B-side product operation: these top 3 elements are indispensable

Although both are product operations , there are significant differences between the B-end and the C-end, and it is not possible to copy and paste them across ends. B/C-end product operations face different user entities. The B-end is mainly at the organizational level, while the C-end is mainly individual users, which leads to different operational ideas and strategies.

1. To C operations follow the AARRR model

The AARRR funnel model, also known as the Pirate Model, explains the five indicators for achieving user growth, namely: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, and Referral.

To C operations only require understanding user psychology and proficiently applying operational skills (delivery, search optimization, etc.) to complete the operational work.

2. To B operations follow the VABS model

The VABS model explains the four indicators that To B operations must have in order to achieve core business indicators and help front-line customers sign or renew contracts. They are: Value, Application, Benefit, and Service.

In the B2B industry, users need to pay real money, and customers need to pay for the value of the product.

Operations personnel must have a clear and definite understanding of how to use the product, extract the selling points and value points (cost reduction, efficiency increase and revenue) that the product can enhance the customer's business, and accurately convey these values ​​to users, effectively solving customer pain points and difficulties.

To B product operators must not only have an in-depth understanding of their own products and businesses, but also understand their customers’ businesses and closely integrate products with customer businesses in order to accurately grasp customer demand for products and realize the operational value of to B products.

3. Top 3 elements of To B operation

1. Transaction

Many product operators believe that as long as they operate the product well, that’s all that matters. Is this really the case?

I thought the same way a year ago. My understanding of product operation was limited to operating the product well. Maybe my additional value was to provide some customer leads, and other transaction-related matters should be followed up by the sales and service teams.

Not only are they making wedding dresses for others, but they are not recognized or known by the company. The company thinks that operations are just people who know how to spend money. If you have a customer acquisition channel, you must follow up the entire process and confirm the signing status. Even if there is no performance bonus, you must let the company know your output!

In fact, this is not the case. The largest initial investment in To B services is the customer acquisition cost. Once customers renew their contracts steadily, the overall revenue will maintain a steady growth trend. If a large number of customers terminate their services after expiration, it will cause difficulties in increasing revenue. How can it be a long-term solution to rely solely on new customers to increase revenue?

To B product operations should use products as a starting point, provide a product-centric renewal model, and reflect the value of product operations in the company's core business indicators. This will not be easy to optimize! There will be a separate chapter later to discuss how to provide customers with renewal capabilities with a product-centric approach.

2. Through

You can talk about your own products at will, but if you want to talk about other unfamiliar businesses or products, you need to put in some effort to research them. To operate a B2B product, one must not only have an in-depth understanding of one’s own products and logic, but also be familiar with the customer’s business system and platform to ensure that products and business are integrated.

In fact, penetration is the two foundations for successful To B product operations. If you don’t understand the product and the customer, you won’t be able to understand the customer’s pain points and which function of the product can specifically solve the customer’s problem.

To give a simple example, a customer asks the merchant to configure a module on the backend interface to display a piece of information. If the demand cannot be met, the merchant may choose a competing product. If you don’t understand the merchant’s usage scenarios, you might think the merchant has no loyalty at all and you have to buy a competitor’s product just because of a problem with the display of information.

What product operations need to do is to gain an in-depth understanding of the client’s business and to learn about changes in the client’s business model through telephone communication.

New products are now added very frequently, but the sizes of products are very messy and cannot be bound through the quick matching available in the merchant configuration background. Operators need to go deep into the product details to confirm the size feedback and then select the appropriate size chart.

Displaying product size information on the configuration page homepage can reduce the number of times customers drill down into product details, greatly improving configuration efficiency.

In fact, a very small point may win back customers. To operate a toB product, one must have in-depth learning concepts and practices in order to integrate one’s own products with customer needs and achieve a win-win situation for both parties.

3. Close to the front line

Half of the organizational structure of a To B company will consist of a sales team and a service team. A lot of user information is fed back through the sales and service teams, and product operations rarely have access to users.

The essence of To B product operation is to sell products to customers and let them pay in real money. So how can we understand customer needs and voice without directly reaching out to them?

Get close to the front line. The front line mentioned here refers to the sales team and service team within the organization. Close communication with these two teams can reduce the operating costs of 1V1 customer communication, obtain universal situations, refine analysis, directly connect with production and research, and accelerate the speed of product iteration.

At the same time, due to payment reasons, To B customers rarely independently research new features or modules, and mainly adopt a fully managed model. When product operations are promoting products, they need front-line personnel to assist in completing the work and smoothly promote customer usage and feedback.

It is important to note here that being close to the internal front line does not mean giving up communication with customers. Maintaining targeted communication with KA customers can play an important role in certain major feature surveys or in-depth research on business scenarios.

There is a lot of content on the market about C-end product operations. As a B-end product operator, there is less experience and content to learn.

Author: Stacy

Source: Stacy