B2B Online 2015 (past event)
May 11 - 13, 2015
Contact Us: 888-482-6012
Digital Transformation Implementation
08:10 - 08:40 Continental Breakfast
08:40 - 08:45 Welcome Remarks
08:45 - 09:00 Chairperson's Opening Address
09:00 - 09:20 Creating Strong Collaboration in Digital Content Between Manufacturers and Distributors
B2B distributor .com storefront inventories are reaching ten millions and are growing rapidly. Both manufactures and distributors are struggling to provide best product information to end-users online. B2B end-user purchasing decisions are more and more complicated since distributors sales force and customer care teams are selling more of their business philosophy rather than individual product SKUs. Traditionally B2B manufactures are not putting enough emphasis on digital shelf. This has to change to offer B2B end-user the world class customer experience that he or she deserves.
In this session, Oskar Kaszubski will discuss opportunities and challenges for a stronger digital collaboration across content, brand, social media, customer care between manufactures and distributors.
In this session, Oskar Kaszubski will discuss opportunities and challenges for a stronger digital collaboration across content, brand, social media, customer care between manufactures and distributors.
09:20 - 09:40 Partnering with Your Sales Force to Create a Unified Digital Voice for Your Customers
One of the larger challenges B2B companies face when integrating a new digital strategy is effectively communicating and onboarding its sales team into the digital process. While some sales teams see it as a nuisance to their daily tasks, others see it as a threat to their function. Turning wary sales teams into advocates that champion your online business is hard work, but well worth it. Alison Challman, has helped to create this cultural shift within Avnet, enabling her sales teams with a digital tool that they now find vital to their job. Here she will walk you through Avnet’s journey to do this by:
• Turning the ‘order entry’ mentality into a ‘business development’ mentality
• How to bridge the generation gap; understanding the concerns and goals of your older sales force
• Simplifying the digital onboarding process – creating tools your sales team will want to use
• Turning the ‘order entry’ mentality into a ‘business development’ mentality
• How to bridge the generation gap; understanding the concerns and goals of your older sales force
• Simplifying the digital onboarding process – creating tools your sales team will want to use
09:40 - 10:00 Big Data and B2B Analytics: Honing Your Competitive Edge by Processing Real-Time Customer Information
Most executives are facing a deluge of data that can paralyze their marketing automation efforts. Here, Greg Wyckoff will discuss how today’s marketers can realize cost savings, process improvements and a competitive advantage by deploying a well thought out data analytics plan.
10:00 - 10:40 Measuring Your Digital ROI: How to Justify the Price Tag
When it comes to your digital team and investments, it is not always easy to see the direct financial benefit. Overhauling your online site design or investing in a new social media strategy is expensive, and its results, less linear and direct. So how do you justify these investments to your organization and leadership? The right analytics and data can help get to the root of your investments and how exactly they are working for you. This panel will discuss the different strategies and measurements companies can use to determine their return on digital investment by:
• Defining your attribution parameters - what’s your measuring stick?
• Navigating the analytics of your investments to find the most pertinent data
• Transforming your data into usable educational content for your superiors
• Defining your attribution parameters - what’s your measuring stick?
• Navigating the analytics of your investments to find the most pertinent data
• Transforming your data into usable educational content for your superiors
10:40 - 11:00 B2B Commerce Solution Helps Manufacturer Strengthen Existing Customer Relationships and Gain Market Share
For over a century and a half, Matthews International has been a leader in casket and memorization products. They lead the industry by combining traditional values with manufacturing practices and a forward thinking approach to change.
In an effort to improve the customer experience for their customers, and gain an additional competitive edge in the industry, Matthews launched a B2B online store that leverages IBM WebSphere Commerce and Configurator to deliver a seamless customer buying experience across digital and physical channels.
The online store gives Matthews’ customers an easy-to-use ordering system where they can custom design memorials and caskets.
With the integration of WebSphere Commerce and SAP at the heart of their business processes, Matthews focuses on:
• Increasing revenue
• Reducing costs
• Improving the process to memorialize a loved one
• Responding to customer demands for ease of ordering
• Streamlining customer interactions
• Planning for the future
11:00 - 11:30 Morning Refreshment & Networking Break in the Solutions Zone
Stream 1: Search and Content Management
11:30 - 11:50 Best Practices in Building Your Product Content and Organizing Your Product Data
One of the largest challenges of most manufacturers and distributors is managing the sheer amount of product they have online. Each one of the millions of products must have accurate specks, consistent information and be organized into its proper place. Here, Jody Yeganeh discusses how to manage your product content without overwhelming either you or your customer with:
• Tips and tricks on aggregating millions of SKUs
• Where to invest your resources to most effectively organize your product content
• Identifying your customer’s most pertinent information needs to give them the fastest results
• Tips and tricks on aggregating millions of SKUs
• Where to invest your resources to most effectively organize your product content
• Identifying your customer’s most pertinent information needs to give them the fastest results
Stream 2: Enabling platforms and systems
11:30 - 11:50 Leveraging the Power of Your Back-Office Systems to Create a High-Performing Dynamic e-Commerce Site
One of the challenges of building out an effective digital and ecommerce platform is integrating it into the rest of the organizational structure. Ken Quesenberry discusses how to integrate your eCommerce system with the rest of your back-office so it doesn’t disrupt , but rather magnifies your ERP’s benefits by:
• Getting the most out of your ERP and leveraging it to bolster the customer experience on your website.
• The benefits of utilizing multi-system approach to support transactional information, product data and website content.
• The importance of integrating your suppliers with your ERP (and website) to provide the best data for your customers
• Getting the most out of your ERP and leveraging it to bolster the customer experience on your website.
