When you sell a bike to a consumer, you talk about the product: the frame, the motor, the battery, how it rides. When you sell a bike to a business, you soon notice that this conversation barely matters.
When I started building the business market at JUIZZ, I quickly found that out. The stores were strong at advising private customers. But for a delivery service, a roadside assistance provider or an online retailer with its own couriers, a bike is not a product. It is a work tool. And a work tool that stands still costs money.
Start with downtime
The question that made the difference was not “which bike do you want?”, but “what happens when it breaks down?” A courier without a bike cannot deliver. A mechanic without transport cannot reach the customer. Every hour of downtime is revenue you never get back.
That is why, together with the COO of JUIZZ, we developed the Full Service Plan: maintenance and roadside assistance in one. If something goes wrong, the problem is solved on site within two hours, nationwide. With that promise we approached large business customers. It led to partnerships with ANWB, PostNL and Coolblue.
The same principle in a tender
Years later I saw the same thing in the tender for speed pedelecs for the Dutch police. It involved hundreds of bikes, but just as important was maintenance over several years. A good bike was the foundation. What made the bid strong was showing how that fleet would stay operational for years.
Three questions for your B2B proposition
Are you a bicycle brand, retailer or mobility company looking to enter the business market? Ask yourself these questions:
- What does downtime cost my customer? Work it out together with the customer. That amount is the real value of your service.
- How fast can I solve a problem, and where? On site within a fixed time is something else than “just bring it in”.
- Who do I need to make that happen? Often the answer is a partner: a manufacturer, a service network or a lease company.
Whoever takes the risk away from the customer is not selling bikes but certainty. And certainty is something business customers are happy to pay for. That makes it a win-win: the customer keeps riding, and you build a long-term relationship.
Johannes de Bruin helps companies in the cycling industry grow through The Great Ride, with strategic advice, project management and partnerships. More about me