Analytics and Advice For B2B Leaders PDF

ANALYTICS AND ADVICE
FOR B2B LEADERS

CO PY RI GH T STA N DA R D S
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Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders
From the Chairman

and CEO
The first purpose of customer-centricity is to hold and not shrink

current accounts. It is why “agility” really does matter in this fast-
changing, disrupted world.
The next purpose is to build-out current accounts — create authentic

organic growth. Few CEOs are really good at this; they were hired for
their acquisition skills.
The third purpose is to do business at a higher margin than competitors

— that’s the highest level of customer-centricity.
Authentic customer-centricity is accomplished only in the presence

of advisory account relationships. Advisers on your customer teams
establish relationships based on a higher purpose than price.
Regardless of industry, the new global rainmakers sell on helpfulness.

They create value for both their organization and their customers. They
make rain for their company and their clients.
These dual-value rainmakers are different from order takers — and they
can be developed.
Their strategy is based upon information, knowledge and a deep

understanding of the client’s business — an order-taker’s strategy
hinges on low price and entertainment activities.
The biggest cultural transformation you can make in your career — and
the right legacy for any CEO or group president — is to change your
entire customer culture to one that leads with advice over price. Gallup
analytics finds there is always a minimum of 2x your customer billings
just sitting on the table within your current customer base.
i
Copyright © 2019 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
Nothing would change your organization more than if, today, you made
a command decision that every team meeting with the client starts with
discoveries and news from the customer’s industry — something the customer
has to know to do his or her job well. Your command decision includes never
selling or persuading for new business until important and helpful information has
been introduced. Then sell.
Getting these first two steps right will transform your culture to one of customer
centricity more than any other leadership decision you have made in this area.
Announcing the formation of a new advanced analytics center to support

account teams is more likely to boom your stock price than any other big
decision you make this year — including acquisitions.
Read this report and make changes of significance. You will change your
company and you will change the world.
Please contact me personally to learn more about our global analytics findings
and how we can help you win more.
Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO

Jim_Clifton@gallup.com
ii
Executive Summary: The Secret to Real Agility

B2B leaders across the globe share a common challenge in today’s rapidly evolving
marketplace: achieving authentic, sustainable company-wide agility. Customer demands can
and often do change overnight. If B2B companies can’t keep up, disruption is a certainty.
Isolated pockets of agility are not enough. The B2B companies that survive are those that
can adapt with lightning speed to deliver perfect customer experiences at every stage of
the customer journey. This requires near-perfect internal alignment, with employees who are
empowered to accommodate relentless market change with uniform precision.
It’s a tall order — which is why few B2B companies are truly agile. As a result, 69% of B2B
companies’ customers have one foot out the door. Gallup’s analytics have identified that
these low engagement levels are hurting your ability to grow organically and to successfully
integrate newly acquired businesses.
This guide is designed to empower B2B leaders to achieve real agility. Based on Gallup’s
decades of research and countless hours of interviews with B2B customers and leaders,
this report expands on the previous edition with fresh discoveries designed to help B2B
companies evolve more quickly. With Gallup’s latest analytics and practical solutions, B2B
leaders can outperform the competition and maintain a nimble, customer-centric work culture.
No B2B company can become agile without the right data and analytics. This guide reveals
how leaders can harness analytics to get ahead of the competition. Most B2B leaders
recognize the power of using big data to derive insights and gain competitive advantages.
However, many of them greatly undervalue predictive and prescriptive analytics — the kind of
analytics that determine what’s coming and enable B2B companies to adapt quickly.
In fact, only 3% of B2B companies use prescriptive analytics to stay nimble and continually
align with shifting industry dynamics. As a result, B2B leaders don’t fully understand changing
market dynamics — and their companies are sluggish despite efforts to optimize agility.
Worse, B2B companies cannot respond to customers’ ever-evolving businesses, goals,
markets and challenges.
Data are meaningless unless account teams can quickly activate on customer insights to
generate customer impact. This guide provides a framework for transforming analytics into
action. Becoming agile and customer-centric requires a culture that never stops supporting
that goal — even in the face of challenges such as customer problems and mergers and
acquisitions (M&A).
Leaders who read this report will also learn the power of customer impact and what thriving
customer relationships look like in today’s dynamic marketplace. When B2B companies
deliver fresh ideas and solutions that help customers’ businesses grow, they deepen
relationships and foster brand loyalty.
iii
One of Gallup’s most important discoveries is the power of account managers. This guide
unpacks Gallup’s latest research about why account managers are the key to thriving
customer relationships — and how leaders can develop and liberate account managers to
make rain like never before.
Implement these strategies to get started:
1) Name the right account managers and develop them to grow accounts.
Decades of Gallup’s analytics show that great account managers approach everything
they do with an unwavering, obsessive emphasis on customers. They possess innate
talents that help them thrive as people managers and relationship builders. They
cultivate advisory partnerships — and constantly align with the dynamic markets
they serve.
2) Use analytics to stay in-step with customers’ evolving needs.
Great account managers have what it takes to fuel organic growth — but they have one
hand tied behind their back if their leaders don’t equip them with ongoing qualitative and
quantitative customer analytics. Data-driven account teams can readily identify, predict
and respond to customers’ changing business challenges.
The best B2B companies don’t stop there. They use qualitative analytics to maintain a
comprehensive understanding of customers’ perspectives and needs. Customers want
a voice — and they feel empowered to share honest feedback when they have the ear of
an objective third party. With candid customer feedback, B2B account teams can deliver
world-class customer service.
3) Infuse customer-centricity in every aspect of your culture and your business.
All B2B companies claim to put customers first. The ones who follow through and deliver
customer-centric service and offerings are the ones who consistently win in today’s
dynamic marketplace.
These B2B organizations infuse customer-centricity in every layer of their culture — from
big-picture organizational processes (such as onboarding and performance incentives)
to employees’ day-to-day experiences (such as how team meetings are structured).
As a result, these B2B organizations position account teams to meet customers’ ever-
changing expectations. That is, they authentically prioritize customers’ needs above their
own — and become trusted partners in their customers’ eyes.
Through updating this report, Gallup found that B2B leaders across the globe are using these
insights as a blueprint to transform their work cultures. That is, your competition is doing
whatever it takes to predict customers’ needs and win customers’ business. B2B companies
that don’t achieve real customer-centricity are leaving serious money on the table — money
that the competition is all too happy to snatch up.
Fortunately, B2B companies of any size and industry can enact simple solutions to start
identifying and responding to shifting marketplace demands. Becoming agile and customer-
centric is no small feat — but it’s within reach for B2B leaders who are up to the challenge.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
i FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND CEO
iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 THREE ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL DATA ANALYTICS PROGRAMS
7 THE SECRET TO GROWTH WITHIN A COMPETITIVE B2B MARKET
18 KEY ACCOUNT REVIEWS REVEAL WHAT CUSTOMERS REALLY THINK
22 HOW TO ENGAGE CUSTOMERS THROUGH PROBLEM RESOLUTION
27 KEY DRIVERS ARE A ROADMAP FOR ENGAGEMENT
32 SUPPLIERS ARE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
36 STRONG CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS ARE BUILT ON COLLABORATION
39 GET TO KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS
43 CULTURE MATTERS TO B2B COMPANIES
47 CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY DEMANDS ACTION
52 ACCOUNT MANAGERS ARE THE SECRET TO CUSTOMER IMPACT
62 FOUR WAYS LEADERS CAN SUPPORT ACCOUNT MANAGERS
67 TO WIN BIG WITH M&A, BECOME CUSTOMER-OBSESSED
71 DISCOVER HOW GALLUP CAN HELP
72 ABOUT GALLUP
72 APPENDIX
v
THREE ELEMENTS OF
SUCCESSFUL DATA
ANALYTICS PROGRAMS
69%
OF B2B CUSTOMERS
are ready to take their
business elsewhere.
47%
OF B2B CUSTOMERS
strongly believe that
their vendor delivers on
its promises.
1
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Three Elements of Successful Data Analytics Programs
You have vast quantities of customer satisfaction data. You have

a cutting-edge dashboard and seamless reporting capabilities. This
means you know where you stand with your customers, right?
Not quite.
In fact, many B2B companies have an inaccurate perception of their customer relationships.
Forty-seven percent of B2B customers strongly believe that their vendor delivers on its
promises, and 69% are ready to take their business elsewhere1.
The problem isn’t a lack of data. Many companies continually strive to collect more and
better data. Many leaders are making sizable investments in data programs and technology.
However, most leaders are only learning what happened, not why it happened or what will
happen next. It’s the difference between understanding customers’ business economics
and acquiring in-depth insights about end consumers that help leaders predict the likelihood
of future outcomes. To generate meaningful insights, leaders need analytics that generate
discoveries, not bigger data.
With only descriptive insights, leaders cannot use data to optimize their business strategies.
To keep up in a competitive market, leaders need predictive, forward-looking insights that
inform business goals. Analytics only offer a competitive advantage when organizations use
data to describe, diagnose and predict performance.
Consider, for example, a manufacturing company that is struggling to forecast its production
levels. Leaders can use analytics to gauge how much to produce, but this information by
itself does not help the supplier sell more products. Data alone cannot improve performance.
To leverage data for greater return on investment (ROI), leaders need a data-driven plan, not
just facts and figures.
B2B companies that seek to deliver exceptional customer service need to expand their
knowledge of their customers and their customers’ customers. They need to deliver
outcome-driving ideas that garner customer loyalty. They need to adopt an analytics-based
sales approach, with reliable customer intelligence, data-driven market research activities
and well-aligned account teams that provide analytics-based solutions to customers’
business challenges2.
That is, to increase customer impact, B2B leaders need to know their customers’ businesses
as well as or better than their customers do. They need to bring customers new ideas that
help them do their jobs better.
Gallup has been collecting and evaluating data for more than 80 years on just about every
topic imaginable. We’ve discovered that successful analytics programs share a common
framework. Our approach focuses on being “data ready” and creating a culture that supports
data-driven decision-making.
1 http://www.gallup.com/analytics/225458/b2b-analytics.aspx
2 http://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/195746/b2b-sales-growth-anemic.aspx
2
HAVE THE RIGHT CONVERSATIONS [THE RIGHT DATA]

Identify the problem that the company needs to solve.
Even the most advanced analytics interventions are ineffective without an understanding
of the problems leaders want to solve and a plan for what to do with the data and insights.
Organizations should start by identifying specific problems that they are trying to solve.
Many B2B company leaders have a huge amount of data but lack the tools to best use
the data. They focus on dashboards, scorecards and reports without giving more serious
consideration to addressing the problems and how they will use the insights they gather
from the data.
Identifying specific problems first allows leaders

to reverse-engineer analytics programs to obtain
the most relevant, actionable information.
To understand how customers really feel, B2B companies must also embark on qualitative
journeys, which means having actual conversations with customers. For B2B companies,
quantitative metrics can help identify customers’ needs, but that’s not enough3.
Key account reviews provide the surest path to understanding the nuances of customer
relationships. A key account review consists of a series of interviews with stakeholders in a
company’s most important accounts. Ideally, an impartial and trusted third party conducts
the interviews to ensure complete candor.
Through key account reviews, B2B leaders discover how customers feel about their
company and its approach with them in ways that numbers alone can’t express. Key
account reviews tell leaders what is and isn’t working in customer relationships. These
reviews also uncover red flags that require immediate action, along with more deeply
rooted problems that require comprehensive solutions.
Start small when implementing an analytics program.

Starting small can help companies find their analytical footing and learn what resources
are needed to support positive business outcomes — from technology to management
to talent resources. Further, a scaled-down analytics intervention for a specific problem
can help leaders determine the ROI of an analytics approach before graduating to a
larger program.
3 http://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/191072/b2b-companies-customer-surveys-aren-enough.aspx
3
FOCUS ON THE RIGHT DATA AND INSIGHTS [THE RIGHT ANALYSIS]

Use the right metrics.
The most powerful metrics support change by providing comprehensive, explanatory
insights about customers and employees. These metrics are also the most predictive,
reliable and actionable. While many companies spend most of their time on descriptive
analytics (what happened), true insight comes from diagnostic (why and how it happened)
and predictive analytics (what will happen next).
Descriptive analytics: Descriptive analytics fall in the domain of reporting and

summarizing information. This method focuses on what is happening or what has
happened — such as identifying the top salespeople in a particular region at a specific
time. Descriptive analytics are very useful, especially for companies that are just starting
to understand all of the different data being generated internally.
Diagnostic analytics: Diagnostic analytics focus less on what happened and more on
why it happened. This method highlights processes and causes rather than outcomes.
For example, diagnostic analytics might reveal that a decline in prospect volume, attrition
of top salespeople and a new market competitor are decreasing sales in a particular
region. Diagnostic analytics often provide answers to questions such as “How do we fix
this?” and “How can we improve?”
Predictive analytics: Predictive analytics take the lessons learned about why events
have occurred and build models to predict what will happen in the future. These
predictions can be in the form of macro-level forecasts such as “Sales in the Western
region will grow by 5% to 8% over the next 12 months.” Or, the predictions can focus on
micro-level matters: “There is a 75% likelihood that the largest customer in the Western
region will leave for another vendor in the next 12 months.” Forecasting is extremely
helpful in making business operations more efficient by trimming costs. The process
also ensures that companies retain the resources necessary to mitigate potential
problems and take advantage of future opportunities.
Companies can use more granular predictions, such as customer-level forecasts of

intent to repurchase, to prioritize internal resources and inform strategies from a sales
and customer support perspective. For example, Gallup works with many clients in
the franchising industry whose growth largely depends on independent franchisees.
Gallup and these clients have developed models that predict which franchisees intend
to build with the brand again. The franchisors can use this information to better allocate
their resources to the most valuable franchisees and those with the greatest potential
for growth.
Companies get the most out of their data by intentionally moving from one level of
analytics to the next and understanding how to best apply each method in day-to-day
scenarios. However, most companies rely predominantly on descriptive analytics, with few
using diagnostic analytics and even fewer leveraging predictive methods. As a result, they
lose the competitive advantages of using analytics appropriately and strategically.
4
To optimize their data capabilities, B2B companies need to combine multiple sources of
information — including internal operational data, third-party data, web and social media
data, labor data and global economic data — to fully understand customer relationships.
Relying on a single metric doesn’t explain why customers feel the way they do or what B2B
leaders can do to improve. A single metric doesn’t provide leaders with action-oriented
insights that allow them to strengthen customer loyalty.
B2B companies need advanced data metrics that can predict important business
outcomes and inform leaders’ strategies. They need to collect qualitative and quantitative
data that guide the development of account-specific strategies for each customer.
Organize the right data with the right systems.

