Keep your eyes open for local B2B opportunities

A good B2B customer can be worth a thousand regular customers. That is why it pays off to be aware of any opportunity.

Being local is one of the great strengths of JYSK, and with almost 3,000 stores we are present in a lot of small communities.

This can be turned into even higher sales and bonuses for store employees. At least according to B2B Manager of JYSK Sweden, Lars Svantesson, who has spent the last nine months building up the B2B sales in Sweden.

“What is important to understand is that we have the same goals in B2B and in the stores. To make a good deal which makes our customers happy and provides sales and bonuses for the stores,” explains Lars.

Local ideas

He sees his role as supporting local stores in improving sales, but the ideas will normally come from a store employee.

“When you live in a local community, you see what goes on. If a colleague from a store notices a new hotel or restaurant opening, they can contact B2B, and then we can make an offer. We cannot be present 150 different places in Sweden, but we can help by giving B2B customers a great offer in 150 places, if we are made aware of the opportunities,” says Lars.

He is very open about the fact that not all Swedish store employees are aware of the opportunities which B2B offer.

“We try to highlight it by having a top 3 of B2B orders in the internal Facebook group every day, and we have also made a 1 million club for stores which have generated B2B turnover for more than 1 million SEK. But I think there are still a lot of stores that are not aware of what we can offer,” says Lars.

Great partnership

But District Manager, Teres Kenttä, is aware, and she is focused on making the stores in her district members of the 1 million club.

“On every Store Manager meeting we spend 30-45 minutes talking about B2B and show numbers for top and bottom stores. It is very important that all employees know and dare to tell our customers about the 8 percent B2B discount,” says Teres, who also encourages colleagues to post on internal social media channels or MYJYSK and share great B2B stories.

And it works.

“I have just received a message from one of my Store Managers, who has just sold a lounge to a hotel. He met with the hotel management in his store before opening to show our assortment, and that means an invoice of more than 50,000 SEK,” says Teres.

Communication is key

For Teres it is key to make sure that there is a good communication line between store employees and B2B, and this is also highlighted by B2B Manager in JYSK Poland, Lucjan Sowa.

“Good communication with the stores is the key to B2B success. I often have to visit the customer several times, and it is crucial that I can always call the store and consult them about the product offer,” explains Lucjan.

He began his journey in JYSK at the store in Pruszcz Gdansk to really understand how we work in JYSK, and to make sure that the B2B department in Poland will be successful.

“The goal of the B2B department is to increase sales in the stores, online and directly in our department. We want to achieve this through greater presence in stores, online and offline marketing activities, and cooperation with strategic partners,” says Lucjan, who looks forward to soon welcoming one more colleague in the B2B department in Poland, so it will grow to three employees.