Master B2B Friday 15

Are return-to-office mandates good for productivity?

This week on the Friday 15 - an All-Breaking-News edition.  Andy & Brian take a look at Amazon's decision to have everyone return to the office 5 days a week and what impact this has on employees and on the business more broadly.  While executives report improved productivity when they've had employees return full-time to the office, Andy & Brian share some statistics showing that these mandates also cause higher turnover while also disproportionately negatively affecting women in the workplace.Does the perceived improved productivity outweigh the negatives?

Making analytics actionable in B2B eCommerce

Andy & Brian discuss the challenges of deciding which data to track, and how to use it to make better business decisions.
They offer 6 ways to make analytics more actionable:
1) Collect data in one place and with a holistic view 2) Compare data over time. 3) Know your KPIs - look across channels, not just eCommerce. 4) Set and measure against benchmarks 5) Set and measure against goals, then monitor. 6) Use testing to impact specific KPIs (bounce rate, conversion rate, AOV, etc).

Is Great UI/UX Necessary in B2B eCommerce?

This week on the Friday 15 podcast, Andy & Brian discuss the reasons why it's challenging for B2B eCommerce businesses to build a great user experience.  A few reasons they dig into:
- Because buyers need to make these purchases for work, the interface may matter less than in B2C.
- B2B businesses aren't willing to make the investments necessary to create a great experience.
- The size of many B2B catalogs are orders of magnitude larger than the catalogs of B2C, which makes it much more difficult to build a great user experience.

Is eCommerce Replacing Inside Sales in B2B eCommerce?

This week on the Friday 15, Andy & Brian discuss whether your eCommerce site can replace some of the work being done by the inside sales team...
The biggest takeaway this week is that the inside sales team brings an enormous amount of efficiency and revenue opportunity when paired with outside sales and when paired well with eCommerce. 
In this episode they'll break down what inside sales does for a living, and whether the growth of eCommerce will impact the success of that role.

Growing Your Digital Business without Creating Channel Conflict

The Friday 15 crew is off this week for the long holiday weekend, but we wanted to share a recent Fireside Chat we held with Shannon Zonca, the Senior Director – Contract eCommerce at MillerKnoll, and Rob Richardson, the Senior Digital Product Manager at MillerKnoll, about how a manufacturer can grow its digital business without creating issues around channel conflict.
In this new interview, you’ll hear more about:
How a manufacturer can take advantage of their dealer network to grow their online sales.
The opportunities – and pitfalls to avoid – of growing your digital business internationally.
How to use your customers and distribution partners to help create your product roadmap.
Why “share of wallet” may be the most useful metric to take the temperature of your digital business. 

What is the best way to search for an implementation partner when rolling out B2B eCommerce?

This week on the podcast, Andy & Brian talk through the pitfalls and best practices when hiring a system integrator.  
They share some of the red flags that SIs say they look out for when working with a client (Biggest?  Inadequate buy-in from senior management).
As well as red flags from practitioners (Biggest? Inadequate experience working with B2B companies.

Should the eCommerce function for large global enterprises be centralized?

This week, Andy & Brian talk about whether large, complex, global enterprises should centralize their digital operations, and how to think about that decision.
They dig into 4 areas:
1) To what extent the market is dominated by local preferences and behaviors
2) What are the service components of the business?
3) What are the fulfillment requirements?
4) Where is talent located?
 

Should B2B companies be fully transparent with online pricing?

Andy & Brian discuss the pros and cons of B2B companies making their pricing available in online channels.
 
They're mostly aligned with the common wisdom that pricing should be transparent, but they offer 4 reasons why it may make sense to hide some prices:
1) Withholding prices gives the seller pricing power.
2) Making the customer call for price raises their commitment to complete the buying journey.
3) The “price available upon request” notice carries an aura of exclusivity and status.
4) Withholding prices selectively pushed the customer to certain items and away from others.

Is profit now more important than sales growth in B2B eCommerce?

This week on the podcast, Andy & Brian discuss:
- How will Amazon react to being deemed a "distributor" by the US government, and will that make them liable for the products third-party sellers put on the platform?
- Does digital investment necessarily lead to improved profitability?
- 3 steps to improving your digital profitability.

What is the biggest disconnect between rank-and-file employees and executives in B2B?

This week, Andy & Brian talk about why frontline employees and executives have such different views on the state of their businesses:
- What's the "purpose gap" and is there a way to reduce it?
- How can companies ensure they're allowing their staff to make forward progress on their projects?
- Is having differing views on the customer the biggest disconnect between executives and rank-and-file staff?