There are many ways a seller or supplier can enhance his B2B customers’ experience, and one of the most trusted and tested ways is to use visually appealing images with the selling or buying leads that he wants to sell or buy. Many customers cannot describe why they like a particular product and what their favorite customer experience is. Despite that, Voice of the Customer (VoC) is the most preferred method of choice to drive customers input by majority of B2B companies.
The question here is why people have difficulty in explaining the factors that influence their buying decision. For instance, try answering these questions: What made you buy that last gift you purchased for your friend? How can you define your best customer experience? What does your favorite brand mean to you? Such questions are difficult to answer because buying decisions are driven by the emotions as much as they are driven by the logic.
Some businesses determine customers’ input only through different surveys and group discussions. Such businesses run the risk of missing the actual drivers that make a buyer take a buying decision.
There are certain factors that influence a customer’s buying decision. Some of them are listed below:
· Product Price
· Customer Income
· Availability of Credit Facilities
· Reference Groups
· Satisfaction Level
· Technical Aspect & Customer Support
· Emotional Attachment
· Advertisement
Here, we are talking about emotional attachment that customers (buyers) develop with the product.
According to a research conducted by Robert Zaltman who is a Harvard Business School professor, it is revealed that images are one of the most appealing factors that can influence a buyer decision. He developed an interesting technique called ZMET (Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique) in order to unearth the hidden drivers of customers’ behaviors. According to his technique, he asked a group of customers to catch those images that demonstrate their sentiments, feelings, thoughts and opinions about a brand or product. Later, the conversation with them further revealed that the actual factor is behind those images.
Images or pictures drive a set of qualities for your products such as emotional attachment, reliability, good work ethics, loyalty, strength, tradition, etc. More importantly, images or visual representation helps customers emotionally attach with the products being sold, and help defining the brand experience.
The use of images is a great way particularly to enhance the B2B user experience. Almost every B2B portal allows its users to add images with their selling or buying leads in order to attract more traders. For the wholesalers, distributors, suppliers, importers and exporters, B2B portal is like a gold mine that they use to increase their revenue; and by just simply adding some visually appealing images, they can significantly increase their ROI and boost their sales.