Leaders must take the information gained from analytics and use it as the basis for their
business decisions. This requires the internal expertise to know if they have the right data
to solve their problems and provide optimal analysis.
To fully apply data-driven insights, companies must have the right systems and
infrastructure in place. Companies need usable, accurate and timely data that they can
easily merge across the entire business. Companies must keep the data transparent by
designing their reporting systems so that employees can see information in an easy-to-
understand format. This allows employees to spend less time making sense of complex
data and more time using insights from the data to solve problems.
B2B leaders need to recognize that different types of data and insights are meant for
different audiences: Leadership and account teams each need data about separate issues.
Companies should streamline and organize customer feedback so each group receives
what is relevant to them, and no more. With thoughtfully mapped data structures and
frameworks, even complex data become clear.
ALIGN WORKPLACE CULTURE AND EMPLOYEES [THE RIGHT CULTURE]

Hire, engage and develop top talent.
Success with data starts and ends with people. Companies need employees throughout
the organizational hierarchy who understand how to use data appropriately and appreciate
the limitations involved. This applies equally to top leaders, analytic talent, decision-makers
and managers. Misusing data is more dangerous than not using it at all.
Organizations also need employees — not just leaders, managers and analysts, but
front-line employees as well — who can deliver on the actions and behaviors the data and
models suggest are optimal. A team that lacks the appropriate talent and skill required to
implement all aspects of an analytics program is one of the most common failure points
that Gallup encounters.
Companies should have a complete human capital strategy in place to attract, recruit,
hire and develop top talent for their analytics roles. Talent-based assessments can help
companies identify and select the necessary talent for these roles, while talent audits can
identify any existing gaps in talent across the company.
5
It is equally important for companies to proactively engage and develop their employees.
Millennial employees want to work for companies that invest in their development — in fact,
millennials rank opportunities to learn and grow in a job above all other considerations4.
And in the war for talent, data analytics is a highly desirable skill set. Forward-thinking
companies invest as much energy into retaining talented employees as they do into
finding them.
Align analytics with culture.

Many companies — whether they are just beginning their analytics journey or are well on their
way — are discovering their cultures are not prepared to manage and apply the massive influx
of information. In fact, 60% of big data projects fail to go beyond piloting and experimentation
due to culture issues. If workers lack direction — or if the right processes aren’t in place to
enable employees to make improvements — data initiatives stall.
On the other hand, when leaders embrace a data-driven culture, they empower employees at
all levels to make decisions based on fact rather than on instinct. A culture that supports data-
based decisions is capable of prioritizing data discoveries, with employees who can interpret
data and align insights with business goals.
Too often, Gallup finds significant misalignment between what a company’s analytics program
says it should focus on and what the company actually incentivizes (both formally, through pay
plans, and informally, through expectations and mentorship).
The right culture starts with the C-suite: Leaders need to support and prioritize a data-driven
culture by following a clearly defined strategy for building and sustaining it. Leaders must
create a vision for their analytics program and determine how to implement that vision. They
must set the stage for how they expect employees to perform, for what constitutes good
decision-making, for what resources to use and for how much alignment and collaboration
there needs to be among business units and functions. They must communicate well-aligned
messages to employees that support desired employee actions.
Determining a company’s analytics readiness (how well its data systems, processes and
people are aligned) is an important step in fostering a data-driven culture5. To create a
data-driven culture, leaders need an in-depth perspective on the analytics “health” of their
business — and tailored insights about how their culture can better support the overarching
analytics goals.
Data and insights never create change on their

own. They facilitate change only when leaders are
dedicated to investing in a data-driven culture.
4 http://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/221024/why-best-millennials-leave-keep.aspx
5 http://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/193574/successful-predictive-analytics-demand-data-driven-culture.aspx
6
THE SECRET TO GROWTH
IN A COMPETITIVE
B2B MARKET
A meaningful, human-
to-human dialogue with
customers is the only path
to a nuanced understanding
of customers’ perceptions
and preferences.
7
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | The Secret to Growth in a Competitive B2B Market
In an increasingly competitive marketplace, organic growth

is hard to come by for B2B companies. But B2B companies’
greatest risk isn’t their competition — it’s losing their customers.
Sixty-nine percent of B2B customers are ready to take their
business elsewhere. Less than half of B2B customers (47%)
strongly believe their vendor delivers on its promises.
It doesn’t have to be this way.

Gallup has spent decades analyzing what the world’s most successful B2B companies do
differently. We’ve found that thriving B2B organizations use a data-driven approach to:
Bring
Continually
Identify customers
understand Inspire
and resolve new ideas
their exceptional
issues that that propel
customers’ employee
keep them on their business
needs and performance.
the defense. and garner
perceptions.
their loyalty.
DISCOVER WHAT CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY THINK

Many B2B companies collect data with customer surveys. But do they really know where
they stand with their customers? Surveys provide essential insights, but they are not
enough for a comprehensive understanding of B2B relationships.
For example, a B2B company might view improved business outcomes after a merger as
evidence that customers are navigating the change with ease — when in reality, those
customers have serious doubts about the future of the company.
For in-depth insights about B2B accounts, there’s no substitute for picking up the
phone and having honest conversations with customers. One Gallup client put it this
way, “Survey data only go so far. Simply talking to customers not only demonstrates how
much we value their business, it also helps us better understand how we can add value to
customers’ businesses.”
A meaningful, human-to-human dialogue with customers is the only path to a nuanced

understanding of customers’ perceptions and preferences. Relying on an impartial, trusted
third party to evaluate customer relationships helps businesses collect candid customer
feedback and in-depth insights about the entire buying cycle.
It’s easy to assume that customers who like their account representatives must feel the
same way about the company overall. However, account representatives are primarily
tasked with mitigating problems — not acquiring an in-depth perspective about what is
and isn’t working in the relationship.
8
And while customers might discuss glaring problems with their vendors, they are unlikely
to divulge doubts or unresolved needs — even in the healthiest partnerships. Discovering
those outcome-determining details requires candid conversations between customers
and an objective third party.
KEY ACCOUNT REVIEWS: TRANSFORMATIVE INSIGHTS FOR B2B LEADERS

To get to the heart of customer relationships, B2B leaders should rely on an impartial
third party to conduct annual key account reviews with some of their largest and most
important accounts.
These reviews are composed of interviews with stakeholders for each account, such as:
• Decision-makers — They commit funds, make choices and have the final yes-or-no
decision on purchases.
• Influencers — They have an advisory role and sway whether the organization chooses
to continue the relationship.
• Buyers — They are involved in the procurement process itself and in decisions that
define contract terms.
• End Users — They manage and use a B2B company’s products or services.
Key account reviews reveal:

• similarities and differences in stakeholders’ motivations and concerns
• strengths and opportunities across accounts
• themes and patterns that inform sales and service
CASE STUDY
Uncovering Hidden Wants
During one key account review, Gallup found that customers viewed a
company’s account teams as “great problem-solvers.” The account teams
were highly responsive and rapidly delivered on customer requests. However,
stakeholder interviews revealed that this reactive strategy caused the account
teams to be hesitant to bring customers new ideas for improving or expanding
their businesses. Consequently, customers were left wanting for proactive,
innovative partnerships.
9
STRENGTHENING RELATIONSHIPS AFTER KEY ACCOUNT REVIEWS

Ignoring customer feedback is far more harmful than not asking for feedback at all. In
general, customers’ concerns fall into one of two categories: Those that necessitate
defensive action (defensive barriers, or barriers to retention) and those that require
companies to play offense (offensive barriers, or opportunities for organic growth).
For example, defensive barriers might involve problems with quality, on-time delivery
or exemplary problem resolution. These are baseline customer expectations that B2B
companies must meet to retain business. Failure to immediately and decisively address
such concerns will likely cost the company existing business with the account, either now
or when the next RFP comes. Getting the basics right is an essential element for organic
growth.
In contrast, offensive barriers represent opportunities to win new revenue from existing
customers, such a business challenge that a B2B company can help a customer address.
Offensive barriers are gaps or problems in customer relationships that might not pose a
current threat to the account but could limit future growth potential.
How to Resolve Defensive Barriers

Both defensive and offensive issues demand account teams’ attention. Defensive interventions
should come first: Account teams must meet customers’ baseline expectations to keep their
business. Then, account teams can explore opportunities for growth.
Five Common Defensive Issues

1) Customers become particularly frustrated when problems reoccur.
Customers care about more than problem severity; they also focus on the frequency of
problems. While companies should respond to issues quickly and efficiently, shortcuts
and short-term fixes don’t work. If companies don’t address the cause of the problem,
that same issue may return a few months later. Companies are particularly vulnerable to
reoccurring problems when they lack a structured process for monitoring performance
after resolving initial problems.
2) When evaluating vendor performance, customers scrutinize “ease of doing

business” with the company.
Many customers emphasize “ease of doing business.” What exactly do they mean?
Gallup’s extensive experience with leading B2B companies reveals what customers
consider “ease of doing business”:
• the simplicity and transparency of a B2B company’s processes
• how quickly a company responds to questions, requests or problems
• the tone of conversations with a company — for example, whether company contacts
seem enthusiastic about delivering solutions
• how adaptable a company is when a customer requires changes
10
Complaints about ease of doing business often reflect problematic internal

communications and processes, such as poor communication across business
units and functions. When internal communication is lacking, customers often suffer
the consequences.
Leaders should strategically address concerns about ease of doing business by

optimizing internal structures and processes. When a customer considers a company
difficult to work with, it becomes harder to maintain trust in the relationship.
3) Corporate formalities can affect decision-making.
Salespeople and account leaders do not always have the authority or flexibility to act on
their customers’ behalf. As a result, changes or decisions tend to come slowly. Someone
at the corporate level often needs to review account team requests, thereby delaying the
process. Such delays can seriously undermine customer relationships.
4) Customers want the companies they do business with to work faster and with
more flexibility.
Customers want individuals at the account level to have the authority to make decisions
that benefit their business, rather than waiting for bureaucracy to catch up with them.
5) A past problem can continue to affect the customer relationship.
Some issues that companies believe were resolved may linger among particular
stakeholders in the customer organization — putting business at risk.
For example, customers tend to remember contentious contract negotiations. It’s easy
to assume the customer forgets about negotiations after signing the contract, but this
isn’t always the case.
CASE STUDY
In one key account review, a customer continued to complain almost a year
later about how an existing vendor’s representatives first initiated renewal
negotiations when he was sick and then proposed a rate increase over the
phone, rather than waiting to meet in person. Though the customer signed
the renewal, perceptions of the company’s behavior adversely affected the
relationship between the company and customer.
11
RESOLVING DEFENSIVE BARRIERS

The following actions can help B2B companies mitigate defensive barriers.
1) Proactively communicate with customers.
Gallup recommends conducting monthly calls with customers about quality. Problems
related to quality or delivery often occur at the local level, with the solution to the problem
never reaching key stakeholders in the customer organization. Account leaders should
document and share actions taken to address problems so customers can assess progress
over time. This documentation can also prevent problems from reoccurring and provide
solutions if similar problems arise.
2) Simplify administrative processes.
Complex or bureaucratic procedures hinder customer service. Often, customers are most
frustrated with a lack of clarity. As leaders work to streamline processes, account teams
can promote clarity by outlining existing processes for customers. Account representatives
should also introduce members of the broader corporate team to customers. Meeting
corporate team members ensures that customers know who is operating on their behalf
when it comes to approvals, contracts and other administrative functions.
3) Connect with customers after negotiations or transactions.
Companies can never overcommunicate with their customers. In addition to key account
reviews and monthly quality discussions, companies should check in with customers after
contract negotiations and sales or service transactions. Through these quick-connects,
B2B companies can determine if a customer is satisfied with the outcome and resolve any
concerns before they become deeply rooted problems.
12
HOW TO GROW ORGANICALLY BY OVERCOMING OFFENSIVE BARRIERS

B2B leaders can stand out from the competition and win new business by discovering
what customers actually think, then using that feedback to resolve specific problems and
explore opportunities to expand the relationship.
If B2B companies want to grow organically,

they need to put customers at the center —
designing their business strategies around
customers’ needs, challenges and goals.
Here are four common roadblocks to organic growth:
1) Many B2B companies do not bring their customers new ideas.
Being seen as a trusted adviser is one of the single biggest contributors to B2B
companies’ growth. The secret to being seen as a trusted partner is sharing new
ideas — solutions for expanding the customer’s business, serving their customers
and overcoming unique market challenges. What can be frustrating is that customers
often have trouble defining what their vendor needs to do. Customers might allude to
a challenge or opportunity but then leave the rest to their vendor to figure out. To get
answers, B2B companies must expand the conversation beyond the current set of
transactions with the customer. Sometimes, growth opportunities might go beyond a
B2B company’s capability. Still, even a high-level discussion of the opportunity can open
the door for the B2B company to better understand the customer’s needs, demonstrate
its dedication to advancing the customer’s business and, ultimately, strengthen
the relationship.
2) Senior leaders often do not communicate with customers about the organization’s
capabilities or knowledge.
It is vital that senior leaders maintain relationships with customers. Senior leaders have a
comprehensive awareness and breadth of vision about everything the company can do
for its customers. Further, the involvement of senior leaders communicates to customers
that the company values their business.
For all companies, sales and operational leadership teams should be highly involved in
discussions about accounts. C-suite leaders can also play a role if they have access to
their direct counterparts in the customer organization.
3) Many B2B companies are not forward-thinking in their relationships.
An ongoing dialogue is essential for maintaining a comprehensive understanding of

customers’ needs — and in turn, delivering solutions that are catalysts for growth. B2B
companies need to proactively engage in future-oriented discussions and then isolate
growth opportunities from those conversations.
13
This effort demands internal alignment, with senior leaders initiating conversations and
account teams following through. B2B leaders should meet with their counterparts in
the customer organization to discuss the state of the customer’s business and how the
vendor can help. Companies should also identify opportunities to display their products,
technologies and services, such as at occasional summit meetings or technology fairs.
4) Many B2B companies do not use an analytics-based approach to select and

develop star performers.
Innately talented, business-minded people are trained to get to the core of a customer’s
pressing problems. They have a knack for broadening their spheres of influence within
customer organizations. They are problem-solvers who will move mountains to meet
customers’ needs.
Finding these top performers starts with a data-driven hiring strategy.

