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What It Takes to Build a Steady Buyer Seller Relationship

April 06, 2020

Regardless of what link you are in the supply chain, the principles which a buyer seller relationship is based upon are virtually the same. Yet, somehow, around 80% of B2B leaders have switched suppliers at least once in the past 2 years. These numbers show that the majority of relationships between buyers and sellers have issues which ultimately lead to breaking up the collaboration.

Consequently, the question arises: how to build a long-lasting customer seller relationship? It definitely isn’t by keeping it one-sided and thinking only about your profit. 

We’ve talked about the importance of buyer seller relationship previously and stressed some important factors. In the same fashion, this article continues on the topic and dives deeper in the complexity of buyer seller relationship.

How Price:Volume Affects the Buyer Seller Relationship

If you’re a novice in B2B, your first instinct might be to seal the deal with as many buyers as possible. While this seems like a great strategy to increase your profits, the scenario is not very probable, at least not in the long run.

Studies have shown that sellers that have established solid, both-sided rapports with fewer buyers, actually turn better profits and have a steadier cash flow.

How does that work? At first, the customer seller relationship is one-sided and not very favourable for the seller. They offer lower prices to the buyer with the purpose to bait higher volumes which usually doesn’t happen at the beginning. However, after a while, the buyer recognises the value they get and increase the volume. The relationships become two-sided.

Be careful, the value the buyer is supposed to get does not include only product quality. Negotiating skills must be put to good work alongside with truthful effort to nourish the relationship. This is where we arrive at the next point which we’ll elaborate on in the paragraph below.

The Service-over-Sales Approach Fortifies Customer Seller Relationship

The reason why most buyers change suppliers is because they’re needs are often unheard. In other words, sellers don’t pay attention. 

The first and foremost lesson coming out of this is: put the focus on the service, not on the sale. Listen carefully to what the buyer is saying and always tend to find a common ground. It’s important to remember that both sides should be satisfied by the outcome.

Combine technology with human efforts to create a seamless experience for your customers. Nonetheless, never make the mistake to dwell entirely on tech. Where AI and ML fail, real humans excel. Find the right balance between these two and remember that a buyer seller relationship is as strong as the effort put into it.

Bonus Tip: What to do when you need to find new buyers and suppliers

Be present on the B2B platform Enterprise League and you can easily find new buyers and suppliers when you need them. Enterprise League can be of great help when it comes to succeeding in building strong buyer supplier relationships. On one side, you can publish business tenders and receive companies’ bids. While on the other side, you can share your offerings and get contacted for prospective collaborations. The entire platform functions on AI working in the back, facilitating the B2B collaborative process.

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