The One to One B2B: Customer Relationship Management Strategies for the Real Economy [Hardcover]

Don Peppers (Author), Martha Rogers (Author)

Book Description

Series: One to One | Publication Date: May 22, 2001

Imagine that you lived in a city made of steel and woke up one morning to discover the entire city had been turned to glass. Everything that had been opaque would be transparent, everything sturdy would be fragile. One false move, even the slightest slip and--boom!--everything around you could shatter.

Nowhere does this frightening image seem more real than in the realm of business-to-business commerce, where the Internet is recasting and remodeling nearly every existing relationship.

Although consumer marketers may have been first to launch Web-based, customer-centric initiatives, it is the business-to-business companies that have the most to gain.

They also have the most to lose by doggedly sticking with out-dated traditional market penetration strategies. In One to One B2B, marketing gurus Don Peppers and Martha Rogers argue persuasively that in the broad arena of business-to-business commerce, organizations will rise or fall on the basis of their abilities to cultivate one-to-one relationships with their customers.

In a series of richly detailed case studies, the authors paint vivid portraits of B2B organizations wrestling with front-burner issues such as channel complexity, customer valuation, account development, sales force automation, knowledge-based selling, and new modes of compensation.

And they squarely tackle the question of how much technology is too much, arguing that one shouldn't ask "How can you use technology to automate a relationship?" but ,rather, "How can you use technology to strengthen a relationship and make it more valuable over time?"

In One to One B2B, readers will discover the critical role a "learning relationship" plays in developing new and existing customers to their fullest potential, as well as strategies designed specifically to unlock higher levels of profitability, ensure client loyalty, and fight margin erosion in the face of intense global competition.

The result is an indispensable handbook on how to create and develop business-to-business sales and marketing techniques successfully in the bump and grind of the real world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Using five detailed case studies, the authors of the bestselling One to One series examine the challenges and opportunities posed by the technological advances of today's "real" economy (an amalgamation of the new and old economies) for companies that sell goods or services to other businesses (B2Bs). Unlike B2Cs, which may serve millions of consumers, B2Bs often have a few large customers who make infrequent purchases of high-ticket services or items. B2Bs that are able to deepen their customer relationships (e.g., getting beyond the purchasing agents to understand the various customers within the customer organization, "helping clients manage themselves," "basing the sales process on educating and training customers") have the potential to become irreplaceable. Customers may even be willing to pay more over time for the services of a B2B that truly understands and can meet their specific needs. It's unfortunate that Dell is the only household name among the companies here; the impact of the other case studies may be diminished because readers aren't familiar with them or their products (i.e., Lifeway Church Resources and Convergys, the world's largest billing and management company). Although Peppers and Rogers's thesis may sound simple, theirs is not a primer for fledgling Internet companies. Indeed, the profiles and the authors' approach to problem solving are so analytical and comprehensive that all but the most experienced B2B managers and executives may find the material daunting. Still, there is a great deal of practical value here for those willing to invest the time. Agent, Rafe Sagalyn. (On-sale: May 15)

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The authors, partners in a management consulting and training firm, offer a set of tools for creating deeper and more profitable relationships with customers for B2B (business to business) enterprises. Using case studies that examine the customer relationship management efforts of five leading B2B organizations, including Dell Computer, a division of Novartis, and Bentley Systems, which sells its CAD-CAM software applications, they explore such issues as structure, channel conflict, managing multiple product lines, hiring and training, and sales attitudes and behavior. They counsel that in the one-to-one future, B2B organizations must do a lot more than just sell; they must also build relationships by concentrating on a few important tasks, such as account development, knowledge-based or consultative selling, and embracing information technology to help customers with long-term problem solving. The Internet's impact on business operations in the twenty-first century is certain to radically transform corporate functions, and this book is a thoughtful analysis of the current trends. Mary Whaley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Business (May 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385494092
• ISBN-13: 978-0385494090
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,156,816 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So Obvious and Yet So Under-Appreciated, August 29, 2001

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The One to One B2B: Customer Relationship Management Strategies for the Real Economy (Hardcover)

Those who have already read any of Peppers and Rogers' previous books (The One to One Future, Enterprise One to One, The One to One Fieldbook with Bob Dorf, and The One to One Manager) no doubt share my high regard for their uniquely creative as well as highly analytical thinking about CRM within the global marketplace. They continue to draw upon an abundance of real-world experience. This book may well be their most important thus far. In it, they suggest and then explain a number of strategies to create and then sustain solid relationships with B2B customers. Even if your organization is not currently involved in such relationships, these same strategies can also be of substantial value. Once again, the authors' essential idea (hardly original, they realize) is that businesses as well as most other human communities (e.g. a political constituency, a religious following, a military force) share at least this in common: Each is built one believer at a time to serve mutual self-interests. In this sense, the term "B2B" is a misnomer because people do business with other people. (Rest assured, I fully understand the differences between and among B2B, B2C, and B2B2C.) Even when purchases are completed electronically, they are initiated and fulfilled by people. Goods are manufactured by people. Services are provided by people. And so forth.