This involves defining what success looks like in a role and then Only
selecting individuals who possess the natural capacity to thrive in
that role. Ongoing development is just as important: B2B companies
need to invest in their people with an approach to performance
2 in 10
EMPLOYEES
management that actually works.
strongly agree that their
COACHING EMPLOYEES TO PROPEL ORGANIC GROWTH performance is managed in
a way that motivates them
Only two in 10 employees strongly agree that their performance is
to do outstanding work.
managed in a way that motivates them to do outstanding work.
Change is a constant in the business world. However, the modern

workforce is shifting in rapid and unexpected ways — forcing leaders to revisit how they
manage and optimize employee performance.
B2B companies are no exception. Across all industries, B2B leaders need to evolve
their approach to inspiring exceptional employee performance if they hope to boost
organic growth.
Gallup’s studies of high-performing teams show that today’s employees demand a

development-oriented approach to performance — one that is individualized to their
natural talents, performance needs and sense of purpose.
Managers carry the utmost responsibility for guiding and fostering employee performance.
The best managers do so through a strengths-based, engagement-focused, performance-
oriented approach to development.
That is, managers need to account for their own strengths, their employees’ strengths and
the collective strengths of their teams. To optimize employee engagement (employees’
involvement in and commitment to their workplace), managers need to proactively meet
basic, individual, team and growth needs.
Organizations and leaders also play a part: They have an immediate responsibility to
develop managers’ abilities and enable managers’ success.
14
B2B leaders can transform their managers into coaches by empowering

them to establish expectations, continually coach and create
accountability in a strengths-based, engagement-focused, performance-
oriented manner. Managers can unlock exceptional performance when 50%
they embrace strengths and fulfill their employees’ engagement needs
each day.
For example, a conversation with an employee about his or her strengths OF EMPLOYEES
can evolve seamlessly into a discussion about supporting that individual’s clearly know what is
performance needs, which improves engagement and performance. expected of them when
they go to work every day.
Establish Expectations
Fifty percent of employees clearly know what is expected of them when

they go to work every day.
To perform with excellence, employees need to understand their day-

to-day work and what qualifies it as successful. This goes beyond a job 20%
description: Managers need to frequently talk with employees about their
responsibilities and progress. They need to help employees understand
why their role exists and how their role expectations align with team and
OF EMPLOYEES
organizational objectives.
strongly agree that they
When managers can establish expectations the right way — expectations have talked to their manager
that are clear, collaborative and aligned — they create trusted in the past six months about
relationships with their employees and set employees up to thrive steps to reach their goals.
each day.
Continually Coach
Twenty percent of employees strongly agree that they have talked to
their manager in the past six months about steps to reach their goals.
When managers lead ongoing, performance-oriented coaching 19%

conversations — rather than periodic reviews — they enable employees
to develop through everyday learning opportunities. They also create an
open dialogue about performance, which helps employees anticipate, OF EMPLOYEES
focus, prioritize and learn from their work.
strongly agree that their
Create Individualized Accountability manager recently reviewed
their greatest successes,
Nineteen percent of employees strongly agree that their manager
and those who do strongly
recently reviewed their greatest successes, and those who do strongly
agree are 3.8 times more
agree are 3.8 times more likely to be engaged.
likely to be engaged.
Without accountability, establishing expectations and continually
coaching are just talk. Managers need to take the time to review progress
toward expectations, discuss lessons learned and plan for the future.
Progress reviews create opportunities for managers and employees to prioritize tasks
collaboratively, change goals as needed and ensure employees have what they need
to be engaged in their work and boost their performance.
15
STRENGTHS-BASED COACHING
Traditional performance reviews often focus on what an employee has done wrong and
what needs to be fixed. This emphasis has detrimental effects on employee engagement
and performance.
In contrast, focusing on positive aspects of performance, such as strengths and

accomplishments, tends to improve performance.
A 2016 Gallup meta-analysis spanning more than 2.1 million employees and 20,000
business units showed that teaching employees to leverage their strengths using
CliftonStrengths® tools and coaching produces substantial impact:
increase in performance, including productivity, sales data and

8% to 18% 
performance ratings
2% to 10%  higher customer metrics
20% to 73%  lower attrition
7% to 23% 
higher employee engagement
increased citizenship, defined as employee involvement in

4% to 10% 
company-sponsored activities
Strengths-based coaching helps employees develop more self-awareness for how they
can best approach their work. It helps managers understand how to unlock employees’ full
potential. It positions employees to spend more time doing what they naturally do best so
they can meet expectations more efficiently and effectively.
Further, strengths-based coaching improves team collaboration because coworkers better

understand each other’s needs, behavioral tendencies, thought processes and feelings.
By allowing employees to lead their strengths and teaching team members to embrace
each other’s strengths, managers can more effectively unlock a team’s greatest
performance potential.
ENGAGEMENT-FOCUSED COACHING
No matter how well managers define performance expectations, employees still need
unwavering support from their managers and coworkers to consistently perform at their
best. They need an engaging work environment.
Because employees’ performance development needs are not static, managers

need a systematic way to identify these changing needs and remove barriers to an
employee’s success.
16
Gallup has identified 12 essential elements of employee needs that predict a wide array
of key performance outcomes across various types of jobs, industries and countries. This
employee engagement metric, the Q12®, has proven to be an extremely effective framework
for managing employees’ performance needs.
Gallup meta-analytic research from 2016 shows that teams scoring in the top quartile of
engagement tend to outperform teams scoring in the bottom quartile by:
21%  higher profitability
20%  higher sales
17%  higher productivity
10%  higher customer metrics
24%  lower turnover in high-turnover organizations
59%  lower turnover in low-turnover organizations
40%  fewer defects
41%  less absenteeism
58%  fewer patient safety incidents
70%  fewer employee safety incidents
Employees must be equipped to perform and then positioned for individual and team
success. Engagement-focused managers support employees’ essential performance
needs — their basic workplace needs, their individual needs, their team needs and their
needs for ongoing development.
ORGANIC GROWTH IS AN ACHIEVABLE REALITY
Consistent organic growth shouldn’t be a pot-of-gold-at-the-end-of-the-rainbow

daydream for B2B leaders. Analytics-driven strategies — that target both customers and
employees — position leaders to grow amid rapid change and incessant competition.
Identifying and addressing customers’ needs with proven analytics can prevent customers
from taking their business elsewhere. Further, analytics-based insights regarding
customers’ businesses, markets and customers can unveil solutions and ideas that
contribute to customers’ success. This customer impact is the moneymaker; it propels
B2B companies to win additional business.
Leaders can throw fuel on the growth fire by embracing workplace analytics and evolving
their performance management tactics to better motivate employees. By focusing on
employees’ needs, leaders create an engaging work environment in which employees are
driven to meet customers’ needs.
17
KEY ACCOUNT REVIEWS
REVEAL WHAT CUSTOMERS
REALLY THINK
Only through customer

conversations can
B2B leaders discover
what customers are
actually thinking.
18
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Key Account Reviews Reveal What Customers Really Think
B2B companies with exceptional customer engagement

make a habit out of conducting customer surveys. However,
quantitative data can only reveal so much about the
relationship between a company and its customers.
For in-depth insights about key B2B accounts, there’s no substitute for picking up the
phone and having honest conversations with customers.
One Gallup client put it this way, “Survey data only go so far. Simply talking to customers
not only demonstrates how much we value their business, it also helps us better
understand how we can add value to customers’ businesses.”
Only through customer conversations can B2B leaders discover what customers are
actually thinking.
THE POWER OF KEY ACCOUNT REVIEWS

Key account reviews are the surest path to understanding the nuances of customer
relationships. A key account review consists of a series of interviews with stakeholders in
the company’s most important accounts. To ensure complete candor, an objective and
trusted third party should conduct the interviews.
Key account reviews reveal how customers truly feel about a B2B company and their
experiences working with it. Key account reviews tell suppliers what is and isn’t working
— from uncovering unresolved customer needs to getting to the heart of a customer’s
biggest priorities. They provide specific details for a more comprehensive solution than
numbers alone.
When speaking to an impartial third party, customers feel empowered to share honest
feedback — and they typically appreciate that a third party can influence supplier leaders
to act. In many cases, stakeholders divulge frustrations that they are uncomfortable
sharing with the company. Key account reviews communicate to customers that the B2B
company values their opinions and will do whatever it takes to build a thriving, mutually
beneficial partnership that propels the customer’s business forward.
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Designing Insight-Oriented Key Account Reviews

Gallup’s approach to key account reviews is based on its extensive firsthand experience
with B2B clients and their customers.
Gallup recommends that B2B companies select a wide range of their largest or most
important accounts for key account reviews. Companies should choose accounts that fall
into one of the three categories:
1 2 3
High-Performing Stagnant Struggling
Relationships Relationships Relationships
• high growth • low growth • declining growth
• strong relationship • good relationship • adversarial relationship
• strong • weak or stagnant • shrinking
product penetration product penetration product penetration
After selecting accounts, B2B companies should create a diverse list of prospective
stakeholders for the interviewer. Variety is essential, both in stakeholders’ roles and in the
nature of their relationships with the client. The chosen stakeholders should come from
different departments and levels of the customer organization, from senior leaders to
front-line managers.
A varied list of stakeholders — not just those who are likely to provide positive responses
— is crucial for an unbiased, outcome-driving review. Company leadership should be
involved in the process, validating and approving the list of stakeholders before submitting
it to the interviewing team.
From each account, the company should include eight to 12 people within the
organization, including at least two to three decision-makers — that is, those with direct
involvement in purchasing decisions. If the customer is a multinational organization or has
several distinct business units that need coverage, the number of people interviewed may
be higher.
Gallup recommends that the company CEO or other senior executive send an email to all
prospective participants at the customer organization before scheduling any interviews.
This best practice helps increase stakeholder participation rates, especially among those
in senior roles. The email should communicate the importance of the review and request
honest feedback from participants. In some cases, account or sales representatives
should also advise their contacts to expect a call from an interviewer.
20
CASE STUDY
How One Company Optimized Customer Service Through Key Account Reviews
Gallup worked with a multisite, multiproduct manufacturing company that had a one-
size-fits-all approach to account management, providing materials to service centers
and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the same way. The company ran its
existing system without central account managers, largely favoring the OEMs that
only ordered from one or two sites. The service centers, on the other hand, ordered
different products from various sites. And with each site, the service centers had a
distinct experience and received different communication. The situation was creating
havoc for customers.
Key account reviews with Gallup revealed that the setup was not working for the
service centers. They wanted one point of contact to own their account. Gallup
recommended that the client company reposition its sales force and account teams
to better streamline the process for the service centers. Essentially, the client needed
one person to direct each service center, which it did when it created a key account
manager position. Gallup also helped the client understand how to position the new
role for success through compensation, responsibilities and organizational structure.
DON’T JUST ASK, TAKE ACTION

The absence of follow-through after key account reviews can be detrimental to customer
relationships. In fact, collecting feedback without taking action can do more damage
to the relationship than if the survey or account review had never been conducted.
Why? Participants expect follow-through. They want the B2B

company to use their feedback to take action.
B2B leaders should have a plan for embracing and

acting on the findings from key account reviews. Further,
leaders must clearly communicate to customers that they
value their opinions and plan to take action.
Alignment between senior leadership and individual account teams is important

because reviews often uncover issues that demand coordinated interventions.
For example, concerns at the account level — such as ongoing delivery problems
— might be related to systemic issues that require executive action.
Each account team should develop an action plan based on the key account
review findings. As a starting point for action planning discussions, teams should
focus on two or three initial priorities for an account. To maintain accountability,
companies could appoint a project champion to facilitate the development of
action plans and to regularly check progress on the account priorities.
21
HOW TO ENGAGE
CUSTOMERS THROUGH
PROBLEM RESOLUTION
20%
OF B2B CUSTOMERS
have experienced a
problem with a company
or product.
22
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | How to Engage Customers Through Problem Resolution
Problems are a byproduct of doing business.

From late deliveries to faulty materials, 20% of B2B customers have experienced a problem
with a company or product. Of these customers, 46% believe the B2B company resolved
their problem and less than 1% are “very satisfied” with the way the B2B company handled
their problem.
For any company, poor problem handling wreaks havoc on organizational outcomes —
including customer engagement, brand perception and future purchase intent6. One
professional services firm did not deliver a report to a client on time due to technical
issues. Because the firm did not proactively communicate with the B2B customer about
the late deliverable, the client disinvited the firm from an upcoming sales pitch meeting.
But there’s good news: When a B2B company handles problems effectively, it can avoid
declining customer outcomes and end up with higher customer engagement than it had
before the problems occurred. It all comes down to experiences. Customers care more
about how companies handle their problems than about the existence of problems in the
first place.
B2B customers who are very satisfied with the

way their problem was handled — regardless of
whether that problem was resolved — are more
likely to be fully engaged (58%) than customers
who did not encounter a problem at all (50%).
In other words, customer engagement is more dependent on how problems are handled
than on the ultimate resolution of those problems. When customers are very satisfied with
how a B2B company addressed their problem, they are far more likely to be engaged than
customers who are very satisfied with the resolution of their problem. B2B companies
do not absolve themselves by fixing issues; they do so by prioritizing customers’
emotional needs.
Therein lies the silver lining of customer problems. When B2B companies handle problems
correctly, problems become powerful opportunities to amplify customer engagement. So
while taking action to prevent problems, leaders should also handle problems with the goal
of leaving customers as satisfied as possible.
6 http://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/205445/silver-lining-customer-problems.aspx
23
How can B2B companies address problems in a customer-centric, engaging manner?
FIVE KEYS TO HANDLING PROBLEMS EFFECTIVELY
Customer-centric processes and employees are pivotal to customer satisfaction. What

does customer-centric problem resolution look like? Quite simply, it looks like whatever
customers prefer.
Because of the unique nature of B2B customer relationships, companies should apply
strategies that align with customers’ needs. This requires a data-driven approach, with
B2B companies discovering what their customers want and consistently exceeding
those expectations.
1) Know your customers.
B2B customers want the companies they do business with to be experts in their
industry and their customers. This expertise should inform problem handling, with
B2B companies relying on their customer knowledge to determine how to best solve
problems and prevent them from reoccurring.
B2B companies should:

