Beckman Coulter is a specialist in the life sciences testing sector. Founded in 1935 by Caltech professor and scientist Arnold Beckman, the company is a leader in biomedical testing and serves the diagnostics and life sciences industries. They sell their products to healthcare professionals, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, universities, medical schools, and research institutions worldwide. Currently, the company generates over $1 billion in annual sales and is a subsidiary of Danaher Corporation, a global holding company. Beckman Coulter, a B2B company, began its digital transformation journey in 2015.
The company looked beyond its traditional industry and turned to the B2C market for recruitment as it needed expertise in eCommerce. This is where Beth Davis came in, a seasoned professional with over ten years of experience in B2C eCommerce, including roles at Sears and consumer-focused digital marketing agencies. In 2016, she joined Beckman Coulter as the head of eCommerce operations, bringing consumer-oriented eCommerce strategies and techniques to the company's eCommerce efforts.
Why did Beth Davis, with her background in B2C eCommerce, end up at Beckman Coulter, a traditional B2B company? Where she previously worked, Sears deals in consumer goods such as dresses, perfumes, and jewelry, vastly different from the biomedical testing equipment and systems that Beckman Coulter sells.
For example, Davis played a key role in implementing the concept of rapid online account registration. Previously, Beckman Coulter had a lengthy seven-page registration process for creating a new account on their website.
By utilizing B2C principles of reducing steps to achieve a "conversion," Davis streamlined the process to a few pages, which led to a 51% increase in new account creation via the website and an increase in new customer leads generated via the web.
Davis also introduced a more advanced site search and indexing tool from Coveo after noticing that more than half of website visitors were using on-site search to find products. This solution now generates 40% more page views from users who use the on-site search on the Beckman Coulter website and increases the average time spent on those sessions by 47%.
These are impressive achievements, but it took some time to reach these milestones. Davis recalls when she first joined, some people were questioning the need for a website and suggesting they should direct customers to the call center. She was surprised and didn't know how to respond.
Davis quickly realized that her role was not only about developing eCommerce capabilities but also about educating and aligning the organization.
Davis says that achieving success in B2B eCommerce requires educating and listening to people, understanding their concerns, addressing their doubts and showing them how eCommerce can benefit the organization. She adds that it takes patience, but the impact is substantial and worth it. B2B firms should take note of people with real-world eCommerce experience. And hiring the right talent from B2C can help educate traditional B2B firms about eCommerce and bring significant benefits. Now, Davis loves her role and feels she is making a real impact and setting the company on a path to success in eCommerce.
Beckman Coulter is reaping the benefits of Davis' expertise. When she joined in 2016, the company aimed to shift 10% of its volume from its traditional ordering portal to eCommerce. By applying eCommerce best practices and launching a B2C-like checkout process in 2018, the company's daily eCommerce orders have increased by 33%. This is a win for Beckman Coulter in multiple ways, as a large portion of this revenue is the incremental and higher margin. It clearly indicates the value of bringing B2C expertise to a traditional B2B manufacturer.
This experience holds valuable lessons for other B2B companies. Hiring from B2C can effectively drive change, bring new perspectives to the organization, and gain expertise in eCommerce.
When considering the backgrounds of B2C professionals, it is important to keep an open mind. The fast-paced nature of retail and the constant evolution of eCommerce since its emergence in the 1990s has led to frequent job changes among experienced eCommerce executives. This is common and should not be seen as a negative aspect. It is often more of a reflection of the highly competitive demand for talent in the eCommerce industry than the executive's capabilities. Many of these executives are looking for a long-term opportunity and would appreciate the relative stability of the B2B sector.
Companies should aim to recruit experienced leaders for eCommerce roles and give them significant authority and accountability within the organization. Too often, I see leaders appointed to run B2B eCommerce operations with less than five years of experience. Organizations serious about digital transformation should look for individuals with at least ten years of eCommerce-specific expertise, give them a high-level title such as VP, SVP, or C-level, and have them report directly to a senior leader, usually the CEO, President, or another C-level executive.
The person in charge of the digital transformation must be empowered to bring change and given the time to gain support and build influence within the organization. Anything less will limit the organization's ability to drive true transformation. The leader needs to have enough organizational power and influence to address legacy silos and processes to bring change. As pointed out by Korn Ferry, change must be driven collaboratively and aligned with organizational stakeholders.
The digital leader should be responsible for an eCommerce P&L statement, even if it is only used internally. This will ensure that the organization tracks its efforts and can measure its success over time.
.svg)
.svg)
