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Business-to-business marketing budgets are facing severe cuts. Some companies have ceased spending completely, while others are slashing adspend and switching their focus to database and direct marketing. In this business-led recession, selling to companies is especially tough. Faced with a dearth of bank credit many are extending suppliers' payment terms, with some companies taking up to 120 days to submit the remittance for work. A lot of suppliers are therefore expected to go under as their cash flow is squeezed.

Another consqeuence is that B2B marketers are being forced to re-examine their role and find new ways of emphasising their importance within organisations. Typical business behaviour in a recession is to shift away from acquiring new customers to an emphasis on client retention. However, many firms seem to have taken their eyes off the ball, with a focus on cost-cutting at the expense of client relationships. Cutting spend may seem sensible, but if the result is losing customers, it's a flawed strategy.

B2B marketers play a key role in business by providing the company with insights into what customers want and which are worth hanging on to.This raises the question as to how B2B marketers can best demonstrate their usefulness in tough times, and draw the maximum effectiveness from dwindling budgets. Here are our top ten tips for success;

1. Keep up marketing activity and maintain share of voice

Brand leaders need to show that they are at the forefront of efforts
to help their business customers survive the recession. British Airways, for exam-ple, has exper-ienced a slump in business travel due to the downturn. However, the airline says it is maintaining its marketing activity and looking for new ways of enticing busi-ness customers. It
is offering upgrades to First Class and Club Europe, and has introduced a free taxi service to and from Heathrow Terminal 5. BA has
cut business fares, is offering free flights for small- and med-ium-sized enterprises and is increasing loyalty points for frequent flyers in its Executive Club. Gwen Jones, brand communications manager, says: 'Our strategy revolves around promoting
the idea that, despite the economic situ-ation, there are still business opportu-nities out there. We are uniquely positioned to fly business people to more of these places around the world because of our extensive net-work from the UK.'

2. Get closer to the sales department

A downturn is an opportunity to mend fractured relationships between marketing and sales departments. For B2B marketers working at the biggest companies, the challenge is to understand the needs of customers and help the sales team to sell solutions, rather than simply raising awareness through advertising. Dan Bobby, managing director of consultancy Dave, argues in favour of cutting B2B advertising expenditure in order to plough greater resources into understanding  prospective customers and training the sales people to service their needs. 'Invest in providing the sales force with messages and tools to build those relationships directly,' says Bobby.

3. Focus on what the client needs, not what your company can achieve

The marketer's job is to identify the client's needs and persuade their own company to find ways of fulfilling them. Marketers should work closely with pro-duct development teams to achieve this. Bobby cites the example of Tesco, which can build and open a store within six to eight weeks from receipt of planning permi-ssion. However, many IT infra-structure companies need at least three months to install the electronic point-of-sale and IT systems, so in reality a longer turnaround time is needed. Mar-keters at the supplier company must therefore work closely with the product development and operations departments to find ways of reducing the delivery time. This requires an honest appraisal of the supplier's capabil-ities - care must be taken not to over-promise. After all, penalty clauses in big infrastruct-ure contr-acts can be so severe that they seri-ously dam-age a supplier. Bobby advises not to attempt the impossible. As a salient warn-ing, he points to BT's infra-structure arm BT Global, which has paid a high price in penalties for failing to imple-ment an NHS IT system contract over the past five years.

4. Identify the most profitable customers and hang on to them

Many businesses are notorious-ly poor at analysing the profitability of customers, according to John Coldwell, managing director of B2B research company Infoquest. He advises marketers to divide customers into three groups. He explains that the biggest customers are not necessarily the most profitable. They can often demand big discou-nts, which reduce their profitability to zero. They are important because they keep the business working to capacity, thus reducing costs to smaller clients. Yet Cold-well quest-ions whether a supplier's most senior sales people should dedicate all their time to servicing this group. However, a long tail of customers with a small spend may not be worth retain-ing either. He advises increas-ing the prices they are charged so they either take their business elsewhere, or boost the amount they buy to gain a discount.
The most profitable customers, says Coldwell, are often the medium-sized ones. Their spend can be boosted, and they pay the biggest margins. They should be target-ed most heavily, which often means creat-ing strong personal relationships with their key decision-makers. Marketers should find ways of persuading them to increase their 'share of wallet', the proportion of their budget they spend with your comp-any compared with rival firms.
Keeping accurate records about relevant contacts at client companies remains key. Coldwell notes that delivery service TNT rings clients and prospects every few months to ensure they have the correct contact details.

5. Keep the customer satisfied - or sack them

Conduct research to find out how satisfied your customers are with your company's services and work out how you can improve them. InfoQuest's Cold-well advises asking about areas such as 'ease of doing business', 'billing and invoicing', 'pricing', 'management interactions' and 'customer service.' If a customer is unhappy with many aspects of your business, it may not be worth trying to hang on to them. Concentrate on those customers that have few gripes, and work hard to improve the situation for them.

6. Look for more cost-effective ways of communicating

Intelligent use of PR can be high-ly effective in achieving name recognition and reassuring existing clients. In May, HSBC Commercial Banking launched a 'Future of Business' report on UK industry, outlining what the UK economy would look like in 10 to 15 years. 'It didn't cost a lot to com-mission, and got a huge amount of coverage because it is forward-thinking,' says Andrea De Vincentis, HSBC's head of marketing for commercial banking in the UK. 'When there is a downturn, customers want to hear that we are still there and talking about future-looking issues.'

7. Measure the effects of spend

Divert media spending to direct response. HSBC's commercial banking division has maintained its UK marketing spend, but has boosted online spend by 20% in the first half of this year, shifting funds from above-the-line budgets. 'There is a lot more scrutiny of
all costs at senior executive level, so we've increased spend on search marketing,' adds De Vincentis. 'Because it is measurable, we can review and optimise and keep the cost per lead going down.'

8. Track key decision-makers personally

Outdoor contractors are promo-ting their medium as ideal in a recession, as it enables B2B marketers to closely target decision-makers. Potential clients can be attracted through taxi media, for example, while a prospect about to appoint a service provider can be target-ed with a poster ad on their way to work, says Gideon Adey, business development direct-or at outdoor company Kinetic Worldwide.  

9. Spend more time with clients

Corporate entertaining is one of the first areas of communications to be cut back in a downturn. Nonetheless, there is a silver lining to this, according to Allan Fraser-Rush, managing director of direct agency Tequila. He believes corporate entertaining has made it harder for businesses and clients to build up an understanding. Cuts in lavish entertaining not only save money but allow people to get closer to each other. 'In the old business world, you got close to clients because you were friends with them,' he says. 'We seem to have substituted a personal understanding with personal time, going to football matches or eating out. Now companies are conscious not to be seen as extravagant. Rather than going out, I invite clients to my house.
'It's enjoyable, and it's a situation where you feel more comfortable getting to know each other.'

10. Relaunch

Use the downturn as an opportunity to steal market share from rivals that have gone under or been swallowed up by bigger companies. Recruitment specialist RK Supply Chain has repositioned its brand and opened an office in Canada. It has relaunched its jobsite, along with rolling out banner ads and an email campaign. The company claims that the activity has helped it boost business as rivals cut back on their marketing spend