From the dizzying heights of the Shard's 18th floor, Gallup began a recent talk on 'Analytics and Advice for B2B Leaders' with a self-effacing question, "Hands up if you thought Gallup just did polls?" Yet for B2B companies, Gallup's research goes much further than a tradition of statistics. With as little as 29% of B2B customers fully engaged, a new report on how to improve customer centricity explains what B2B companies must do to maintain engagement.

The report focuses on the breakdown of the B2B outlook, and with Gallup's research centralising key data points in the composition of B2B companies, customer engagement is just as much about creating high-performance account teams, maximising key account reviews, and optimising successful data analytics programs as it is about having a people-centric outlook.

Gallup's research points to the investment in customers as the lifeblood of engagement, even if customers are not happy. Its research highlights that of customer accounts that had high impact levels, i.e. identifying key drivers and using them effectively, 72% were more engaged and had 4.5 times the revenue gain compared to the bottom-quartile accounts.

According to Gallup, asking the right questions of customers is essential. The report suggests that customer engagement is more dependent on problem handling rather than problem solving, showing that customers were more engaged when a problem was handled well as opposed to just being resolved. Striking a balance between a culture of data-driven decision-making and a human focus is one of the biggest challenges that Gallup’s research puts forward, yet as the report suggests, gaining customer centricity is crucial for B2B companies in ensuring a strong customer base. As Gallup’s research points towards a lack of engagement, growth through customer centricity is an essential component for development in today’s market.

In addition to this, aligning purpose, brand and culture is crucial to maintaining customer engagement. By thoroughly analysing an organisations identity, bringing in objective third parties, remaining individualistic, and taking sustainable action, B2B companies can begin to take the correct steps towards communicating the right message and fulfilling engagement objectives.

For a closer look at Gallup's report, download a full copy here.