• The benefits of utilizing multi-system approach to support transactional information, product data and website content.
• The importance of integrating your suppliers with your ERP (and website) to provide the best data for your customers
Stream 1: Search and Content Management
11:50 - 12:10 Measuring the Value of Your Loyalty Efforts
In the B2B world, “loyalty” can mean a variety of different things. And companies approach loyalty with their customers in different ways, whether it be a program, sale or rewards. But in an age when customers are willing to forgo loyalty for ease of use, how do you retain your loyal customers? What can you offer them? And how to you provide them value outside of the traditional “sale”? In this session, Dale Kendall will cover:
• Strategies on how to extract tangible data from long term loyalty programs
• Differentiating between customers attracted to the sale and customers attracted to you
• Avoiding the traditional loyalty program approach – why B2B customers resist the “sale”
• Strategies on how to extract tangible data from long term loyalty programs
• Differentiating between customers attracted to the sale and customers attracted to you
• Avoiding the traditional loyalty program approach – why B2B customers resist the “sale”
Stream 2: Enabling platforms and systems
11:50 - 12:10 Vendor Selection Strategies: Shopping for the Right Systems
During the search for a new vendor or platform, you realize there are hundreds of options out there, and choosing the right one can be daunting. Some, are not tailored for B2B yet, still marketing to B2C. Some, don’t have enough experience in the space, and some require large overhauls of your current systems. So how do you know where to start? This session will help you:
• Identify and evaluate new platforms and systems to determine which is the best fit for your digital situation
• Integrating new technology with already established systems - transferring data from one platform to another without damaging data quality
• Effectively educating the digital team on system implementation for fastest adoption
• Identify and evaluate new platforms and systems to determine which is the best fit for your digital situation
• Integrating new technology with already established systems - transferring data from one platform to another without damaging data quality
• Effectively educating the digital team on system implementation for fastest adoption
Stream 1: Search and Content Management
12:10 - 12:30 Your Search Engine Strategy – Climbing Your Way to the Top of the Page
In 2015, SEO has climbed its way to becoming one of the biggest priorities for the industry. Understanding how to navigate the SEO rules and roadmap is tricky. But as over 60% of B2B buyers start their purchasing process with a generic online search, it is absolutely vital to growing sales. Here, Dale Kendall discusses how Wesco International approached their SEO strategy understanding:
• The necessity of investing in SEO
• Creating effective search functionality and responsiveness through use of key words and document content
• Tailoring your responsive web design to appeal to SEO
• The necessity of investing in SEO
• Creating effective search functionality and responsiveness through use of key words and document content
• Tailoring your responsive web design to appeal to SEO
Stream 2: Enabling platforms and systems
12:10 - 12:30 Reigning in Big Data and Harnessing it to Draw Customer Conclusions
When trying to build out a picture of who the B2B
customer is, what their needs are, how they work etc. it is easy to forget that most of you already have a lot of this information. Customer data and behavior has likely been tracked for years, just not in any sort of organized way. In this session, Alex LeFur will help you understand the ties between your organization’s big data and your digital strategy. He will cover:
• Merging structured and unstructured data to create a complete view of the customer
• Tracking and studying lead behavior and how to prioritize it
• Comparing investments in big data against marketing automation platforms
customer is, what their needs are, how they work etc. it is easy to forget that most of you already have a lot of this information. Customer data and behavior has likely been tracked for years, just not in any sort of organized way. In this session, Alex LeFur will help you understand the ties between your organization’s big data and your digital strategy. He will cover:
• Merging structured and unstructured data to create a complete view of the customer
• Tracking and studying lead behavior and how to prioritize it
• Comparing investments in big data against marketing automation platforms
12:30 - 13:30 Luncheon in the Solutions Zone
13:30 - 13:35 Chairperson’s Afternoon Address
13:35 - 14:15 Where Should Digital Go? Maintaining the Integrity of the Digital Team Under Non-Digital Functions
The digital and eCommerce function has had many homes in many different companies over the years. While some organizations prefer to leave it as a stand-alone team others prefer to roll them up into another function like marketing or IT. But each one of these locations has its own set of benefits and pitfalls. In this panel hear executives discuss what it means to place your digital team in certain parts of the organization by:
• Examining the differences between housing your digital team under marketing vs. IT
• Determining when your digital team should separate from the pack
• How to give your digital team a voice at the executive table
• Examining the differences between housing your digital team under marketing vs. IT
• Determining when your digital team should separate from the pack
• How to give your digital team a voice at the executive table
14:15 - 14:35 Optimizing the Conversion: Turning Traffic into Transactions
In any online transaction, there is a critical point at which a customer goes from “browsing” to either “purchasing” or “exiting”. How did the customer get to that point? Why did they make the decision they did? How do I get them to change their decision? Rob Elzner answers all of these questions in his session on how you get your customers across the finish line by:
• Tracking your customers journey to determine when and where they move offline
• The advanced questions only your sales reps are answering
• Optimizing your advanced sales strategy for the eCommerce channel
• Tracking your customers journey to determine when and where they move offline
• The advanced questions only your sales reps are answering
• Optimizing your advanced sales strategy for the eCommerce channel
14:35 - 14:55 Challenges Coordinating B2B Digital Effort Between Supplier, Distributor and End User
In all industries there is a blurring in the digital space. The "confusion" is driven by many pressures - due to technology, access, availability of information, data, standards, cost, speed, new business models, and new customer expectations. This talk will describe the evolution of this conversation over the past 15 years from a Suppliers perspective, having worked very closely with many Distribution partners in several industry segments. Sorting through the various examples and models there are some common truths that point to where potential solutions will likely emerge and present a vision for a much improved "simpler" future.
