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Factfile 40

Business success is underpinned by a deep understanding of the end customer, whether in b2c or b2b markets. Shareholder value can be linked to better marketing (Doyle, 2001) and a better understanding of the customer lies at the heart of marketing.

• In the simple one-to-one relationship of supplier and immediate customer, understanding the customer at least appears straightforward. But b2b marketing is more usually in the context of long and complex supply chains. This end-user's needs can be very remote.
  
  
• In b2b markets, those suppliers towards the end of the supply chain may have little idea of the end-users needs.
  
  
• Reporting on the construction industry in 1998 ('Rethinking Construction'), Sir John Egan reported, ?construction and engineering industries tend not to think about the customer (either the client or the consumer), but more about the next employer in the contractual chain.? So, each part of the supply chain has a tendency to focus on their direct customer, rather than the 'end-user'.
  
  
• This explains why many supplier-customer relationships are smugly content, while the eventual end users may be quite dissatisfied with the overall performance of the goods and services that they receive. This is certainly true of parts of the construction industry and was true of parts of the automotive sector in the past.

The benefits of alignment

Some sectors of b2b have been slow to realise that the successful operation of long and complex supply chains relies on the alignment of all parties towards the end-client's goals.

This not only removes friction and reworking, but also can release greater value from the supply chain - delivering benefits to the client such as lower price and greater satisfaction. This is a new concept for many people.

Alignment has the potential to:

• Reduce costs in the supply chain through increasing business excellence to the standard of the best.
  
  
• Improve customer relationships through managing improvements of every parties understanding of the ultimate customer's expectations.
  
  
• Help suppliers win new business by showing customers that they are professional and innovative.
  
  
• Help prevent suppliers lower down the supply chain damaging the reputation of their customers by aligning them all to the ultimate customer's needs.
  
  
• Enable suppliers to retain customers by being better than their competitors, through bench marketing among peer groups.

It has been suggested by an experienced project manager that alignment could save in the region of 10% on the cost of a construction project.

CIM is currently seeking contributions in the area of alignment of marketing activity and sales effort. Help shape best practice by submitting your articles, research case studies and marketing tools to this canon project. In the first instance, email: editor@cim.co.uk. Please use the title: M2B ? Alignment. All work submitted will be protected by copyright, retained by the author.

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