• use advanced analytics to understand each customer’s business and how problems
affect the company and its customers
• develop service-recovery strategies uniquely tailored to a customer’s
organizational culture
• familiarize themselves with the customer’s industry and day-to-day work environment
• deliver creative ideas to help customers achieve their business goals and provide
value to their customers
2) Foster in-depth partnerships with customers.
In complex B2B relationships, problems often arise from miscommunication or

misunderstanding between suppliers and buying centers — rather than simply supplier
error or product failure. (A buying center is commonly defined as: “A group of individuals
within an organization or family that make decisions about a substantial purchase.”)
Because of this, B2B companies should build strong relationships to facilitate timely and
accurate communication. Effective partnerships not only reduce problem incidence, they
also streamline problem handling. An account team that has solid relationships with a
customer buying center has a significant advantage when discussing and resolving any
problem, whether that issue is a product, service or communication failure.
24
3) Make customer-centricity a top priority across all company functions.
Few customer problems can be resolved by a single contact person or the

immediate account team. Close collaboration across customer support, product
development, technology and other roles is essential for simple, efficient problem
resolution experiences.
When a problem occurs, the account team should quickly present the full picture to
key leaders and employees. Ensuring internal alignment requires intentionality, because
many teams operate in silos with competing priorities and different understandings of
how to best handle customer problems.
Strong leadership from account teams is pivotal for effective and efficient problem
resolution. To maintain accountability and incentivize cross-company alignment,
B2B leaders should employ reward mechanisms that recognize employees for the
outstanding ways they handle problems — no matter what role they play in that process.
4) Involve executives in service recovery.
B2B leaders should never underestimate the power of an apology. Gallup finds that 93%
of customers who are satisfied with the resolution of a problem say they felt valued
and trusted, the organization took ownership, the problem was resolved rapidly and
employees communicated genuine regret7.
Organizing company-wide resources to deliver an engaging service-recovery strategy

is an essential leadership role, but offering a proactive and sincere apology may be
leaders’ most important task. Communicating authentic regret speaks volumes to
customers and employees: Senior leaders need to model customer-centric behaviors
to inspire all employees to maintain a focus on customers and go above and beyond to
solve problems.
Leaders are also responsible for empowering account teams to provide customer-
centric service recovery — no matter how capable an account team is at
resolving conflicts.
5) Define a people strategy.
Because customers’ emotions are central to their engagement, empathetic processes

and people are crucial for engaging problem resolution. From having empathetic
employees who show genuine concern to developing policies that put customers’
interests before those of the supplier, B2B companies not only need to say they care,
they also need to show it.
This requires having the right people in place. Supplier employees are responsible for
building B2B partnerships, and they ultimately solve or handle customers’ problems.
Suppliers should select and develop employees to take ownership of customers’
problems, demonstrate high empathy for customers’ feelings and prioritize customers’
interests before their own.
7 http://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/205445/silver-lining-customer-problems.aspx
25
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IS PARAMOUNT
When employees are engaged, they are

4.6 times more likely than less engaged
workers to be customer-centric.
They’re also more likely to strongly agree that they have grown in their ability to help
customers, that they have the authority they need to do their jobs well and that they have
freedom to make decisions.
Engaged employees are more active in learning and continually updating their knowledge
of and experience with problem resolution. These employees are more likely to work to
break down silos among teams and to go the extra mile in handling problems in ways that
exceed B2B customers’ expectations.
Because engaged workers focus on customer and organizational outcomes, it’s in their
nature to discover causes of problems and prevent problems from reoccurring. Engaged
workers are more attuned to the needs of customers and are motivated to go the extra
mile to resolve customer problems. They are also more likely to care about quality and are
more observant of processes, standards and systems.
The bottom line is that engaged employees help their companies improve
customer relationships and obtain impressive organic growth. In fact, as revealed in
Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Workplace report, highly engaged, top-quartile
business units achieve a 10% increase in customer metrics and a 20% increase in sales
compared with bottom-quartile business units.
WORLD-CLASS ORGANIZATIONS MINIMIZE PROBLEM INCIDENCE

B2B companies in Gallup’s database are having fewer customer problems than in years
past. In fact, problems are occurring less frequently over time among companies that
intentionally measure and manage customer engagement. Best-in-class companies have
minimized problem incidence, with only 8% of their customers experiencing problems.
With the right interventions, B2B companies can maintain a world-class reputation and
bring brand promises to life with customer-centric problem handling.
26
KEY DRIVERS ARE
A ROADMAP
FOR ENGAGEMENT
On average, Gallup clients

have raised their customer
engagement scores by
9%
over a seven-year period.
27
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Key Drivers Are a Roadmap for Engagement
There are several ways B2B companies can

increase customer engagement — and, in turn,
win more business from existing accounts.
However, Gallup analytics reveal a particularly powerful driver of engagement: customer

impact. Gallup defines customer impact as meaningful change in a customer’s organization or
business model that improves the customer’s business performance.
For one professional services firm, accounts with the highest levels of customer
impact had 72% more fully engaged customers and 4.5 times more revenue gain than
bottom-quartile accounts.
How can companies generate customer impact and deepen customer engagement?
There is no one-size-fits-all solution. B2B relationships are complex, and leaders need to
tailor their approach in each of their most important accounts. A manufacturing organization,
for example, might need to focus on innovation with some accounts and knowledge-sharing
with others.
Thriving B2B organizations isolate the strongest drivers

of impact and engagement by collaborating with a
company with expertise in leading-edge analytics. Then,
based on these drivers, leaders implement tailored
strategies for engaging and expanding accounts.
By following this approach, Gallup clients overall have raised their customer engagement
scores by an average of 9% over a seven-year period. A quarter of Gallup’s clients have
improved customer engagement by 18% over the same period.
FROM ANALYTICS TO ACTION

To drive growth, B2B leaders can’t stop with identifying chief drivers of impact. They need to
respond with a workable plan of action.
This means evaluating current processes to determine how well they promote the ideal
customer experience. Leaders should ask questions such as:
• Do internal goals and performance management practices incentivize the right
employee behaviors?
• How well do marketing communications and brand positioning connect to customer
engagement needs?
• Are managers providing strengths-based performance coaching to help employees thrive?
• Do employees have the right support, tools and training to boost customer impact and
deepen emotional connections with customers?
28
One professional services firm uncovered four potent drivers of customer impact and
took action accordingly. Customers who strongly agreed that they experienced these four
drivers had an 85% increase in customer engagement. Further, the chances of customers
being actively disengaged were eliminated when they strongly agreed with three or four of
the drivers.
Additive Effects of Customer Impact (% Fully Engaged)
Strongly agree with all four drivers 85%
Three drivers 58%
Two drivers 35%
One driver 15%
GENERALIZABLE SUCCESS DRIVERS

Taking an individualized approach with top accounts is essential for understanding these
customers’ unique challenges and opportunities. However, Gallup has identified four
generalizable drivers that all account teams can focus on to increase the likelihood of
satisfying, engaging and bringing impact to customers.
1) The Basics of Engagement
Is the customer satisfied with [Company] as a vendor?
Fundamental engagement drivers (such as quality, utility, knowledge and

responsiveness8) are pivotal for success with any account. To grow customers’
businesses, B2B companies need to have a handle on the basics of the relationship.
The trouble is, leaders often don’t know where they stand with customers. Insufficient
analytics is often to blame. Static satisfaction scores provide an incomplete picture of
customer relationships and often lead to an imperfect understanding of the current state
of a company’s customers9.
Other times, leaders are unaware of how their customers are feeling because account
teams don’t recognize warning signs or are hesitant to communicate issues to leaders.
Poor performance on the basics of engagement can lead to serious problems. Even
simple issues often seem more severe to customers, who suffer the consequences in
their budgets and timelines. Furthermore, customers remember issues, which potentially
undermines future opportunities to expand accounts.
To master the basics, B2B companies should consistently monitor their performance
with key accounts using proven, effective analytics. They should also have a structured
problem resolution process for all accounts to identify, record and report issues.
8 http://news.gallup.com/businessjournal/190400/biggest-driver-b2b-success-meaningful-customer-impact.aspx
9 http://www.gallup.com/analytics/231680/ways-beyond-nps-fully-understand-b2b-relationships.aspx
29
2) Relationships
Is there a strong connection between [Company] and the customer?
B2B relationships are layered. To build successful partnerships, B2B companies need to
invest in account-level and top-to-top relationships.
The best account representatives have an intimate knowledge of their customers

and their businesses, people and problems. It’s not enough for customers to like their
account representatives; they need to trust them. Star account representatives are
a source of ideas and a gateway to additional resources. They work tirelessly and
aggressively to get things done for their customers.
B2B leaders should use a data-driven approach to hire innately talented account
representatives. They should also equip managers to engage and develop employees at
all levels of the company.
Thriving top-to-top relationships are essential for effectively communicating the entirety
of a B2B company’s offerings. The best leaders reinforce account-level relationships and
facilitate forward-thinking conversations. They help relationships move past lingering
issues. They communicate that the company values the customer and will do whatever it
takes to grow their business.
To form the right connections in customer organizations, B2B companies should create
relationship maps, outlining the minimum and ideal networks for each key account.
3) Opportunities
Is there a clear and feasible path to success with the customer?
To retain and grow business within an account, B2B companies need to know what the
customer’s agenda is and where opportunities for additional products and services lie.
This awareness typically comes from top-to-top discussions, but account

representatives should also be familiar with the customer’s direction. At a minimum,
representatives should have a handle on upcoming RFPs/bidding events and the criteria
for success in the bidding process.
Growth might come from expanding business in existing product lines or having
customers take market share from competing vendors. However, such options might
not be viable if customers prefer a multi-vendor approach, are maxed out in a particular
product category or are comfortable with their other vendor relationships.
There may also be opportunities in additional product categories and territories,

including areas in which the vendor does not have a presence and in which third-
party partnerships or alliances are necessary. Other promising opportunities involve
enhancing products or services — a strategy that can unleash significant competitive
advantages and help a company build long-term relationships with its key accounts.
Keeping customers’ needs in mind is essential for ensuring new opportunities to

promote customer impact and foster trust in the relationship.
30
4) Positioning and Approach
Is [Company] taking steps to maximize new opportunities with the customer?
To expand accounts in a way that engages and satisfies customers, B2B companies
need to navigate opportunities in a customer-centric manner.
Customers want to know that their vendors have sufficient resources to easily
accommodate new business. Customers look at the capabilities and expertise of
account representatives and broader account teams when considering expanding
business with a B2B company.
B2B companies should convey their capabilities and resources, and that they value
any opportunity — big or small. Customers want to know that their B2B partner will
aggressively pursue all opportunities, not just those that are highly profitable or
strategically important.
Transparent communication is crucial when a customer and vendor don’t see eye to eye
about opportunities. For example, if a B2B company is slow to respond to an opportunity
or chooses to pass on an opportunity, the company should clearly explain why. In such
instances, B2B companies should address the underlying customer concern, pointing
customers to other insights, products or services that better meet their needs.
Trust can suffer if a customer feels a B2B company is pursuing its own agenda, so B2B
companies should never pressure customers about new opportunities. They should
continually convey their emphasis on furthering the customer’s bottom line.
31
SUPPLIERS ARE A
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
By engaging suppliers,
B2B companies
can become a
“customer of choice”
in suppliers’ eyes.
32
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Suppliers Are a Competitive Advantage
Like it or not, suppliers matter when it comes to B2B

customer relationships. Their actions affect customer
experiences — for good or ill — and can influence a
customer’s level of engagement with the B2B company.
For example, a manufacturing company was receiving negative customer feedback about
late deliveries. At first, the manufacturer didn’t understand why the anger was pointed in its
direction. Leaders at the manufacturing company believed that once the product left their
plant, delivery was out of their hands. In reality, the suppliers’ actions (in this case, freight
operators and trucking companies) affected the manufacturer’s customer engagement
level, even if the company was not directly involved.
Companies that invest in supplier relationships can prevent problems that damage
customer outcomes — and ultimately earn better service from their suppliers than their
competitors. By engaging suppliers, B2B companies can become a “customer of choice”
in suppliers’ eyes.
Suppliers devote their full attention to a customer of choice and assign their best
employees to the customer’s projects. A customer of choice can gain access to innovative
processes and technologies before competitors — opening the door to new product
development and faster marketplace advances. A customer of choice can also get more
favorable terms than competitors who haven’t achieved this status.
In other words, suppliers are potential competitive advantages with innovations, ideas
and solutions that can improve B2B companies’ businesses. To tap into this resource,
B2B companies have to be willing to listen to their suppliers and cultivate thriving
supplier relationships.
HOW TO BECOME A CUSTOMER OF CHOICE

Gallup collaborated with Mars, a leader in fast-moving consumer goods, to develop a
practical solution to measure, manage and optimize the quality of supplier relationships.
This endeavor began after Mars experienced the power of being a customer of choice.
During a strike in France, gasoline stations across the country were closed, but one
important supplier still had one truck with fuel available. The fuel from this truck could only
go to one company — and several customers were hoping to secure the truck. Ultimately,
a Mars competitor received the truck, and Mars was forced to reduce production in one of
its plants.
Like employee and customer engagement, supplier engagement hinges on both rational
and emotional factors. Rational factors (such as price and quality) and emotional factors
(such as human interactions between suppliers and customers) determine the quality
of relationships.
33
Gallup has decades of expertise helping companies around the world measure and
maximize employee and customer engagement. Based on that experience, Gallup
identified five core dimensions and 10 survey items that isolate the quality of supplier
relationships. These items reveal how buyers rate with suppliers, and they provide talking
points for sparking meaningful, relationship-building conversations with suppliers.
GALLUP’S SUPPLIER ENGAGEMENT CONSTRUCT
Dimension Definition
Clarity Reflects the clarity of expectations and the quality of communication

pathways to ensure these are clear to all.
Simplicity Reflects ways of working and, in particular, the ability to deliver

excellence.
Integrity Reflects the notions of trust and the ability to overcome problems to
reach a mutual agreement.
Reciprocity Reflects the value both parties place on the relationship.
Connectivity Reflects the interdependence in the relationship and the recognition of

shared outcomes.
CLASSIFYING SUPPLIERS AND THEIR IMPORTANCE

Not every supplier relationship has the same value for a company or is equally necessary
for the business’ survival. Many companies benefit from evaluating and nurturing the
entirety of their supplier relationships. Other times, a company has supplier relationships
that are inconsequential to business outcomes. In these cases, leaders should differentiate
and prioritize critical suppliers.
Leaders must also consider how their supplier relationships come to life for their
customers. Companies often partner with suppliers that have well-known or established
brands — brands that can and do influence customers’ perceptions and engagement.
THREE ACTIONS FOR BECOMING A CUSTOMER OF CHOICE

After assessing the health of critical supplier relationships, B2B leaders can then turn their
attention to optimizing those relationships. Gallup has identified three essential actions
that can help companies set themselves apart as a customer of choice.
Have engaging conversations with your suppliers.

