B2B Online Virtual Event

The start of the year is an ideal time to connect and idea share with industry peers as you review key successes in 2020 and start to action your 2021 strategies. Open to manufacturers and distributors only, this is your chance to connect and learn from your peers in a moderated interactive discussion. Join us to kick start your experience at B2B Online in our lively interactive roundtables. Interested in showcasing your thought leadership as a roundtable discussion host? Contact Vince Esposito at vince.esposito@wbresearch.com  

1.) Architecting an Omnichannel Solution for CPQ and eCommerce

·        Xenith's bottlenecks/challenges

·        Reasons for choosing the solution

·        Implementation strategy

·        Benefits of digital selling

Steve Stessman, Vice President, Business Development, KBMax

Jonathon Pop, Vice President, Digital & Technology, Xenith

2.) Unlocking Revenue and a Superior Customer Experience

Manufacturers struggle to implement a comprehensive digital-order strategy for good reason: customer adoption. Customers buy products in the way that’s most convenient for them. Some purchase through eCommerce sites, some order through EDI, even fax, and—the #1 ordering method—email. Instead of trying to force your customers to the latest eCommerce rollout, meet them where they're at.

Ricardo Craft, EVP, Product Management and Product Marketing, Conexiom

3.) Topic TBD

Executive Speaker, Pivotree

B2B buyer behavior started evolving long before the impact of the pandemic. In recent years we’ve seen a demand for more B2C like experiences, and the transition to meet this demand has been fast-tracked over the last 8 months. Manufacturers and distributors have an opportunity to capitalize on this change and behavior and Ajay Kamble, Chief Information Officer, Turtle and Hughes will discuss how he is leading this change across the enterprise, including:

·        Understanding changes in B2B buyer behavior and customer demands

·        Consolidating and unifying the user experience for greater ease

·        Creating a hybrid experience that balances Amazon-like convenience with the personalized white glove experience of traditional B2B manufacturing and distribution

·        Xenith's bottlenecks/challenges

·        Reasons for choosing the solution

·        Implementation strategy

·        Benefits of digital selling

The disruption of the pandemic has pushed more and more buyers to use marketplaces. As B2B buyers come to expect purchasing experiences similar to those in B2C, manufacturers and distributors must develop the right marketplace strategy, or risk losing market share. Find out how to determine a marketplace approach to expand your business, including:

·        Understanding the opportunities and challenges of different B2B marketplace strategies to accelerate digital maturity

·        Leveraging the marketplace model to help create a more scalable digital business, reach new customers, and gain valuable customer data

·        Selecting the right partners and determining when to build your own versus joining an existing marketplace

Investment in B2B digital ordering is surging. Sales teams are transforming. How does your business compare?

Join Salesforce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) in a discussion about relevant trends and insights on the evolution of digital commerce. Learn how to apply these insights in your 2021 digital planning, and how to use B2B commerce to modernize your business and adapt to the realities of the all-digital world.

Tune in to discover:

·        2020 B2B trends and how they impact your 2021

·        How manufacturers can think about digital transformation

·        Your first 5 steps to launching a digital portal

Customer data is a goldmine for improving CX, but centralizing and defining the customer record is very difficult in B2B. Paul Bates, Director of Digital for Master Electronics has been focused on customer centricity and leveraging data to create a great omni-channel experience for the customer. Hear lessons learned, including:

• Defining a curriculum to teach the definition of a customer
• Key success factors to centralizing customer records
• Pulling data from multiple sources to develop a holistic view of the customer
• Using customer data to identify how to deliver more business value to them
• Determining what your digital strategy should look like across different channels to connect the experience for the customer

You know your customers are buying elsewhere, especially given the rise in eCommerce sales over the last year. The rise of eCommerce and marketplaces have provided more options than ever before to easily make purchases, and customer retention has become a top priority as B2B businesses work to retain market share. Panelists will discussed tried and tested strategies to deliver value to the customer and prevent them from leaving, including:

·        Engaging and re-engaging customers across the full-lifecycle for a 360 view of the customer

·        Providing a seamless purchasing experience: understanding what customers need to serve their business needs and have a frictionless transaction

·        Connecting CX to analytics to anticipate customer needs

·        Linking CRM to marketing automation to facilitate customer communication post-purchase

·        Identifying methods to overcome the hurdles of having one-time buyers and increasing your retention rates

·        Modernizing the post-sale experience, looking at mimicking B2C buyer expectations

Interested in demonstrating thought leadership as a keynote presenter? Contact vince.esposito@wbresearch.com

Innovation is the lifeblood of every business. 2020 challenged us all to quickly innovate and pivot, underscoring the importance of agility. Hear how one manufacturer leveraged innovation to maintain and grow market share during turbulent times. Hear lessons learned, including:

• Maintaining a customer centric focus to keep up with shifts in customer behavior and priorities
• Gathering and analyzing data to identify opportunities for new products or efficiencies
• Developing digital solutions to better serve customers
• Leveraging technology integration to drive efficiencies and lower operating costs

Executive Speaker, Pivotree

Change management can take up to two years to take hold in an organization. Digital transformation requires large scale change across the business, including significant investment in technology, while heavily reliant on people and processes. Hear success stories about how to develop and lead a large scale digital transformation, including:

·        Creating a multi-year roadmap to operationalize your customer first digital strategy

·        Getting organizational alignment to ensure the eCommerce organization delivers maximum value for the enterprise

·        Building opportunities for innovation into the digital roadmap

·        Partnering with supply chain, operations, finance and beyond to deliver on growth through digital channels

·        Leveraging data collection for business insights to support decision making and new product and service opportunities

·        Maintaining an investment in customer first initiatives and continuing to innovate to drive customer loyalty

Interested in demonstrating thought leadership as a keynote presenter? Contact vince.esposito@wbresearch.com

The ease of B2C is driving changes in B2B environments as businesses are under pressure to provide a more B2C-like experience to grow market share. From ratings and reviews to personalization, there are plenty of opportunities to steal smart from B2C. Find out how buyer behavior has changed since the start of the pandemic and share the optimal B2C practices to implement in B2B, including:

·        Understanding what B2C digital marketing strategies are effective to translate to B2B, including ratings and reviews to personalization tactics

·        Reevaluating checkout and the tools you’re using to create a frictionless and simplified purchasing process

·        Leveraging B2C conversion best practices to drive prospects to convert

·        Determining which principles from B2C don’t make sense in a B2B environment when there are multiple decision makers in the buying process

Interested in demonstrating thought leadership as a keynote presenter? Contact vince.esposito@wbresearch.com

Every company wants to tie revenue to specific attributes, but it is challenging to measure a piece of the customer journey when assessing customer experience. As budgets tighten, demonstrating ROI is imperative. How do you determine the value of visits to the website? Find out how to develop a system of value metrics to measure net margin per lead and support customer retention. Hear successes and lessons learned including:

• Developing accurate KPIs to measure digital marketing programs, including paid and unpaid social media and more
• Measuring the progress of various digital initiatives, allocating budget toward the channels that are working and decreasing in areas with low ROI
• Crafting accurate reporting for senior management to invest in future digital initiatives