B2B Invoicing & Customer Contact Options

Notifications are a key aspect of working with invoices and sales orders. This part of client interaction is very undervalued in the business world and is one of the secret weapons Clarity can implement during our custom B2B eCommerce development. 

One of the most valuable aspects of building a good great long-term relationship is creating goodwill by keeping customers up to date. This often starts by simply setting expectations and then keeping those expectations — or, more likely, overdelivering on them. This involves consistently providing value throughout the interactions, often via email. Although email may seem very transactional, it's a greatly undervalued opportunity to interact and build a rapport, fostering a long-term relationship and overall positive reputation with the customer.  

The first time you'll be contacting a customer is when they create an account or place an order. They might never even open the email, but it’s very helpful to provide a welcome email with resources so that they can refer to them if needed. The email could include the welcome message, tips on using the site, or links to videos. It could also be resource guides that are available on the site; providing even a simple set of resources could make a huge difference for the end customer about using the site and what to expect. In addition, it can also be very helpful to have videos for them to understand more about the products they’re interested in, assembly instructions, or if there’s any lead time or necessary interaction after there's an order. 

Another time you might be gathering email information is if they have signed up for an event that you’re hosting/selling. After signing up, it's very helpful to send them basic information on what to expect, what the next steps are, and how they might prepare. The options Clarity can offer rivel even the top B2B eCommerce platforms. 

Setting Tone, Setting Expectations

It’s important to set a friendly — yet still professional — tone with the customer to let them know just how you’ll be communicating with them. If they have ordered a product, it's very helpful to provide some form of status and expectation around the status. You can even set up emails to let them know if there's going to be another update within some time period. Of course, it’s also vital to let them know if there will be a delay compared to the shipping time that was mentioned in other emails or on the site when they placed the order.  

Offer Information

Another key aspect of confirmation emails and invoice notification is to include some additional information about commonly asked questions. These can be full FAQs within the email or could simply link to your website. Offering this information allows a customer to get answers to questions without having to contact customer service, and in some cases can put their minds at ease regarding questions they have about orders. 

When it comes to B2B invoicing, another piece of information that customers want to know about is the type of payment you accept. They might have committed to buying a product but then want to decide later whether they’ll be paying via card, check, or credit line. Delivering B2B invoices might also be the time to remind them that payment is due by a certain date, as well as any fees that might apply if the payment is late. 

It's also quite helpful to have opt-in text-based notifications no matter your eCommerce business model (B2B, B2C, or C2C eCommerce). You want it to be opt-in — and not default — to accommodate each customer’s wants and needs about the information you’re offering. If a customer is ordering products that they don’t need for a month, it’s unlikely they’ll want to be notified that the three-day shipping you anticipated will now take four days. But if they have ordered a custom item that they must have within the week, they will want to know as soon as possible if your customer service team needs to contact them to clear up a question about the order’s manufacturing.  

Even if customers have opted into the texting option, we recommend that the notification takes an omnichannel approach. This might include sending both a text and an email, but also putting a notification icon — such as a big red exclamation point — in the messaging center of their user dashboard. When information is critical, you want to make sure that you are trying to reach them in as many ways as possible. Clarity can also create a mobile app for your company that offers one more way to contact customers and tie it into your eCommerce framework. 

Let's say a customer purchases four items: Three items are going to ship directly from the warehouse, but one item is available in the store and they want to go pick it up today. Such notifications will let them know when the item is ready and where in the store it will be kept. Store hours should also be included (in the customer’s proper time zone) so that they don’t get to the store and find it closed. 

What should the customer bring to the store when they pick up the items? Order notifications are another excellent opportunity to make sure that the customer is able to get the item when they arrive. It’s unlikely that you’ll require a paper invoice from them, but will they need just the confirmation email you’ve just sent them? Is a state-issued ID enough, or will they have to have the credit card that the items was charged to? These types of notifications are especially important so that the customer does not experience any unwelcome surprises when they arrive. 

Sending the proper balance of marketing emails is tricky and is one of the most confusing parts of most business’ eCommerce business intelligence. You certainly don’t want to annoy a customer by sending too many. The balance becomes even more difficult when you realize that every customer has a slightly different tolerance for the number of emails before they block your marketing efforts altogether. Still, few customers are going to complain about receiving emails that might save them money. Having a robust email platform in place can lead to more sales for commonly bought items, products on sale, and companion items that could complement what they just purchased.

Abandoned cart emails are also a staple of marketing. When customers put something in their cart and then leave without purchasing, these abandoned carts offer an excellent opportunity to send then reminders that they never finished the order. Sometimes this might have been a simple mistake, or the user got interrupted. Other times they add stuff to the cart and are then scared away by the shipping cost or unacceptable shipping date. It offers an opportunity to personalize an email that reminds them about the items no matter why they abandoned the cart. This information can also be relayed in an omnichannel approach, including user dashboards on your site, texting, and apps.

Clarity Can Make It Happen

At the end of the day, the contact channels that are incorporated into a B2B invoice payment system are about making customers happy, giving them more value, providing them with more information, and giving them more control. That's what they want, so be sure to find every way to make an experience with your company as easy and enjoyable as possible.  

Clarity can help you make all of these happen, delivering eCommerce solutions to keep your customer informed just as we’ve helped hundreds of other companies. We’d love to show you how we can incorporate all of the communications techniques during any B2B eCommerce development you need. Contact us today for a demo or quote.