Knowing your client is a fundamental part of doing business, and the case is no different when you’re servicing brands. In fact, brands should be treated just like any other B2B buyer, with an understanding that their requirements are often unique and far more demanding than a standard consumer’s would be. While that might sound daunting, there are plenty of benefits to working with brands.
Price Is Not The End Game
For most brand clients, price is often a secondary consideration, while brands certainly have budgets, they’re larger, more flexible, and often represent years of reliable profit if you correctly layout your contract and wow them by establishing a great business relationship.
When you’re working with a brand, be mindful of their primary consideration: quality. Quality is going to be the driving factor behind their decision, and to them that represents something highly functional and dependable. They want a solution that they can rely on in the long-term, and they’re willing to pay for it — even if the right solution is more costly than the “just okay” option.
Establish Long-Term Partnerships
When it comes to managing client accounts where the client is a brand, you need to think about some of the key aspects that will drive a successful partnership.
First and foremost, that means actually looking at it as a partnership because another brand is going to require some invested effort in describing, demonstrating, and implementing the product. Beyond that, they’re also going to want your continued support and reassurance that they can use this solution to grow with them for years to come.
Of course, before you can dig into the selling, you need to make sure you know your customer. Fortunately, getting to know a brand at a deeper level is easy if you put in the time. After all, all sorts of information about the brand will already be widely available online, so start there and then use that as your foundation when you begin talking to people at the company to gain a deeper understanding of the solution they’re after.
Whenever you talk to the brand, make sure you know your stuff. Not only should you be familiar with their products and offerings, but you should be using conversation history to give and maintain context between each email, phone call, or meeting.
As you continue communicating with the brand, remember to be proactive. You’re not the only solution they’re considering and it’s your job to sell them on your product, so make sure you’re offering demonstrations and a real, actionable implementation plan that they can get behind. If you aren’t already, work automation into your CRM so you know you’re following up at the right times and never missing an opportunity to sell.
Finally, one of the best things you can do is be flexible with your communication channels. Every client is different, and every brand is different, too. While some might want to pick up the phone and talk things through, others may prefer to hop on a Zoom meeting or even get the initial questions out of the way via email so they have quick-reference documentation of your answers.
Whatever you find the case to be, remember that brand clients represent a major contract, and you should treat them accordingly by making sure that you give them the unique attention and approach they deserve.
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