Deloitte SA Blog

by Jonathan Houston of Deloitte Consulting

There are a load of businesses and people out there still grappling with terms like “social media marketing”. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The truth is that there are a lot of organisations out there that still don’t know how how to sell themselves to other businesses.

In my mind there is a drastic shift that is needed. And the social media revolution (yes, I said revolution) has spurred on this need for evolution in business to business (B2B) thinkers.

The major problem is highlighted in the term “B2B” itself. There should be no such term in anyone’s lexicon. And there are a number of reasons why this is true:

1. Businesses don’t make purchase decisions, people make purchase decisions

At the end of the day every single piece of marketing collateral is going to be seen by a real life human being. They may be employed by a business and are therefore instructed to conduct certain due diligence in their purchases; but that does not change the fact there is certainly going to be some emotional connection and response in their decision making.

This is critical for anyone to understand because that emotion ultimately will have a lot to say in how well or poorly your marketing message is received.

2. Marketing needs to live inside the business

Please note that I didn’t say that marketing needs to live within the sales department. It needs to live within the business! Living within sales is one thing — but if you are truly trying to understand what your targets are trying to achieve, then marketing needs to have a daily exposure to the needs and frustrations of those people. Living within the sales department means that marketing will always be thinking like a sales person (with respect) and trying to close the deal — where in today’s environment it is about where can marketing add value to the business and ensure that their targets are always thinking of their name first.

3. Change your selling mentality

Probably the most important shift that needs to happen in business marketing is a move away from B2B thinking; and a move towards B4B thinking! Become the business that other businesses cannot do without. Become a business for business marketer and position yourself as the product or solution that your targets cannot afford to ignore. Show your targets that you are there to make their lives easier and that your organisation is the thought leader in the industry by sharing what you know with them freely.

Using this approach will ensure that you understand not only the target business’s needs, but also the needs of the individuals living within that business -– and that is a differentiator that will not easily be taken away by your competitors who are still trying very hard to understand how they can push their products and services in to the path of their business targets.

Jonathan Houston is a Digital Marketing Lead within Deloitte Consulting; for more information please contact him on johouston@deloitte.co.za.

This article originally appeared on Memeburn.com

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JOHANNESBURG, January 26, 2012 – Saturday, 28 January 2012 marks international
Data Privacy Day. The day highlights the impact technology is having on our
privacy rights and underlines the importance of valuing and protecting personal
information. While the day is recognised internationally by business
professionals, corporate South Africa is grappling with our privacy
legislation.

As South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information (PPI) Bill looms
over the county’s corporate sector, many companies are racing against time to
grasp the compliance demands of the legislation.  Unfortunately, in their haste many are
underestimating the benefits that compliance could bring to their
operations.

“The PPI Bill is a natural progression for South Africa. At its most
basic, the legislation reinforces every South African’s constitutional right to
privacy. At the other end of the scale, it brings the country into line with
most of its significant international trading partners, a factor that builds
confidence when information is transmitted across borders,” says Deloitte Legal
Director, Dean Chivers.

Looking beyond compliance, effort and cost,
there is substantial value for those implementing PPI. The value of the
corporate brand will increase with customers and business partners having more
trust in the organisations with which they do business. According to Chivers,
this customer value can translate into financial benefits.

PPI’s value for a brand is incalculable. The recent announcement that
about R41 million had been stolen by hackers infiltrating the PostBank database
illustrates perfectly the reputational and monetary loss involved when customer
information is hacked.

The recent case where Zappos in the USA was
hacked and had to notify in the region of 24 million customers of the breach
and implement preventative measures further indicates some of the potential
downside. Indeed data events like hacking, data loss, unauthorised data use,
insufficiently regulated outsourcing and cross border data transfers all
present significant value risk.

Added to this, on January 25, 2012, the
European Commission proposed increased penalties for data privacy breeches,
which envisage penalties of up to 2% of a company’s global annual turnover.

“While
companies will need to reassess their data management process, analyse their
security, amend processes and change their contracts, companies should not look
at the PPI Bill as purely an inconvenience. Rather by aligning the requirements
of the Bill to existing projects and reporting structures, PPI can offer a
sustainable and measurable return on investment” concludes Chivers.  

Contact:

Luleka
Mtongana
Magna-Carta PR
+27(0)11 784 2598
Luleka@Magna-carta.co.za

Lana-Jane Pike
External
Communication
Deloitte & Touche Southern Africa
+27(0)11 209-6214
lpike@deloitte.co.za