Business to business trading, collaborating and service delivery is what makes the economy work and how a large proportion of businesses operate. When we look for gamification in B2B the examples are still few and far between. It is also congruent with the experience we have in our business, the majority of our work is either internal or outward customer facing.
In the last number of years, we only had one example of a law firm implementing a supplier ranking system with full transparency. Suppliers were given their standard service level agreement and with each interaction, they also received their key supplier success indicators. The success indicators were based on time, service and quality. In each contract negotiation, the supplier was informed how this would work and how it would that would position them for renewal in the coming year or not.
The real-time feedback mechanism allowed for transparent supply chain management. For the suppliers servicing the firm it also pointed out potential issues, they had in their service delivery. Inside the law firm, it allowed for more meaningful procurement negotiations and a real picture of how well their suppliers were doing instead of anecdotal evidence.
Most of the time, suppliers don’t find out until it’s too late how they could change or improve. Giving regular feedback is key to improve or retrieve a working relationship. In our experience, when we explain what works and what doesn’t and still allow the company to redeem themselves, we see a great effort in making things work. It is rare that suppliers back out when feedback is given.
With an increased prevalence of freelancers supplying services, we can see this system work and transfer well to other organisations and industries. In fact, a lot of services such as Upwork, Fiverr and Peopleperhour, actively looking for feedback about the people working on their platforms. You not only give a star rating but also feedback on delivery and you can add a tip for a job well done. In some cultures giving a tip is a custom and in others, it is only valid for exceptional service, but feedback and star ratings are acceptable in all cultures. I personally believe it is a great way to find out about your business performance when it is bad though in person with the option to rectify it is better than after the facts, so the more real-time it can be, the better.
What other examples have you seen of business to business gamification?
