The Business-to-Business Culture Match

Sometimes, it’s easy to envy the B2C brand. Someone comes in, purchases a $2 cupcake, walks away, and that’s that. No contracts, no negotiations, no scope changes. Just a frosted cake in all of its deliciousness.

B2C companies get to iterate on their products, services and customer experiences many times per hour, while B2B companies are relegated to months- or years-long efforts that take dedication, persistence and resilience.

And, being in a B2B service organization, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The trenches we get into with our clients are deep and meaningful. Midnight phone calls, urgent emails, and tense meetings can all be stressful and tiring. But, they also present massive opportunities to win big. Not in a happy-because-you-have-a-cupcake way, but in a we’re-about-to-change-the-direction-of-your-organization way.

Our communications strategies change lives. We talk about the three pillars of commerce — company, customer, and community — and within each of those there are many, many people who will be directly influenced by our work. Sure, it’s hard sometimes. But it’s also extremely rewarding.

Because our work is so intimate, we are relentless about finding a culture match within our clients. Our clients have fun with us. They laugh at our jokes, and we laugh at theirs. We dine together, get stressed out together, and talk on the phone more often than your teenage daughter did — before there was texting. We come together with our clients, make them part of the team, and do great work together with a lot of fun along the way.

So, although I can’t possibly deny the validity of a cupcake, I can extol the virtues of a meaningful B2B relationship. And when our cultures align perfectly, we can have our cake and eat it, too.

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