Customer intimacy describes a supplier’s ability to become a consistent, continuous partner with its customer. When customer intimacy is operating at its finest, the supplier knows its customer’s objectives and difficulties and is better able to provide optimal solutions. The more integrated the supplier, the happier the customer will be— which results in a strong “intimacy” between the two parties. In this article published by the Harvard Business Review, Michael Treacy and Fred Wiersema outline some of the most successful examples of customer intimacy in the business-to-customer world and why they have been successful. But, what does this all mean for us in the B2B world?

Above all, customer intimacy is about trust. As B2B marketers, we need to be willing to make investments now that will help us become more intimate with our clients. For example, we should take the time to research and really get to know our clients: What are their goals? What are their challenges? The opportunities that this knowledge will create will more than pay for the investment of time that it requires.

Another important consideration is social media. As social media becomes more and more popular in B2B, we need to be aware of how it is changing the way that we interact with our customers. Sure, Twitter provides invaluable information in an instant, but it can’t completely replace the value of having a conversation with our customer—whether it is on the phone or in person. That interaction creates a vital sense of collaboration and partnership that leads to longevity.

So, if improving customer intimacy is at the top of your to-do list, consider these tips:

• Rethink the way you define the word relationship. Ask yourself, how can we use knowledge about the customer and social media to strengthen a relationship and make it more valuable over time?
• Become more customer-focused. In the book The One to One B2B: Customer Relationship Management, Peppers and Rogers point out that “Being customer-focused is not a destination, but a direction in which to point a business.”
• If customer intimacy is something that you really want to commit to, make it your value discipline and align your entire operating model around serving it.

Ultimately, truly knowing your customer—their objectives, difficulties and ideas—will enhance the working relationship. And those improvements will likely lead to a long-term partnership that will benefit your business, too. So tell me, how are you connecting with your customers?