study: How to adapt your sales process to B2B buyers’ buying patterns //

B2B purchasing has changed significantly in the past decade. Marketers need to adapt. Look at how one company adapted their marketing to better meet the needs of their customers and created a position that enhanced their market perception.

How a manufacturer of industrial chemical pumps modernized its marketing strategy

Finish Thompson, a family owned manufacturer of pumps that move fluids (usually chemicals) was founded in Eerie in 1951. The company has a culture that emphasizes trust and service. Business is usually done by handshake.

The liquids in this category are usually unclean, and the applications may be hazardous. Their customers are also mostly in industries that are highly regulated. Customers value suppliers who are reliable and trustworthy.

The pumps are used by many industries, including those that deal with fluids. These include chemical, water management and aquariums. Finish Thompson still has room to grow. They are also expanding their production capability.

The company relies on catalogs and distributors to reach the market. About 300 distributors are involved in the company, and they cover many countries across six continents.

In the last few decades, online platforms have changed industrial buying behaviour dramatically. The majority of buyers do their initial research on the internet, rather than directly speaking to a vendor. Before they ever speak to a salesperson, buyers use search engines and browse industry publications and associations.

Sellers must make themselves easily accessible online, and answer any questions that buyers may have. Finish Thompson recognized that it needed to update its marketing strategy, and in particular its online presence.

Finish Thompson is still seen as a product-based company even though its capabilities are much wider. Finish Thompson needed to be able to help buyers at every stage of their industrial pump decision-making, from design, manufacturing, installation, and service.

The company realized that they had to change their image from a manufacturer to one of a solution provider. In 2018, the company brought in RH Blake from Cleveland, a B2B agency that has been specializing in manufacturing for over 30 years.

RH Blake guided the company through a strategic process that included a roadmap to gain customer insight using Voice of the Customer methods. They interviewed all the parties involved in the demand chain from distributors and employees to customers.

They learned a lot. Finish Thompson realized that they needed to provide information both online and offline to help them reposition as a solutions provider and to guide their customers along their purchasing journey.

Finish Thompson developed a better strategy for its marketing communication thanks to these insights. The program was divided into five sections. Now let’s go over them.

Five-step program to help you transition from being a product company into a solutions provider

1. Campaigning around the solution theme

The new strategy began with a fresh website and new content to communicate Finish Thompsons’ solutions capabilities, its expertise and experience in different industries and pumping technologies.

The company also created a series of useful content such as white papers and case study to help demonstrate Finish Thompson’s expertise and to educate customers and prospects on how to solve fluid movement issues. All of this was done to establish Finish as a reliable, trustworthy and helpful partner.

2. SEO meets buyer research

The VoC research showed that prospects are researching solutions online or asking a trusted partner to provide solution ideas, and then following up with online validation. The team then conducted extensive research on the keywords that potential customers used to find the solutions they were looking for. They researched distributors, customers, and competitors using tools such as Semrush and Google Ads.

It was interesting to see that they recognized early on that quality lead is more important than quantity when it comes to a niche market like industrial pumps. The SEO team focused on phrases and word string, which are more likely to indicate serious needs. These longer keyword phrases, while fewer, were less competitive. They also represented a more qualified prospect.

From 2020 to 2023, the SEO component of the program showed a strong and steady improvement in Finish Thompson’s search visibility.

3. Lead generation through content marketing

The team used a variety of valuable content to generate leads. They downloaded industry-specific white papers and case studies, and then were able to convert them into a steady flow of sales leads.

This is an example of a case study that provides information about a water-treatment facility in Tennessee who used Finish Thompson’s sealless magnetic pumps to reduce maintenance costs, reduce leaks, and withstand harsh bleaches. The webform that comes with it provides all the information needed by the sales team to follow up.

4. Continued advertising in Trade Publications

The company advertised in publications such as Processing and Water Technology. But it focused more on the Finish Thompson expertise and solutions than on its products.

5. Distributor communication

The team developed a set of ongoing communications for distributors to stay informed and to remind them about the company. This was based on the VoC research where distributors stated that they would like to be more familiar with Finnish Thompson.

Communication included a newsletter that featured product and solution updates as well as testimonials, case study and training material. Distributors were also provided with sales collateral and a distributor’s event.

What were the results? Casey Bowes CEO of Finish Thompson provided this complimentary testimonial.

RH Blake helped us to penetrate our target market by implementing an end-customer focused marketing approach. RH Blake created marketing programs based on the insights gained from the initial strategy. These programs have helped to generate awareness, preference, and leads for a highly-technical, risk-averse target audience.

Takeaways

What can we learn about this case study?

Understanding customer needs is crucial to the success of marketing. This case illustrates how important it is to involve all parties in the research process, not just the end users. Finish Thompson enlisted the help of their employees and distributors to gather valuable insights.

It is important to understand how your customers purchase. B2B buying processes are often complex and well-defined, with multiple parties involved (sometimes up to 10 or 20!). By mapping your sales process to the buying process of customers, you will be able to reduce waste and improve results. Today, B2B marketing is all about helping your prospects and clients move through their buying processes in your direction.

Tell the customer what you can do to solve their problem. Be able to explain the value that you can provide. You will be able to differentiate yourself from your competitors and get more value out of the relationship with customers.

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