Supplier engagement analytics are only a starting point. To improve relationships, B2B
companies must use insights from supplier analytics to have engaging conversations
with suppliers.
Leaders should consistently seek supplier feedback and regularly collect follow-
up supplier engagement data. Crucially, B2B companies must respond to feedback
from suppliers — taking actions that strengthen relationships and help them become
customers of choice.
34
Provide suppliers with ideas.
Companies should willingly share insights and ideas that help suppliers accomplish their
goals and grow their businesses. Both sides should benefit from the partnership.
For example, if a B2B company asks a supplier to invest time and money into making its
packaging more appealing or speeding up its delivery process, then the supplier can
reasonably expect something in return from the company.
Be easy to do business with.

Leaders should aim to become customers with whom suppliers love to work. Clarity,
simplicity and consistency are core characteristics of an effortless partnership.
B2B companies should respond quickly to questions and be accommodating in
each interaction.
THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO CREATE CUSTOMER IMPACT
Becoming a customer of choice might not be easy, but it’s worth it. A customer of choice
earns far more than better service; they profit from access and privileges that their
competitors lack.
These benefits position B2B companies to better meet their customers’ needs and
achieve authentic customer-centricity.
35
STRONG CUSTOMER
RELATIONSHIPS ARE BUILT
ON COLLABORATION
The best B2B

relationships Gallup has
studied are steeped in
trust and collaboration.
36
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Strong Customer Relationships Are Built on Collaboration
When both sides of a B2B relationship are primarily looking

out for their own best interests, they can miss legitimate
opportunities for shared benefits, cost savings and growth.
One CEO of a large consumer goods company learned this lesson as a sales associate
assigned to a retail client. An experienced client executive explained a major issue in the
relationship to the green associate: Both companies’ sales and procurement teams were
leading interactions — driven by their individual objectives and incentives. Consequently,
there was no real sense of partnership. Neither side was fully appreciating the other side’s
capabilities and value chain, which undermined potential gains for both companies.
The best B2B relationships Gallup has studied are steeped in trust and collaboration. In
these partnerships, both sides are transparent about costs and allow the other to make
a profit. The vendor knows the customer’s business, and both sides promote new ideas,
transparency and a long-term view of the relationship.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE BEST B2B RELATIONSHIPS

Leader-to-Leader Collaboration
In the best B2B relationships, senior leaders on both sides foster collaborative, transparent,
mutually beneficial partnerships. Top-to-top connections enable forward-thinking
strategizing, as well-informed leaders pursue the most promising opportunities for
long-term growth.
Leadership connections create openness and creativity in a relationship. Working together,

senior leaders can explore options that might be costly in the near term but offer joint value
and savings in the long run.
Risk-Taking
Both sides are willing to take chances in thriving partnerships. For B2B leaders, risk means
going first, showing value early and investing in the relationship before a return is apparent.
For customers, risk means entering a long-term relationship that may have higher initial
costs but pays dividends over time.
Both parties need to recognize that unforeseeable issues can arise, such as key
stakeholders leaving the company, and accept those risks if there is a strong probability of
a high return on their investment.
37
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Strong Customer Relationships Are Built on Collaboration
Clear Goals and Expectations

Well-established expectations are paramount for success in a B2B relationship. Both sides need a
documented joint business plan that details each company’s role and responsibilities. Leaders should
be specific and transparent — for example, sharing expectations on the timeline and what they hope to
gain from the relationship.
To maintain clarity of expectations, both businesses should meet regularly as a cross-functional

team, including executive sponsors, functional managers and day-to-day relationship participants.
Through these meetings, both sides can voice opinions, share knowledge, solve problems, identify
opportunities and adjust strategies.
Ongoing Transparency
Honest communication is a cornerstone of the best B2B partnerships. In such a relationship, both
sides are committed to transparency and recognize that each company needs to make money.
Leaders should disclose their goals, level of experience and cost and margin requirements.
When done correctly, revealing intentions creates trust and allows leaders to find win-win opportunities.
A Long-Term Perspective
Outcome-driving relationships don’t happen overnight. In the best partnerships, both sides understand
that payoffs might take a while. They view the partnership as a long-term investment, with customers
willing to link their company to a specific supplier and vendors willing to accept the challenges of long-
term business relationships.
38
GET TO KNOW
YOUR CUSTOMERS
31%
OF B2B CUSTOMERS
are fully engaged.
39
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Get to Know Your Customers
Customers often expect more from companies than

companies expect from themselves. Customers want
their vendors to have a detailed understanding of their
needs, their competition and their end consumers.
For B2B leaders, this makes the secret to thriving in a competitive landscape rather simple:
Discover customers’ business needs and deliver solutions that meet those needs.
That is, B2B organizations need to generate customer impact — meaningful change
in a customer’s organization (or their business model) that significantly improves that
customer’s bottom line.
B2B organizations become expert advisers when they engineer their products and
services to further customers’ businesses. These B2B companies are knowledgeable,
customer-oriented generators of growth with a differentiated value proposition. They give
customers a compelling reason to keep doing business with them.
Discovering powerful customer analytics is the only path to understanding the nuances
of customers’ businesses, markets and consumers. A data-driven approach provides
intimate, extensive knowledge of a customer’s business — insights that allow B2B
companies to deliver new ideas and tailored offerings that help customers succeed.
When customers trust a B2B company to further their goals, they have a stronger
emotional attachment to that company — that is, they are more engaged. In fact,
Gallup research shows that customer impact is the single greatest driver of customer
engagement and B2B growth.
WHY CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT MATTERS

Highly engaged customers spend more, purchase more often and stay longer with the
company. The concrete links between engagement and critical business outcomes stand
the test of time and rigorous research.
Companies that successfully engage their B2B customers realize:
50%  higher revenue/sales

55%  higher share of wallet
33%  greater likelihood to be first choice for future business
63%  lower customer attrition
32%  fewer days sales outstanding
40
Unfortunately, just 31% of B2B customers are fully

engaged — meaning that most B2B companies
are leaving serious money on the table.
HOW TO GENERATE CUSTOMER IMPACT

B2B companies create impact when they enhance a customer’s standing and potential in
the marketplace while also strengthening that customer’s business outcomes. The more a
company can help its customers thrive, the stronger the partnership becomes. Ultimately,
customer impact creates a mutually beneficial B2B relationship, as both the company and
the customer advance their businesses through their partnership.
To create impact, B2B companies must:

• understand the customer’s business
• bring the customer new ideas
• make these ideas work for the customer by tailoring them to the customer’s
marketplace and workplace
Customer impact is about shifting from commodity to collaboration. B2B companies

should come alongside customers and offer information that competitors do not have —
from specific recommendations about changing market demands to innovative products
that solve customers’ biggest problems.
Here are some additional examples of customer impact:

• sharing knowledge and experience related to a customer’s production or supply
chain issues
• enhancing a customer’s standing in the marketplace and their potential for
business growth
• optimizing a customer’s cost structure, perhaps through more effective supply chain
management, inventory control or process improvement
• introducing a customer to other vendors, distributors or retailers that can help with
some facet of the customer’s business
• ensuring customers are effectively using the company’s products or services to
further their goals
• identifying unseen product or service opportunities for customers
41
USE EVERY AVENUE TO ENGAGE CUSTOMERS

Working to create customer impact does not negate the value of the more functional
drivers of engagement, such as delivering quality and optimizing responsiveness. B2B
companies must meet customers’ holistic engagement needs. This requires discovering
and prioritizing the top drivers of engagement for a B2B company’s unique customer base.
At the same time, all engagement efforts should be aimed at producing tangible changes
in business performance for customers. That is, B2B leaders should continually emphasize
customer impact and customer engagement. Gallup research shows that when B2B
companies engage their customers and generate impact for them, those companies
achieve higher levels of performance than companies that only engage customers.
CUSTOMER IMPACT + CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT = MULTIPLICATIVE EFFECT

In one study, customers across various business lines who were fully engaged and who
experienced impact contributed to significantly higher shares of wallet (31% higher share
in one business line and 9% higher in another) and significantly higher earnings (20% and
26% higher, respectively).
MEASURING CUSTOMER IMPACT AND CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

Traditional satisfaction or advocacy surveys are not enough to truly understand current
and potential customers. These static measures do not enable B2B growth; rather, they
reflect whether a company fulfilled customers’ baseline expectations at a reasonable price,
with minimal delays or problems.
With proven, effective quantitative and qualitative measures, B2B companies can gather a
comprehensive perspective about how well they’re creating customer impact.
Gallup assesses customer impact by asking customers to rate their level of agreement
with a single statement, using a five-point scale: “[Company] has made a significant impact
on the success of my business.”
To further identify actions that support positive impact, Gallup conducts qualitative
interviews with key stakeholders.
Because customer engagement is one of the best predictors of customer outcomes,

Gallup recommends consistently assessing customer engagement as a foundational
customer analytic.
With decades of B2B expertise, Gallup developed a metric that accounts for the
emotional aspects of human behavior and decision-making. We determine whether
customers believe:
1 2 3
Your company Your company

They are proud to
always delivers on is the perfect
be your customer.
what you promise. company for them.
42
Copyright © 1994-2000, 2019 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.
CULTURE MATTERS
TO B2B COMPANIES
60%
OF BIG DATA PROJECTS
fail to go beyond piloting
and experimentation due to
culture issues.
43
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Culture Matters to B2B Companies
With the right data and analytics, B2B leaders can better
understand their customers’ businesses and gain a competitive edge.
To use that edge to grow their businesses, leaders need to empower employees at all
levels to make data-driven decisions that create customer impact. It’s not enough to
understand how customers feel and what empowers their businesses; B2B companies
must use that knowledge to shape their culture and the way they operate. To that end, B2B
leaders should strive to build a data-driven culture.
In such a culture, employees understand the importance of an analytics-based approach

to customer centricity. They are aligned with their leaders’ vision and have clear direction
about their role in it. They can interpret and apply data, and align discoveries with
organizational priorities and business outcomes.
When employees cannot manage or act on an influx of information, companies cannot harness
analytics to make decisions — and data initiatives will stall. According to one estimate, 60% of
big data projects fail to go beyond piloting and experimentation due to culture issues.
CULTURE CHANGE STARTS WITH ALIGNMENT

To many B2B leaders, the secret to culture change is an enigma.
Gallup has spent decades studying the world’s most successful work cultures. We’ve
discovered many companies cannot transform their culture because they look at it in
a vacuum and don’t factor in the other elements that matter. In Gallup’s experience,
companies that want to build a data-driven culture that creates organic growth can only do
so by aligning culture with their purpose and brand.
A company’s purpose, brand and culture combine to create a larger dynamic that Gallup
calls organizational identity.
Purpose: Why does our organization exist, and why are we here?
A company’s purpose should be more than words on a wall. Leaders and managers must
ensure that employees can connect their company’s purpose with their day-to-day work.
Purpose should inspire commitment, with each employee bringing the purpose to life
through their actions and decisions.
Brand: How are we known to the world?

To earn customers’ trust and business, B2B companies need to create a strong brand
promise and consistently deliver on it. This requires internal alignment: Employees
need to live and breathe their company’s brand and understand their role in fulfilling
brand promises.
Culture: How do we live, and how do we accomplish work around here?

Culture is an operating manual that gives employees ground rules and guidelines for
living the company’s purpose and delivering on the brand promise. B2B companies need
to constantly reinforce their culture — recognizing those who live the culture, continually
emphasizing desired behaviors and aligning their performance management systems
with their cultural aspirations.
44
Why is alignment of these three elements powerful? Companies gain momentum when
employees speak the same language, live the same behaviors and promote the same
goals. Alignment accelerates change and enables sustained high performance.
Alignment also creates a seamless, differentiated customer experience. When companies

build alignment, everyone — from employees to customers to shareholders and industry
influencers — think and talk about the company in the same way.
Gallup’s experience shows that the most successful companies align their purpose, brand
and culture when they:
1) Partner with an objective third party to examine their identity.
A company can only gain a true understanding of its purpose, brand and culture by
conducting in-depth quantitative and qualitative research to understand where it is and
where it could be.
Many organizations have inherent biases when examining their own identity. They also
often lack the analytics capabilities, knowledge or expertise needed to honestly evaluate
their identity. If a company wants to implement real change, it has to work with an outside
firm to ask questions and conduct research, which includes executive team interviews,
employee interviews and focus groups, on-site observations and internal and external
document reviews.
The results of this research identify:

• where a company’s brand and purpose lack clarity
• the level of consistency in the functional elements of a company’s culture
• how well a company’s desired purpose, brand and culture match its actual purpose,
brand and culture
• opportunities to empower employees to promote a company’s desired purpose, brand
and culture
2) Set the course for a unique identity.
Many companies try to build an identity based on what other companies have done,
rather than what makes the most sense for their business and people. Organizations are
most successful when they focus on evaluating, understanding and strengthening their
distinct purpose, brand and culture.
Creating a well-aligned purpose, brand and culture requires support from the C-suite.
Leaders are responsible for defining, displaying and communicating the aspired identity.
They should prioritize the desired culture by following a clearly defined strategy for
building and sustaining it. They should set the tone and model desired behaviors to
encourage employee buy-in.
45
3) Take action and maintain accountability.
Insights from third-party research should equip leaders with a concrete plan of action.
Managers’ and leaders’ commitment to this plan is pivotal to driving lasting change.
Equally important is accountability, which leaders should ensure throughout all levels of
the company, from managers to front-line contributors.
Companies must communicate consistently about their desired purpose, brand and
culture to ensure that systems and processes reflect and reinforce these elements. For
example, leaders might envision a culture that focuses on the customer experience but
have a performance management system that incentivizes sales rather than customer
ratings. Or, a company might emphasize customer service on its walls but fail to promote
customer-centric goal setting.
THE PATH TO A DATA-DRIVEN CULTURE
Any effective culture-change initiative starts

with alignment and leadership support.
Ongoing dedication is essential to optimizing and advancing a data-driven culture. Leaders

should continually reassess communications, company values, human capital practices,
work structures and performance management processes to ensure the company
supports data-driven, customer-centric decisions.
46
CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY
DEMANDS ACTION
Customer-centricity
takes commitment,
measurement,
advanced analytics
and, most importantly,
follow-through.
47
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Customer-Centricity Demands Action
A customer-centric culture that consistently delivers

customer impact doesn’t happen overnight.
To become customer-centric, B2B companies must listen to and act on their customers’
needs and wants through a disciplined approach. They need to see the world through
the lens of their customers. They need to understand their customers’ businesses and
constantly work to further their customers’ goals.
Customer-centricity takes commitment, measurement, advanced analytics and, most

importantly, follow-through. Even the most advanced customer analytics are powerless if
companies don’t respond with action.
Gallup has spent decades studying B2B companies that have succeeded in adopting a truly
customer-centric operating model. We’ve identified four best practices that can enable any
B2B culture to undergo this radical transformation.
FOUR PHASES OF A CUSTOMER-CENTRIC OPERATING MODEL

Discover: Get to know the customer.
To serve a customer with an intentional emphasis on growing that customer’s business,
B2B companies should start by exploring the current state of the relationship. A deep
understanding of a customer’s business is essential for sharing innovations and new ideas
that expand that customer’s business.
This phase includes tasks such as:

• studying the customer’s culture, networks, language and social structure
• evaluating the customer’s account structure
• reviewing any prior metrics used to evaluate the relationship
• understanding the buying center and building a relationship map
• conducting stakeholder analyses to assess the current customer landscape
• assessing the customer’s needs and priorities
• creating or refining a customer engagement strategy
Analyze: Deepen your understanding of the customer with a data-driven approach.

