????客戶的長(zhǎng)期價(jià)值至關(guān)重要

????一般而言，B2B公司的銷售周期比B2C公司更長(zhǎng),。但大多數(shù)B2B客戶都是長(zhǎng)期客戶,，最終，B2B公司可以從客戶獲取更多價(jià)值,。1999年,，賈伊?謝卡瓦特成立Fieldglass，他花了超過(guò)一年時(shí)間才找到第一批客戶,，其中包括威瑞森（Verizon）,、美國(guó)國(guó)際集團(tuán)（AIG）、葛蘭素史克（GlaxoSmithKline）和強(qiáng)生（Johnson & Johnson）,。但他一直緊緊抓住這批客戶,，現(xiàn)在這些客戶每年在合同雇工方面的開(kāi)支都達(dá)到數(shù)十億美元。到目前為止,，F(xiàn)ieldglass的客戶保持率超過(guò)99%,。

????要獲得穩(wěn)定的收入，應(yīng)該抓住能夠產(chǎn)生經(jīng)常性收入的機(jī)會(huì),。

????將最有可能重復(fù)使用公司產(chǎn)品或服務(wù)的客戶放在首位,。

????姆斯卡萊羅深知，金融公司將是其在線交易平臺(tái)的理想供應(yīng)商,，因?yàn)榻鹑诠緯?huì)在IT方面進(jìn)行大量投入,，并且經(jīng)常要清理庫(kù)存，為最新技術(shù)騰出空間,。MarkITx的第一家客戶是芝加哥商業(yè)交易所（Chicago Mercantile Exchange）,，從2013年8月以來(lái)已進(jìn)行了22次交易。

????開(kāi)發(fā)有粘性的服務(wù)或產(chǎn)品

????要與客戶保持長(zhǎng)期關(guān)系,，必須創(chuàng)建天生具有“粘性”的產(chǎn)品與服務(wù),，并且為同一家公司客戶包含多個(gè)層級(jí)的整合服務(wù)。MarkITx的儀表板可以通過(guò)應(yīng)用程序接口（API）連接到客戶公司,，為客戶提供其資產(chǎn)的實(shí)時(shí)市場(chǎng)價(jià)值數(shù)據(jù),，以及更新IT基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施的最佳時(shí)間。結(jié)果,，這些公司會(huì)經(jīng)常查看儀表板,，而且在需要出售資產(chǎn)的時(shí)候，會(huì)更傾向于使用MarkITx,。通過(guò)投身客戶遇到的實(shí)際困難當(dāng)中,，F(xiàn)ieldglass可以提前為客戶打造整合性服務(wù),。例如，公司會(huì)密切關(guān)注勞動(dòng)法的變化（謝卡瓦特估計(jì),，僅在歐洲,，每月便會(huì)有25-30處變化），并確保其軟件能及時(shí)反映這些變化,。因此,，為了解決問(wèn)題，客戶對(duì)Fieldglass變得越來(lái)越依賴,。

????從眼前尋找商機(jī)

????思考一下你的公司目前面臨的問(wèn)題，或者你會(huì)如何解決行業(yè)內(nèi)的問(wèn)題,。商機(jī)無(wú)處不在——或許這些機(jī)遇沒(méi)有那么令人興奮,，但卻非常可靠且有利可圖,。謝卡瓦特在產(chǎn)生創(chuàng)建Fieldglass的想法之前,，曾做過(guò)合同程序開(kāi)發(fā)員，為一家技術(shù)供應(yīng)商工作,，并為買(mǎi)方和客戶提供咨詢,，后來(lái)他發(fā)現(xiàn)了管理合同雇工所面臨的挑戰(zhàn)。對(duì)行業(yè)內(nèi)情的了解,，也使他創(chuàng)建的公司輕松打敗了其他5家競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手（這些公司都已破產(chǎn)）,。

????清楚何時(shí)采取下一步行動(dòng)

????思考一下，你現(xiàn)在的工作能否變成更大的事業(yè),。2010年,，Eved進(jìn)軍國(guó)際市場(chǎng)之前，還是一家本土服務(wù)公司,，公司規(guī)模在4年內(nèi)增長(zhǎng)到1,000萬(wàn)美元,，并入選Inc. 500強(qiáng)（Inc. 500）排行榜。但彌賽亞清楚,，海外有更多機(jī)會(huì),。于是，她出售了Eved的服務(wù)部門(mén),，保留了研發(fā)部,，將其重新打造成一家全球性公司，她的目標(biāo)是公司市值達(dá)到十億美元,。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????本文作者琳達(dá)?達(dá)拉赫是西北大學(xué)（Northwestern University）凱洛格商學(xué)院（Kellogg School of Management）創(chuàng)業(yè)實(shí)踐臨床教授,，凱洛格創(chuàng)新與創(chuàng)業(yè)行動(dòng)（Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative，KITI）執(zhí)行主任,。達(dá)拉赫作為芝加哥數(shù)字初創(chuàng)公司服務(wù)中心1871的董事會(huì)成員,，對(duì)上述公司有詳細(xì)的了解,。

????譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

????Long-term value of customers is critical

????Generally speaking, B2B companies have longer sales cycles than B2C firms. However, most B2B customers are long-term customers and, in the end, companies can extract greater value from them. After Jai Shekhawat founded Fieldglass in 1999, it took him more than a year to land his first customers, which included Verizon VZ -0.80% , AIGAIG -3.34% , GlaxoSmithKline GSK -1.33% and Johnson & Johnson JNJ -2.36% . But he held on to them, and now each spend billions on contract labor annually. To date, Fieldglass boasts a customer retention rate of more than 99%.

????To generate steady revenue, focus on opportunities to generate reoccurring revenue

????Prioritize customers that are most likely to use your product or service repeatedly.

????Muscarello knew that financial companies would serve as ideal suppliers for his online exchange because they invest heavily in IT and frequently purge their inventory to make room for the latest technology. MarkITx’s first customer, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, is now on its 22nd trade since August 2013.

????Build something that sticks

????To develop a long-term relationship with your customers, you need to create products or services that are inherently “sticky” and provide several levels of integration within a company. MarkITx’s dashboard plugs into companies via API and provides real-time data about the mark-to-market value of their assets and the optimal time to refresh their IT infrastructure. As a result, these companies regularly check the dashboard and are more apt to use MarkITx when it comes time to sell their assets. Fieldglass takes integration a step further by staying enmeshed in its customers’ problems. It monitors, for example, changes in labor laws (in Europe alone, Shekhawat estimates that there are 25-30 changes per month) and ensures that its software immediately reflect those shifts. In turn, customers grow more dependent on Fieldglass to manage their problem for them.

????Look for a business idea on your desk

????Think about the problems your company is facing or how you might address issues in your industry. There are business ideas there — maybe not sexy ones, but solid, profitable ones. Shekhawat came up with the idea for Fieldglass after serving as a contract developer, working for a technology vendor and consulting for buyers and customers, where he witnessed the challenges of managing contract labor. That insider knowledge also enabled him to build a company that easily overshadowed the five preceding competitors (all have since gone out of business).

????Know when to venture further

????Consider whether the work you’re doing now could parlay into something bigger. Before Eved went global in 2010, it was a local service company that grew to $10 million in four years and landed on the Inc. 500. But Mashiach knew that there was a bigger opportunity out there. So she sold Eved’s service side, took its R&D and re-launched it as a global company, with her sights set on a billion-dollar goal.

????Linda Darragh is a clinical professor of entrepreneurial practice and executive director of the Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative (KIEI) at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Darragh knows the companies mentioned above as a board member of 1871, Chicago’s entrepreneurial hub for digitalstartups.