Over the years, when customers have been asked to cross-rank attributes of greatest importance to them, "Feeling Appreciated" and "Convenience" or "Ease of Doing Business" are either #1 or #2. (Remarkably, "Price" is usually ranked between 9th and 14th in order of importance.) It is also worth noting that, as Peppers and Rogers carefully explain in this book, as new efficiencies are created by breakthrough technologies, the quality of one-to-one human interaction becomes even more important. They include five case studies, including one which examines the policies and procedures of Dell Computer. Somehow, they gained access to information which is probably otherwise unavailable, except to those involved in the Dell organization. Each of the case studies reads as if it were a one-act play. However different their "characters" and "plot" may be, all five companies are literally customer-driven. Their ultimate objective is not to achieve "customer satisfaction"; rather, as Jeffrey Gitomer and others have insisted, their ultimate objective is sustainable "customer loyalty" (indeed "customer passion"). Peppers and Rogers provide a cohesive, comprehensive, and cost-effective system to achieve that objective. They would be the first to recommend that each reader make appropriate modifications of that system to accommodate the specific CRM needs, interests, and resources of her or his own organization.

Earlier, I suggested that this may well be the most important book Peppers and Rogers have written thus far. The system they provide in it is worthless, however, unless and until an organization involved in B2B is wholly committed (top to bottom) to doing everything possible to make each customer feel appreciated. One of the best strategies to accomplish that is to make doing business with it as convenient (as "easy") as possible.

Here's another key point. Based on my own extensive experience working closely with all manner of organizations, I have become convinced that organizations cannot be "customer-driven" unless they are first "employee/associate-driven." Those who feel mistreated cannot be expected to treat others well. Therefore, effective CRM depends almost entirely on the quality of relationships within a given organization...and each of them is also, inevitably, one-to-one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't buy it - opt for "MANAGING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS", January 27, 2005

By 

Peter Leerskov "The Strategist, www.lace.dk" (Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The One to One B2B: Customer Relationship Management Strategies for the Real Economy (Hardcover)

Having worked in line management with relationship marketing for many years, Peppers & Rogers have inspired my thinking on "One-to-One" tremendously. I believe that Peppers & Rogers' most important contribution is to change a company's focus from customer acquisition to customer retention. That is: Stop spending all your money getting new customers and start spending more on keeping and growing existing customers.

But if you have high expectations - like I had back in 2001 -, then this book on "B2B One-to-One" will be a huge disappointment. The real good stuff on one-to-one is all found in the first part of the book. But even that is merely a summary of their previously published material.

The case stories - being the bulk of this book - are not very inspiring (except perhaps the inevitable Dell Premier case). I cannot recommend you wasting your time on them. They were already of poor value when published in 2001.

The only real value of "B2B One-to-One" is provided in few charts as well as a small table on page 64 of the book. Curiously, the authors do not expand on the table's valuable content. If you have read some of the authors' previous publications, you'll already be familiar with their core concept of the IDIC-model (Identify-Differentiate-Interact-Customize):

Phase 1: IDENTIFY
What B2B firms typically do: Identify the most valuable customers by value. Know key contacts in the customer organization.
What B2B firms should do: Map all contacts in the customer organization. Map and remember every contact's influence on the buying process. Create a programme specifically targeting end-users.

Phase 2: DIFFERENTIATE
What B2B firms typically do: Treat different customers differently. Provide superb service levels to the most valuable customers. Differentiate reactively on customers' expressed needs.
What B2B firms should do: Rank customers by lifetime value and strategic value (most growable customers!). Develop strategies for unprofitable customers. Differentiate proactively the handling of different needs-based customer categories.

Phase 3: INTERACT
What B2B firms typically do: Keep interaction only via sales reps. Believe that sales reps will resist change towards sales automation or CRM initiatives because they see them as a threat. Restrict EDI to the largest customers.
What B2B firms should do: Remember interactions with the customer across all interaction points ... including the Internet. Compensate sales reps for reporting details on the customer interaction. Market the Internet as an alternative to EDI.

Phase 4: CUSTOMIZE
What B2B firms typically do: Customize products and services on request from the largest customers on an ad-hoc basis. Develop and execute account plans.
What B2B firms should do: Mass-customize products and services by modularizing the production, delivery, and services processes. Make a template for handling individual customers by using a needs-based segmentation on a routinely basis. Develop and execute specific customer strategies - including strategies for individual contacts within the customer organization.

For the insight provided by this table's content, I rate the book 2 stars.

I recommend that you buy Peppers & Rogers 2004-publication "MANAGING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS" instead. If you read my online review of that book, you'll see why.

Peppers & Rogers' "ONE TO ONE FIELDBOOK" (1999) is also highly recommended. It's a hands-on book with many checklists and inspiring tools for Monday morning. And it has a dual focus: Both B2C and B2B.

Peter Leerskov,
MSc in International Business (Marketing & Management) and Graduate Diploma in E-business

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, July 16, 2001

By 

Sergio Vieira (Oporto Portugal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The One to One B2B: Customer Relationship Management Strategies for the Real Economy (Hardcover)

After reading many books about CRM/Marketing One-One, my opinion is this book has to be read as soon as possible. You might have read others like me but this one is a plus. Buy it, read it, apply it, let it pass 6 months, then read it again. Finally, post here how much it helped you. It includes pratical stuff (case studies) of leading companies (Dell, Convergys, etc). This book has to be seen as a complement to others previously written by same authors.