present them with what you sell, which just so happens to solve the problem they didn’t know they had.

Ahmed Al Akber is the managing director of Ack Solutions, a firm that helps companies improve their marketing and sales results

business@thenational.ae

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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Hoopla%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Jacqueline%20Perrottet%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2010%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPre-seed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20required%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500%2C000%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Essentials

The flights

Etihad (etihad.ae) and flydubai (flydubai.com) fly direct to Baku three times a week from Dh1,250 return, including taxes. 
 

The stay

A seven-night “Fundamental Detox” programme at the Chenot Palace (chenotpalace.com/en) costs from €3,000 (Dh13,197) per person, including taxes, accommodation, 3 medical consultations, 2 nutritional consultations, a detox diet, a body composition analysis, a bio-energetic check-up, four Chenot bio-energetic treatments, six Chenot energetic massages, six hydro-aromatherapy treatments, six phyto-mud treatments, six hydro-jet treatments and access to the gym, indoor pool, sauna and steam room. Additional tests and treatments cost extra.

Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

BACK%20TO%20ALEXANDRIA
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Ain Issa camp:
  • Established in 2016
  • Houses 13,309 people, 2,092 families, 62 per cent children
  • Of the adult population, 49 per cent men, 51 per cent women (not including foreigners annexe)
  • Most from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa
  • 950 foreigners linked to ISIS and their families
  • NGO Blumont runs camp management for the UN
  • One of the nine official (UN recognised) camps in the region
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Brief scores:

Barcelona 3

Pique 38', Messi 51 (pen), Suarez 82'

Rayo Vallecano 1

De Tomas Gomez 24'

The biog

Marital status: Separated with two young daughters

Education: Master's degree from American Univeristy of Cairo

Favourite book: That Is How They Defeat Despair by Salwa Aladian

Favourite Motto: Their happiness is your happiness

Goal: For Nefsy to become his legacy long after he is gon

Kill%20
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Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

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The specs

Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo

Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed

Power: 271 and 409 horsepower

Torque: 385 and 650Nm

Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000

Dubai Bling season three

Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed 

Rating: 1/5

Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
 
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
 
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
SUZUME
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets