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The scene is Mt. Lemmon in Tucson AZ, a beautiful sunny April day and out from the mountain comes words of wisdom from the marketing prophet Gord Hotchkiss. The words are profound, urgent and directed smack at the B2B executive. He shouts from up high…”YOU DON’T HAVE AS MUCH TIME AS YOU THINK!”

Ok, maybe the scene wasn’t quite that dramatic but the message and the urgency were clear. Gord Hotchkiss President and CEO of Enquiro, a B2B marketing research company, spoke at the ThomasNet annual meeting in Tucson and his message is one that every B2B company should pay attention to.

Gord points out that although B2B businesses were slower to adopt doing business online, it is now a fact of life and companies ignore this trend at their peril. The internet has reached the tipping point with powerful momentum in the B2B world and there is no going back. Businesses must take doing business online seriously or lose out.

In 10 very short years, television went from being in 10% of the households to over 90% of the households, And in 1995 only 10% of the households had the internet and in 2009 over 75% of households will have it and today business survives on it.

The industrial market is conservative and often slow to change. You hear manufacturing executives say things such as:

"We know our customers and our customers know us. We have a high degree of customization. Customers will have to call us. We have an ongoing relationship with our customers!"

These are very familiar words. In 1995 the travel industry was made up of over 22,000 small independent agencies. They felt secure in their business. They said things like: "We know our customers and our customers know us.People need to call us because each trip is unique.We have an ongoing relationship with our customers!"

In 10 short years, nearly 50% of those travel agencies are OUT OF BUSINESS! Why??? Online agencies really listened and the masses responded. Online travel agencies are:
- Easy to Use
-Always Open
-Offered more control to the buyer
-Offered more buying options
-Offered better prices!

The reasoning is sound, the message is clear and the warning is understood…

"YOU DO NOT HAVE AS MUCH TIME AS YOU THINK!" Smart B2B companies are heeding the call and are securing their position in the marketplace by making sure they offer what their customers want online. A recent Google/ThomasNet study found exactly what industrial buyers want online such as:

-Detailed Product Information.
-Searchable websites (by size or part number or description)
-Downloadable CAD Drawings.
-Fresh sites with up to date product information.
-Printable technical information sheets.
-Pricing
-Submit RFQs or place an order.

So avoid the FATAL MISTAKE.

If you hear yourself saying:
"I know my market and my market knows me. I have an ongoing relationships with my customers... etc, etc." Stop and listen not just to Gord but to your customers
because if you don’t your competition will.

What is this Internet thing?

Would you like a free website evaluation? Just give me a call or send an email. I always appreciate your feed back. If you have any questions about this article or your ThomasNet program, feel free to contact me at mary@trconn.com or (860) 601-0150. This article was written by Mary Dykas MVP representing ThomasNet