Qualitative and quantitative analyses provide invaluable insights for amplifying a B2B
company’s understanding of the customer organization. A holistic approach — with
objective qualitative customer feedback and advanced analytics — ensures that leaders set
a tailored, customer-oriented course with the customer.
48
During this phase, B2B companies should take actions such as:
• using a data-driven approach to isolating the customer’s top priorities
• partnering with a third party for a key account review to discover what’s working in the
relationship and where there are opportunities for improvement
• aligning internally regarding key account review findings to understand strengths
and vulnerabilities
• building an action plan based on the key account review and establishing
accountability for the plan
• conducting an ethnographic study of customers
Target: Determine what drives customer impact.

Understanding what drives each customer’s experience, engagement and perceptions
of impact is crucial for improving the relationship and expanding customer impact. When
B2B companies know exactly which levers to pull for each customer — and which actions
are less effective — they can efficiently and effectively bring customer-centricity to
each relationship.
Some of the best practices associated with this phase include:

• conducting driver analyses to determine how to propel the relationship
• estimating how well the B2B company is executing the key drivers
• linking the key drivers to a customer’s top priorities and conducting a gap analysis
• connecting findings from earlier phases to identify ways to maximize the customer’s
experience
• developing a plan for consistently taking action related to the key drivers
• incorporating findings from earlier phases to identify ways to transform the customer
experience and goals related to key drivers
Sustain: Foster accountability to ensure long-term commitment to growth.

Collaboration, intentionality and accountability are vital for steadily enriching the customer
experience, intensifying customer impact and improving the customer’s business
performance. Customer-centricity isn’t achieved with surveys alone; employees at all levels
must be dedicated to consistently following the B2B company’s plan for delivering impact.
Here are several winning tactics associated with this phase:

• appointing a project champion to facilitate progress checks
• showcasing wins that enhanced the customer relationship
• implementing a robust, company-wide internal communication strategy for
disseminating results, sharing best practices and advising about plan adjustments
• discussing progress with a customer to consistently convey the B2B company’s
commitment to optimizing the relationship
• evaluating progress and perfecting strategies with follow-up qualitative and
quantitative analyses
49
THE HEART OF CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY: PEOPLE

The success of a customer-centric operating model hinges on a single factor: a B2B
company’s people. Employees at all levels must be aligned with a company’s vision
for customer-centricity, with a clear understanding of how they are expected to deliver
customer-centricity each day. If alignment is lacking or employees don’t know how to
succeed, companies will struggle to consistently fulfill brand promises.
LEADERS’ ROLE
Leaders are responsible for setting the tone and inspiring new beliefs and behaviors.
Consistently reinforcing the company’s dedication to customer-centricity is essential for
sustaining momentum and aligning employees.
Leaders must take accountability for cultivating a customer-centric culture. This means
creating the right processes, systems and service values to ensure consistent delivery of
promises. For example, a developmental approach to performance management fosters
employee accountability and hones employees’ skills through ongoing, individualized
performance coaching. Further, leaders need to model desired behaviors — truly listening
to qualitative and quantitative customer insights and using those discoveries to anticipate
and meet customers’ needs.
Leaders must remain committed to customer-centricity for the long term. As customers’
needs evolve, B2B companies need to continually bring them new ideas that propel their
business outcomes.
MANAGERS’ ROLE
Managers of customer-facing employees should equip their team members to thrive as
brand ambassadors — meeting basic engagement needs so employees approach their
work with energy and enthusiasm. Managers of non-customer-facing employees must
reinforce the importance of customer-centricity — helping team members connect their
work with the mission and purpose of the organization.
Throughout the company, managers should celebrate and recognize employees’ role in
advancing customers’ businesses.
Managers are also responsible for understanding and targeting key drivers of each
customer’s experiences, engagement and impact. Managers should encourage and
support team members to over-deliver on these drivers — leveraging their unique
strengths to help customers excel.
50
A HOLISTIC APPROACH PRODUCES EXCELLENCE
Exceptional B2B companies that consistently beat the competition go beyond a clear and
sustained focus on each customer. These companies recognize that they cannot deliver
value to customers without considering all of the factors that affect their service delivery.
And, while customers are the heart of a customer-centric operating model, they’re not the
only component.
To deliver excellence that drives organic growth, B2B leaders must also consider the
company itself and its suppliers.
the
COMPANY
B2B
its
1
CUSTOMERS
its
SUPPLIERS
1
Leaders must determine what the company stands for and how it distinguishes its brand.
They must understand and anticipate market needs to uncover leading-edge innovations
and proactively turn competitive threats into opportunities. A company’s market
positioning informs its interactions with customers and suppliers; without it, the rest of the
model falls apart.
The customer-centric operating model is not linear. That is, B2B companies need to work
on each component in tandem and understand that none of these elements is ever “done.”
B2B companies must continually find and share new ideas with customers to drive impact
that leads to business growth for both the company and its customers.
51
ACCOUNT MANAGERS
ARE THE SECRET TO
CUSTOMER IMPACT
40%
OF B2B CUSTOMERS
who are very satisfied with
their account manager are
fully engaged.
52
Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Account Managers Are the Secret to Customer Impact
B2B client relationships are complex. Developing

engaging, long-term connections with customers
takes capable, talented account teams.
At the same time, promoting account team performance is rather simple. It all hinges on
the account manager.
Gallup has spent decades studying account teams and conducting in-depth qualitative
and quantitative customer analytics. We’ve learned that account managers can make or
break customer outcomes. Exceptional account managers are naturally capable leaders
who guide their teams to deliver unparalleled customer impact.
On average, 40% of B2B customers who are

very satisfied with their account manager are
fully engaged. Customers who can’t say the
same about their account managers have dismal
engagement, with just 13% fully engaged.
Great account managers know where a customer’s business has been and where it is
going, and they continually strive to further customers’ goals. To strategically align with
customers’ needs, they use a data-driven approach to understand the markets they serve.
They are creative thinkers who rely on their in-depth understanding of customers’ needs to
craft customized, innovative solutions that propel customers’ businesses.
They don’t stop there.
Best-in-class account managers do far more than find new ways to help customers thrive;
they also inspire their teams to do the same. Outcome-driving account managers lead
their people to operate with a customer-centric worldview that drives customer outcomes.
They are committed to meeting employees’ needs — and they possess the people
management talents to get the job done.
This dedication reaps significant dividends: Gallup analytics prove that managers are
responsible for 70% of the variance in team engagement. Every day, great account
managers equip and encourage their employees to develop customer-centric strategies.
This results in an engaged, high-performing team that is dedicated to deepening customer
relationships and delivering customer impact that fuels organic growth.
53
OUTSTANDING ACCOUNT MANAGERS POSSESS INNATE TALENT

The world’s best account managers were born with natural talents that position them to thrive as
people managers, relationship builders and drivers of customer impact.
Challenges arise, then, when companies promote their best sales performers to account manager
positions. No matter how much revenue a salesperson brings in, the talents required to sell are
vastly different from the talents required to lead a team and build partnerships with customers. When
selecting an account manager, leaders should consider internal and external candidates who excel
at managing people and are motivated to strategically and creatively grow customers’ businesses.
To build a culture of customer-centricity, B2B companies need to find account managers who
possess the right talents and are perfectly fit for the role.
CASE STUDY
One hospitality company discovered the power of filling account manager
positions with naturally talented individuals who serve as strategic partners and
trusted advisers. During quantitative and qualitative reviews with the client, Gallup
found that individual franchise owners were unhappy with their point of contact
from the brand. Owners did not believe that their account managers knew enough
about the business. In most cases, account managers were former general
managers who were great at quality assurance but lacked an understanding of
how to accelerate an owner’s portfolio. Franchise owners wanted high-level advice
and consulting — ideas for propelling their business — but the account managers
could not provide that kind of strategic input. Gallup and the client collaborated to
create an account management team with the talent and experience better suited
to the owners’ needs.
WHAT THE BEST ACCOUNT MANAGERS DO DIFFERENTLY

Regardless of industry, Gallup has found that the best account managers share common traits
and behaviors.
Workstyle
It’s quite the challenge to continually understand customers’ goals and deliver customer-centric
solutions, especially in the midst of shifting market demands. Exceptional account managers have
what it takes to tackle this challenge with ease. They act as agents of focus for their customers and
internal partners, never losing sight of the goal to identify and address customers’ needs. Great
account managers know that meeting their clients’ needs requires meeting their teams’ needs
first. They proactively clarify employees’ job expectations, help employees set goals, maintain
accountability and ensure employees feel valued for their contributions. By keeping team members
aligned and focused on customer-centricity, innately talented account managers help their teams
provide fresh solutions that wow customers and position B2B companies as invaluable partners.
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Outstanding account managers think flexibly with each customer’s evolving needs and
circumstances. They thrive in the face of complex problems — fueled by their capacity to
multitask, coordinate resources and shift strategies to serve customers’ ambitions. When
account managers lack an adaptable, nimble workstyle, their teams struggle to manage
complicated B2B relationships.
Because they are driven to help their customers thrive, the most successful account
managers make choices in the best interest of their customers first, their company second
and their team third. They are advocates for the customer in all factions of their company.
Consequently, their customers are more likely to view the account manager as a trusted
adviser that they cannot imagine doing business without.
Motivation
Extraordinary account managers strive to make a difference and are principled in doing
so. They are confident in their ability to propel customers’ goals through their company’s
innovations, solutions and ideas. They find fulfillment in discovering customers’ unique
challenges, envisioning customers’ ideal state and plotting the course toward customers’
greatest potential. They discover every facet of a customer’s business and continually
think of ways to provide value.
Innately talented account managers consistently push themselves to achieve their goals,
which always align with customers’ goals. Great account managers are highly competitive
— driven to attain targets and win big for their customers, team members and organization.
At the same time, great account managers’ ultimate source of satisfaction goes far beyond
realizing targets. The best find meaning and purpose in developing real relationships with
customers and helping customers see improvements in their businesses. Customers pick
up on this customer-centric motivation — sensing account managers’ genuine desire to
make a difference. In response, customers are more likely to remain loyal and dedicated to
the partnership.
Initiation
Talented account managers are certain of their organization’s ability to produce lasting
improvements for their clients. This confidence helps them demonstrate that customers’
needs can — and will — be fulfilled. Great account managers rely on reasoned, cooperative
communication balanced with authority to foster ownership among their team members
and customers. As a result, outstanding account managers are adept influencers who
guide their teams and customers to enact change and realize goals. And, because talented
account managers consistently communicate their dedication to customers, they energize
their teams and customers about the attainability of lasting customer impact.
Best-in-class account managers base their confidence in their data-driven approach to

delivering customer impact. They realize that quantitative and qualitative analytics enable
them to decipher customers’ wants, needs and perceptions. With proven analytics on their
side, they act with assurance — mobilizing their team to implement powerful improvements
that create customer impact.
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Collaboration
For B2B account teams, establishing and maintaining relationships is foundational to
success. First, account teams need to form partnerships across multiple business lines
within their company — including sales, technology, analytics and accounting teams. Top-
talent account managers proactively build alignment among their team members and key
internal partners — ensuring everyone is on the same page and working toward the same
goals. As a result, great account managers help their team members build strong internal
networks, which are essential for delivering innovative ideas, solutions and advice.
Relationship-building and collaboration with customers is also essential for thriving B2B
partnerships. The best account managers encourage their teams to invest in customers
and ask them about their challenges, circumstances and needs. The best account
managers lead by example, investing themselves into each customer relationship
and doggedly striving toward customers’ best interests. They relentlessly hone their
understanding of customers’ needs, businesses and markets — using this perspective to
find the most compelling ways to guide growth and fuel positive change.
Relationship-building — both internal and external — requires consistent communication.

This is something that comes naturally to exceptional account managers. They are
individualizers who discover the most effective style of communication and collaboration
for each partnership. Because they take the time to optimize each partnership, exceptional
account managers develop authentic, outcome-driving relationships.
Thought Process
Thriving account managers crave knowledge and always seek to learn. Their goal is an in-
depth, ever-expanding understanding of the customer’s organization and its needs. They
value this perspective because they know it will enable them to guide their account team
toward customer-centricity.
Great account managers’ drive for competence-building is amplified by their capacity

to connect the dots and find answers. That is, talented account managers can readily
synthesize complex concepts to generate solutions that solve customers’ problems. The
best account managers are drawn to problems because they enjoy analyzing and solving
them. Further, great account managers want to resolve customers’ challenges, and they’ll
do whatever it takes to drive customer impact.
Smart account managers recognize that a one-size-fits-all approach won’t drive customer
impact nearly as well as a customized one. Therefore, great account managers are
explorative and creative — open to new options and motivated to implement the solutions
that most benefit a customer’s business.
Exceptional account managers are characterized by their positive outlook and resilient
nature. They genuinely believe that any issue can be addressed for a successful
conclusion. This conviction fuels their motivation to solve each customer’s problems; they
know that an outcome-driving solution is within reach. Consequently, their customers feel
comfortable sharing their most challenging business problems and feel reassured that
they have a trusted partner who wants to help.
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THREE ACTIONS SUCCESSFUL ACCOUNT MANAGERS TAKE
Get to Know the Buying Center

Customers are usually easy to spot for a typical B2C company. They are the shoppers, the
product-users, the guests, etc.
For account teams, the definition of a "customer" is more elusive. It’s not enough to know
a single influential contact on the customer side. Account teams must identify and form
connections with all of the key players in the customer’s buying center.
Typically, multiple decision-makers from different functional areas in a customer

organization make purchasing decisions.
No matter how large or small, a buying center is comprised of individuals in four

distinct roles:
Decision-makers Buyers
They commit funds, They are involved
make choices and have in the procurement
the final yes-or-no process itself and in
decision on purchases. decisions that define
contract terms.
Influencers End users

They have an advisory They manage and
role and sway whether use a B2B company’s
the organization products or services.
chooses to continue
the relationship.
The best account managers help their teams define what success looks like to each
member of the buying center. This practice allows account teams to prioritize each critical
customer relationship for an overall partnership that is rock-solid.
Exceptional account managers use a disciplined approach to help their teams form
relationships within a buying center. Gallup has found that successful account teams rely
on relationship mapping — that is, they systematically identify and organize the members
of a buying center.
With a relationship map, an account team can pinpoint all crucial contacts and determine
who “owns” each relationship. This accountability lays the foundation for lasting,
meaningful connections and it positions account teams to exceed customer expectations.
Further, strategically assigning account team members with the ideal customer contact
facilitates the formation of highly engaging relationships.
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A relationship map helps account teams:

• allocate internal resources more effectively
• dismantle complexity and mitigate blind spots in a buying center
• build deeper, personalized, complementary partnerships
• develop a comprehensive, diverse perspective of the customer’s needs
• identify and prioritize actions for delivering customer impact
Great account managers prioritize ongoing communication with members of the customer
buying center. They encourage team members to frequently speak with their assigned
contacts, asking questions such as, “What are we doing well? How can we build on this
momentum to improve your business? What is missing in our relationship? What can we
do better?”
Prioritize Team Alignment

Communication within account teams is paramount to promoting customer-centric
B2B relationships. Great account managers know this; that’s why they encourage teams
to frequently discuss each team member’s role in connecting with members of the
buying center.
When an account team is highly aligned, it can build a best-in-class partnership with each
customer — the kind of partnership that is mutually beneficial and earns the B2B company
the status of “invaluable, trusted partner” in the customer’s eyes.
Account teams that communicate frequently can:
1) Resolve Problems Quickly
By meeting regularly, teams can resolve problems quickly and prevent major disasters.
Honesty and transparency are of the utmost importance: Account team members must
feel comfortable bringing issues to the table.
Proactively preventing or addressing issues positions account teams to dedicate their

time to what matters: furthering a customer’s business.
2) Deepen Customer Engagement and Customer Impact
Through ongoing communication, account teams can emphasize key drivers of impact
and discover new ways to drive the customer’s business. Frequent conversations
enable the account team to isolate the client’s business problems, initiatives, challenges
and goals — and discover any gaps in knowledge about the client organization.
Then, account teams can determine how to provide meaningful change in the client’s
productivity and profitability — that is, their plan for expanding customer impact.
Each buying center role has different needs, and these needs evolve over time. To
optimize engagement and impact, account team members should share insights from
conversations with client contacts, then prioritize actions to improve each relationship.
Aligning regarding each contact’s wants and expectations helps the account team
holistically promote a successful partnership.
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3) Harness the Full Power of Customer Analytics
Customer data and key driver analyses can only enrich relationships when account
teams use those insights to inform their strategies. The account team should create a
plan based on quantitative and qualitative customer analytics, then establish ownership
for actions.
Follow-up is crucial to spur progress toward goals. Account teams should stay on the
same page about what’s working well with the customer and how they can fix what’s not
working so well.
4) Maintain Ongoing Accountability
Neglecting even one buying center relationship can be detrimental to the overall
relationship. Consistent accountability helps account teams optimize connections
with each member of the buying center. Staying accountable also helps account
teams achieve goals, ensure consistent relationship growth and deliver maximum
customer impact.
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Recruit Based on Talent and Invest in Strengths

The best account managers deliberately consider how to best assemble their team and
then recruit top talent to join it. They look for relationship people, not just salespeople,
and they consider how well candidates can relate to customers and identify customers’
needs. The best account managers think about customers when considering candidates
— selecting the most customer-centric individuals who will strive to consistently deliver
brand promises.
However, some account managers do not choose their team members; they inherit
them. Even then, account managers who are truly right for the job will understand how to
work with what they have. They will recognize each team member’s individual strengths,
celebrate his or her successes and determine what works best to motivate every person.
Great account managers don’t just seek out the right talent; they invest in employee
development for the future. They follow a universal best practice for optimizing team
performance: a strengths-based approach to employee development. To help each
team member thrive, managers need to understand their employees’ strengths and
vulnerabilities. This perspective allows managers to position individuals for success and
help them apply their strengths to their work. A strengths-based management style is also
essential for orchestrating the team’s collective strengths and weaknesses to optimize
performance. When team members understand one another’s innate abilities, they can
leverage one another’s strengths and coordinate their efforts to make the most of the
team’s collective capabilities. Emphasizing strengths improves account team performance
because it helps team members understand one another and how they can best
collaborate to serve customers’ needs.
Exceptional account managers strive to meet their team members’ basic work needs, such
as ensuring employees know what’s expected of them, have opportunities to learn and
grow and are recognized for their accomplishments. For example, for one Gallup client,
high-performing account managers sent more than twice as many recognition emails
than managers of less successful teams. The world’s most capable account managers
use a proactive approach to helping employees excel, talking with employees frequently
about their needs, challenges and goals. Great account managers continually stoke team
performance through employee conversations that are future-oriented, productive and
focused on what employees are doing right.
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THE DIFFERENCE THAT GREAT ACCOUNT MANAGERS MAKE

Simply put, they promote great customer outcomes. Customers are far more likely to stick
around when they have a trusted partner who solves their most difficult problems. Because
great account managers consistently provide answers and demonstrate their dedication to
the customer, they boost retention, win repeat business and contribute to account growth.
Gallup analytics show that when B2B companies engage their customers, they realize
higher levels of revenue/sales, profitability and share of wallet as well as lower levels of
customer attrition than B2C companies.
50%  higher revenue/sales

55%  higher share of wallet
33%  greater likelihood to be first choice for future business
63%  lower customer attrition
32%  fewer days sales outstanding
They fuel brand ambassadorship.
B2B companies typically don’t advertise, and because of this, most B2B leaders don’t
believe they have to worry about their company’s brand. Nothing could be further from
the truth. Customers have a reaction every time they hear a company’s name or see
one of its products — and that reaction is the brand. A brand is not a logo or tagline; it is
an experience.
Account managers act as brand ambassadors, and the best ones always leave the
customer with the right impression. Further, because exceptional account managers
constantly deliver customer impact, they propagate brand ambassadorship among their
teams and customers.
They contribute to thriving work cultures.

Creating a culture that values what's inherently right with employees instead of fixating
on what's wrong with them is at the heart of what great managers do. Gifted account
managers learn how to relate to their team members to get the best out of every individual.
They serve as coaches who focus on strengths, communicate frequently and demonstrate
that they care.
As a result, their team members are energized to come to work in an environment where
they are valued contributors on a successful team. When employees belong to an
exceptional workplace, they are motivated to go above and beyond expectations.
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FOUR WAYS LEADERS CAN
SUPPORT ACCOUNT MANAGERS
1) Position Salespeople as Consultants
2) Maintain Accurate, Fair and Inspiring Accountability
3) Use Service Values to Promote a Customer-Centric Culture
4) Empower Account Teams With Advanced Analytics
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Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | Four Ways Leaders Can Support Account Managers
Exceptional account managers will do whatever it takes

to foster thriving client relationships. These individuals
possess the innate talents to manage people, relationships
and projects. They guide their teams to a customer-centric
perspective, continually strive to further customers’ businesses
and never stop looking for ways to create customer impact.
Gallup’s analytics show that the account manager can make or break customer
engagement. When B2B customers are fully satisfied with their account manager, 40% are
fully engaged. Just 13% of customers who aren’t fully satisfied with their account manager
are engaged.
Therefore, finding innately talented account managers is the first step leaders should take
to promote extraordinary account team performance. But there’s more that leaders can do.
Outstanding account managers have limitless potential when their leaders set them up for
success by promoting a customer-centric culture. Here are four strategies for positioning
account managers to excel.
POSITION SALESPEOPLE AS CONSULTANTS

B2B customers’ wants and needs have evolved. Customers expect more than exceptional
products; they want customized solutions for propelling their business. They want to
collaborate with an organization that can provide lasting value.
These changes have rendered the traditional product-based sales model nearly obsolete.
A salesperson pitching shiny products or services will struggle to compel leaders who are
strapped for time and smart enough to detect a canned presentation.
In contrast, a consultative sales approach is customer-centric by design. This model starts

with a discussion about the customer’s business, market and challenges. The salesperson
asks questions and listens — using those conversations to identify customized solutions
for furthering a customer’s goals.
A consultative salesperson serves as a trusted adviser — someone who strives to

understand the customer’s business and solve their greatest challenges. A consultative
salesperson is relationship-oriented, which promotes the long-term health of the account.
Because a consultative model revolves around helping customers succeed, this approach
engages customers and builds real customer impact. This impact accelerates organic
growth and yields far better business outcomes than a product-based model.
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MAINTAIN ACCURATE, FAIR AND INSPIRING ACCOUNTABILITY
Accountability is crucial to achieving high performance. Today’s workers want clear

expectations, accountability, a rich purpose and ongoing feedback and coaching. Account
managers are no different, and B2B leaders need to manage performance and maintain
accountability in a manner that is fair and accurate.
Just 21% of employees strongly agree that

their performance metrics are within their
control, and even fewer employees — 14% —
strongly agree that the performance reviews
they receive inspire them to improve.
To encourage desired behaviors in account managers, B2B leaders must clearly define
performance excellence and use metrics that align with their culture and expectations of
account managers. To this end, leaders should use different types of metrics that reflect
the work account managers do and the desired behaviors that leaders want to promote.
Like all employees, account managers need to have achievable performance goals that are
directly linked to business outcomes.
USE SERVICE VALUES TO PROMOTE A CUSTOMER-CENTRIC CULTURE
Becoming a truly customer-centric B2B company requires a well-defined brand strategy

and a work culture in which all employees know what their company stands for and how
they are expected to deliver brand promises each day.
To support a promise-delivering culture, leaders of the world’s most successful

organizations create and reinforce behavioral-based service values.
When a company’s service values align with its purpose and brand promises, these values
give employees much-needed clarity about what they are supposed to do and why they
should be doing it. In other words, effective service values tell employees how their daily
work and job expectations support the organization’s overarching mission and goals.
Service values help anchor employees in the organization’s guiding principles — providing
a foundation that enables employees to actualize brand promises. Employees need
to connect their day-to-work work with the company’s brand promises; service values
promote this alignment.
Service values also create a way for employees to communicate their commitment to
consistently deliver service excellence — both internally and externally. For example,
service values can establish a cultural norm to capture and share client success stories that
showcase customer impact. Further, service values can give account teams a common
language that is consistent with the company’s brand — helping them communicate more
effectively with customers and within the team to bring brand promises to life.
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Accountability is another benefit of behavioral-based service values. Specific, measurable

service values provide a yardstick that reinforces employee ownership for fulfilling brand
promises every day.
Keeping Service Values Alive
Leaders are responsible for defining their company’s brand promises and outlining the
supporting behaviors that will create a culture of customer-centricity.
However, organizations don’t have values; their employees do. It’s up to leaders to get
and keep managers on board. Service values will fall flat unless managers help each team
member understand brand promises, how their roles connect to those promises and how
the company expects them to support those promises each day.
This starts at the top: Executives and senior leaders must demonstrate the behaviors they
want to see from employees. Leaders should communicate their support of core values
and illustrate how those values influence their decisions. If this doesn’t happen, employees
get the idea that core values are nothing more than words on a wall.
For example, leaders can improve customer experiences by demonstrating how

employees should embody the company’s values when interacting with customers.
Actions speak louder than words, and leaders should support actions, goals and policies
that align with the company's values.
Consistently reinforcing the company’s purpose, brand promises and service values is
essential for sustaining a customer-centric culture. Ongoing accountability and recognition
can help leaders consistently emphasize the importance of delivering brand promises and
creating customer impact.
EMPOWER ACCOUNT TEAMS WITH ADVANCED ANALYTICS
A data-driven approach to creating an exceptional workplace helps B2B leaders unleash

world-class team performance. To start, analytics are instrumental for identifying the
right hires for account manager, front-line and leader positions. And this is just the tip of
the iceberg.
Leaders can turn data into a competitive advantage by leveraging analytics to describe,
diagnose and predict employee performance. Moving beyond descriptive employee
data to advanced analytics gives leaders the capability to identify and quantify hidden
patterns in the data that yield prescriptive recommendations10. That is, the right
analytics reveal the best strategies and interventions for boosting critical outcomes and
employee performance.
A data-ready work culture also enables account teams to deliver customer impact.
With leading-edge analytics, account teams can readily identify, predict and respond
to customers’ pressing business challenges. When account teams understand their
customers’ businesses and goals, they can drive customer impact. This impact deepens
B2B relationships, creates loyal brand advocates and promotes organic B2B growth.
10 https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236084/keys-becoming-data-driven-leader.aspx
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Here’s an example that shows how one organization uses advanced analytics to
understand how its internal social networks predict account team performance and
position account teams to thrive.
CASE STUDY
The organization sought to determine how workplace behaviors and internal
relationships predict KPIs, revenue and customer and employee outcomes.
Gallup used a social network analysis (SNA) to answers leaders’ questions,
extracting anonymized metadata and mapping internal communications,
contacts and processes. Then, Gallup combined these data with myriad HR data,
including marketing insights, manager behaviors, business processes, customer
contacts, sales outcomes and employee engagement levels. Using advanced
data validation, Gallup zeroed in on the most relevant data for highly reliable and
actionable insights.
Gallup’s analytics answered leaders’ questions and then some, revealing powerful
behavioral patterns among the most successful client-facing teams. For example,
the organization’s high-performing account teams maintain larger, centralized
networks. Their managers give more recognition — sending more than twice as
many recognition emails than managers of less successful teams. And, compared
with less successful teams, the organization’s high-performing account teams
spend more work hours learning and developing their skills. Gallup also identified
meaningful links to employee engagement; for example, account teams with higher
engagement spend more time collaborating with customers and external partners.
Ultimately, client leaders pinpointed multiple opportunities for optimizing account
team performance, and plan to continually promote account team success with
periodic analytics.
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TO WIN BIG WITH
M&A, BECOME
CUSTOMER-OBSESSED
80%+ OF M&A
result in zero or negative
shareholder returns.
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Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders | To Win Big With M&A, Become Customer-Obsessed
B2B mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have become a

central part of many leaders’ growth strategies.
But more often than not, these deals are not as lucrative as leaders hope. Researchers
have found that over 80% of M&A result in zero or negative shareholder returns, and
between 70%-90% of acquisitions fail to realize the intended benefits.
Why? You might guess that operational or structural shortcomings are to blame.
However, it’s far more likely that the problem can be found on the people side of the
business. The disruptions that come with the territory of M&A may have serious effects on
talent, culture and customers.
To make matters worse, B2B leaders who are fastidiously managing structural and
operational factors can unintentionally neglect crucial human factors — like how culture
integration plans will affect customer experiences.
WHY PEOPLE FACTORS MATTER

