????客戶的長期價值至關重要

????一般而言，B2B公司的銷售周期比B2C公司更長。但大多數B2B客戶都是長期客戶，最終，B2B公司可以從客戶獲取更多價值。1999年，賈伊?謝卡瓦特成立Fieldglass，他花了超過一年時間才找到第一批客戶，其中包括威瑞森（Verizon）、美國國際集團（AIG）、葛蘭素史克（GlaxoSmithKline）和強生（Johnson & Johnson）。但他一直緊緊抓住這批客戶，現在這些客戶每年在合同雇工方面的開支都達到數十億美元。到目前為止，Fieldglass的客戶保持率超過99%。

????要獲得穩定的收入，應該抓住能夠產生經常性收入的機會。

????將最有可能重復使用公司產品或服務的客戶放在首位。

????姆斯卡萊羅深知，金融公司將是其在線交易平臺的理想供應商，因為金融公司會在IT方面進行大量投入，并且經常要清理庫存，為最新技術騰出空間。MarkITx的第一家客戶是芝加哥商業交易所（Chicago Mercantile Exchange），從2013年8月以來已進行了22次交易。

????開發有粘性的服務或產品

????要與客戶保持長期關系，必須創建天生具有“粘性”的產品與服務，并且為同一家公司客戶包含多個層級的整合服務。MarkITx的儀表板可以通過應用程序接口（API）連接到客戶公司，為客戶提供其資產的實時市場價值數據，以及更新IT基礎設施的最佳時間。結果，這些公司會經常查看儀表板，而且在需要出售資產的時候，會更傾向于使用MarkITx。通過投身客戶遇到的實際困難當中，Fieldglass可以提前為客戶打造整合性服務。例如，公司會密切關注勞動法的變化（謝卡瓦特估計，僅在歐洲，每月便會有25-30處變化），并確保其軟件能及時反映這些變化。因此，為了解決問題，客戶對Fieldglass變得越來越依賴。

????從眼前尋找商機

????思考一下你的公司目前面臨的問題，或者你會如何解決行業內的問題。商機無處不在——或許這些機遇沒有那么令人興奮，但卻非常可靠且有利可圖。謝卡瓦特在產生創建Fieldglass的想法之前，曾做過合同程序開發員，為一家技術供應商工作，并為買方和客戶提供咨詢，后來他發現了管理合同雇工所面臨的挑戰。對行業內情的了解，也使他創建的公司輕松打敗了其他5家競爭對手（這些公司都已破產）。

????清楚何時采取下一步行動

????思考一下，你現在的工作能否變成更大的事業。2010年，Eved進軍國際市場之前，還是一家本土服務公司，公司規模在4年內增長到1,000萬美元，并入選Inc. 500強（Inc. 500）排行榜。但彌賽亞清楚，海外有更多機會。于是，她出售了Eved的服務部門，保留了研發部，將其重新打造成一家全球性公司，她的目標是公司市值達到十億美元。（財富中文網）

????本文作者琳達?達拉赫是西北大學（Northwestern University）凱洛格商學院（Kellogg School of Management）創業實踐臨床教授，凱洛格創新與創業行動（Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative，KITI）執行主任。達拉赫作為芝加哥數字初創公司服務中心1871的董事會成員，對上述公司有詳細的了解。

????譯者：劉進龍/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.