Gallup research demonstrates that emotions influence customers’ decisions — and in
turn, business outcomes — more than leaders realize. In fact, behavioral economists have
estimated that emotional factors comprise up to 70% of economic decision-making.
Times of change and uncertainty (like M&A) can undermine the emotional components
that drive customers’ decisions about which companies they do business with and why.
With 69% of B2B customers ready and willing to

leave, leaders cannot afford to disappoint them
with negative brand experiences. Even loyal
customers might seek out competitors when
their long-held brand expectations are unmet.
To get ahead of the problem, B2B leaders need to get in touch with their customers’
feelings — before M&A.
With an in-depth, early understanding of customers’ perspectives, leaders can gauge how
customers might respond to changes that rock the boat — and plan accordingly.
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CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY: THE DIFFERENCE MAKER

The difference between good and best-in-class M&A outcomes is the rigor with which
leaders prioritize customers. An intentional, borderline fanatical focus on the customer can
insulate organizations from M&A setbacks and propel key business outcomes.
What does that level of customer-centricity look like?
Leaders of customer-obsessed enterprises focus all M&A strategies, budgets and

interventions on processes that support customer engagement. They prioritize customer
experiences over traditional competitive barriers. They define customer utility, forecast
disruptions and promote a customer-centric delivery model.
That is, they make customers the centerpiece of M&A decisions and goals.
HOW TO PUT CUSTOMERS FIRST

Gallup’s experience and analytics reveal three tactics for prioritizing customers
through M&A:
1 2
3
Commit to an Show Customers
Cultivate a Culture
Analytics-Driven How They Benefit
of Customer-Centricity
Approach From M&A
Commit to an Analytics-Driven Approach

Exceptional B2B organizations make customers the focal point of M&A by discovering their
perceptions and expectations before making a deal.
With the right analytics, leaders can determine how to best invest in brand experiences and
customers’ needs throughout integration.
The best leaders don’t stop there; they continue to listen to customers during integration.
With ongoing customer feedback, leaders can keep customers’ needs top-of-mind and
adjust integration plans as necessary to prioritize customer relationships.
Customer analytics do far more than inform decision-making, reduce uncertainty and help
B2B leaders prioritize M&A targets. They can also boost revenue by generating ideas for
improving strategic partnerships to benefit B2B organizations as well as their customers.
Show Customers How They Benefit From M&A

Successful B2B leaders fortify customer relationships throughout M&A by communicating
with customers about changes early and often.
Just as important as a strong communication strategy is a compelling customer value

proposition. A great customer value proposition can establish clear expectations, build and
strengthen relationships and increase confidence and loyalty during times of uncertainty.
The right customer analytics can help leaders determine which differentiating elements of
customer experiences should remain the same or change after integration. In turn, leaders
can create an M&A value proposition that emphasizes how the deal will positively affect
customers’ preferences, needs and business goals.
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The best B2B customer value propositions communicate far more than marginal benefits,
such as access to additional products. Rather, they capture how the combined company
has increased capabilities and knowledge and, because of the transaction, can better
solve customers’ problems, deliver leading-edge solutions and bring innovation to
the relationship.
CASE STUDY
Developing an Effective M&A Customer Value Proposition
After two industrial goods companies with complementary products and services
merged, leaders partnered with Gallup to understand how the combined customer
base perceived the new company.
Leaders had assumed that the new value proposition was clear to customers —
but Gallup soon discovered that customers did not see much value in the merger,
other than access to additional SKUs. In reality, the new company was capable of
delivering better ideas, enhanced service and more targeted problem-solving.
Based on Gallup’s in-depth customer insights, Gallup and client leaders revised the
combined company’s value proposition and business strategies to emphasize how
the new company can meet customers’ needs and propel their businesses.
By considering the merger from customers’ points of view, Gallup and client
leaders built a clearer, more robust value proposition that revolved around
customers’ needs and perceptions. As a result, the combined company boosted
organic growth and customer outcomes.
Cultivate a Customer-Centric Culture

To create a thriving, unified organization that consistently delivers exceptional customer
experiences, leaders once again need to look to people factors: talent and culture.
Leaders evaluating how organizational systems, processes and policies must change after
M&A should consider how to best position employees to drive customer impact. Leaders’
overarching goal should be integrating people, processes, technologies and behaviors in a
manner that furthers the development of a customer-centric culture.
Neglecting culture is a costly mistake that too many organizations make.

• 92% of acquisitions stated they would have benefited from greater cultural
understanding prior to the merger
• 70% of acquisitions stated there was too little focus on culture during integration
Shaping a customer-centric culture requires an objective, evidence-based and

scientifically valid approach. That is, traditional culture surveys are not enough.
Organizations need in-depth quantitative and qualitative analytics — from culture studies
to customer analytics — to determine how to align merging cultures for optimized
customer-centricity.
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Why are analytics important? A deep understanding of how talent and culture influence
customer experiences leads to smarter integration decisions. Leaders need a nuanced
understanding of customers to effectively merge people, processes, technology
and behaviors.
Proper integration practices are the ultimate expression of a deep understanding of human
utility, and upside benefits are created and destroyed at the local, customer-facing level.
THE GOAL IS A CUSTOMER-CENTRIC DELIVERY MODEL

Gone are the days when organizations can experience growth by simply cherry-
picking elements of a target’s service delivery model and combining them with existing
operating models.
At a state of business equilibrium, a bleak 29% of B2B customers are fully engaged. The
bottom line is that M&A will disrupt this state of equilibrium. Sure, delivering on the table
stakes of a deal can retain competitive relevancy. But to harness a competitive advantage,
B2B leaders must implement strategies for winning over the hearts of customers.
To this end, leaders in the midst of M&A should never lose sight of the big-picture goal:
customer-centricity. B2B companies must prioritize customers before, during and after
integration to avoid missed sales opportunities, customer service complaints and
diminished customer outcomes.
As a B2B leader, your goal should be to make customers feel like they’re the ones who
benefit the most from the deal. Ultimately, B2B companies that navigate M&A with an
unwavering emphasis on their customers will beat the odds and emerge victorious.
DISCOVER HOW GALLUP CAN HELP

If you want to compete in today’s global economy, you have to bring more to the table than
low prices. You must engage your customers by catapulting their performance.
Gallup helps leaders “wow” their customers with unprecedented ideas and solutions that
deepen customer relationships and propel customers’ businesses. Gallup also partners
with leaders to inspire exceptional employee performance and build a culture of customer-
centricity. We offer practical analytics and advice grounded in decades of global research
and cutting-edge data science.
Gallup helps leaders answer their most pressing questions:

• How can we improve our strategic decision-making with analytics?
• Are we naming the right account managers and developing their abilities?
• What does it take to become a “customer of choice”?
• Do our employees share our vision for customer-centricity?
• Does our performance management system promote excellence?
Learn more at www.gallup.com.
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About Gallup
Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems.
Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes
and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world.
Gallup works with leaders and organizations to achieve breakthroughs in customer engagement, employee
engagement, organizational culture and identity, leadership development, talent-based assessments,
entrepreneurship and wellbeing. Our 2,000 professionals include noted scientists, renowned subject
matter experts and best-selling authors who work in a range of industries, including banking, finance,
healthcare, consumer goods, automotive, real estate, hospitality, education, government and B2B.
For more information about Gallup solutions for optimizing business performance, please visit www.gallup.com.
Appendix
In general, the data in this report come from Gallup’s historical B2B client and Gallup’s database B2B meta-
analysis. Please see below for details.
For additional information about the methodology for this report, contact Gallup at info@gallup.com.
GALLUP’S B2B CLIENT DATABASE

Gallup’s historical B2B client database contains information from B2B client leaders and employees who
completed the Gallup customer engagement survey between 2001 and 2017. Gallup’s historical client
database holds data from 21.8 million respondents from 382 client organizations in 61 countries, 47
languages and 61 industries (categories based on North American Industry Classification System codes).
Gallup updates its database annually. Findings used to conduct research and set benchmarks are
based on five-year rolling periods. Gallup’s 2018 customer engagement database includes data
from 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. This analysis includes data from B2B clients only.
GALLUP’S B2B META-ANALYSIS

Gallup’s most recent meta-analysis on customer engagement and organizational outcomes in the
B2B context accumulated 23 research studies, including three U.S. Gallup Panel studies and nine
B2B clients across six industries and two countries. Within each study, Gallup statistically calculated
the business unit-level relationship between customer engagement and the performance metrics
supplied by the various companies. In total, Gallup included 108,989 respondents comprising 19,093
business units in the analysis. Gallup studied six broad classes of outcomes: profitability, revenue/
sales, share of wallet, customer attrition, days sales outstanding (DSO) and brand preference.
Individual studies often contain small sample sizes and idiosyncrasies that distort the interpretation
of results. Meta-analysis is a statistical technique that is useful in combining results of studies with
seemingly disparate findings, correcting for sampling, measurement error and other study artifacts
to understand the true relationship with greater precision. Gallup applied Hunter-Schmidt meta-
analysis methods to the 23 studies to estimate the true relationship between customer engagement
and each performance measure and to test for generalizability. After conducting the meta-analysis,
Gallup examined the practical effects of the observed relationships by conducting a utility analysis.
72

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ANALYTICS AND ADVICE

FOR B2B LEADERS

From the Chairman

The first purpose of customer-centricity is to hold and not shrink

The next purpose is to build-out current accounts — create authentic

The third purpose is to do business at a higher margin than competitors

Authentic customer-centricity is accomplished only in the presence

Regardless of industry, the new global rainmakers sell on helpfulness.

Their strategy is based upon information, knowledge and a deep

Announcing the formation of a new advanced analytics center to support

Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO

Executive Summary: The Secret to Real Agility

Implement these strategies to get started:

2) Use analytics to stay in-step with customers’ evolving needs.

3) Infuse customer-centricity in every aspect of your culture and your business.

i FROM THE CHAIRMAN AND CEO

iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 THREE ELEMENTS OF SUCCESSFUL DATA ANALYTICS PROGRAMS

7 THE SECRET TO GROWTH WITHIN A COMPETITIVE B2B MARKET

18 KEY ACCOUNT REVIEWS REVEAL WHAT CUSTOMERS REALLY THINK

22 HOW TO ENGAGE CUSTOMERS THROUGH PROBLEM RESOLUTION

27 KEY DRIVERS ARE A ROADMAP FOR ENGAGEMENT

32 SUPPLIERS ARE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

36 STRONG CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS ARE BUILT ON COLLABORATION

39 GET TO KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS

43 CULTURE MATTERS TO B2B COMPANIES

47 CUSTOMER-CENTRICITY DEMANDS ACTION

52 ACCOUNT MANAGERS ARE THE SECRET TO CUSTOMER IMPACT

62 FOUR WAYS LEADERS CAN SUPPORT ACCOUNT MANAGERS

67 TO WIN BIG WITH M&A, BECOME CUSTOMER-OBSESSED

71 DISCOVER HOW GALLUP CAN HELP

You have vast quantities of customer satisfaction data. You have

HAVE THE RIGHT CONVERSATIONS [THE RIGHT DATA]

Identifying specific problems first allows leaders

Start small when implementing an analytics program.

FOCUS ON THE RIGHT DATA AND INSIGHTS [THE RIGHT ANALYSIS]

Descriptive analytics: Descriptive analytics fall in the domain of reporting and

Companies can use more granular predictions, such as customer-level forecasts of

Organize the right data with the right systems.

ALIGN WORKPLACE CULTURE AND EMPLOYEES [THE RIGHT CULTURE]

Align analytics with culture.

Data and insights never create change on their

In an increasingly competitive marketplace, organic growth

It doesn’t have to be this way.

DISCOVER WHAT CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY THINK

A meaningful, human-to-human dialogue with customers is the only path to a nuanced

KEY ACCOUNT REVIEWS: TRANSFORMATIVE INSIGHTS FOR B2B LEADERS

Key account reviews reveal:

STRENGTHENING RELATIONSHIPS AFTER KEY ACCOUNT REVIEWS

How to Resolve Defensive Barriers

Five Common Defensive Issues

2) When evaluating vendor performance, customers scrutinize “ease of doing

Complaints about ease of doing business often reflect problematic internal

Leaders should strategically address concerns about ease of doing business by

3) Corporate formalities can affect decision-making.

5) A past problem can continue to affect the customer relationship.

RESOLVING DEFENSIVE BARRIERS

1) Proactively communicate with customers.

2) Simplify administrative processes.