B2B manufacturing client, GBP calls went from ~41/month to ~80/month in five months. Screenshot inside, and the boring reason it worked.
Sharing this because everyone assumes Google Business Profile is for restaurants and plumbers, and B2B manufacturers ignore it completely. This client did too.
Context: [what they manufacture], based in [city], sells to [type of buyer]. Long sales cycles, average order value in the [range]. Before this they got basically all their leads from [trade shows / referrals / outbound]. Their attitude to their Google listing was that nobody buys [product] off Google Maps.
Turns out procurement people absolutely do search Google when they need a supplier, they just search differently — "[specific product] manufacturer near [city]", "[material] fabrication [region]", that sort of thing. Very low volume. Very high intent. One call can be worth [amount].
What the numbers actually say
314 calls across five months. Up 10.6% on the same window last year, which honestly doesn't sound like much until you look at the line. March was ~41. July was ~80. The total only moved 10% because the first couple of months were flat or slightly behind last year — everything happened in the back half.
That gap between "total up 10%" and "monthly nearly doubled" is worth understanding if you're reporting to anyone. If I'd shown the client the headline number in month two he'd have fired me.
What we changed
Primary category from [old category] to [new category]. Same thing I've banged on about before, still the biggest single lever.
Filled out the products and services section properly with their actual capabilities — [example], [example], [example] — using the language buyers use, not the internal language the company uses. These were completely empty before.
Photos of the actual facility, machinery, and work in progress. Not stock images of generic factories. B2B buyers are trying to work out whether you're a real operation or three people and a laptop, and photos answer that faster than any page of copy.
Started answering the phone properly. Genuinely — this mattered. [Detail what changed here if anything did.]
Reviews from [X] existing customers, which is harder in B2B because your customers are companies and the person who'd write it needs approval. Took [how long] and a lot of asking.
The May dip
No idea, honestly. [Or: it was [reason].] Could be seasonal, could be noise at this volume. At 40-80 calls a month one slow week moves the line. I'd be lying if I said I could explain every wobble, and anyone who tells you they can at this sample size is guessing.
Caveats before anyone gets excited
Calls are not leads. Some of these are existing customers, some are suppliers, and some are people selling toner. GBP doesn't tell you which. I'd treat the trend as real and the absolute number as inflated.
Also this was a low base. Going 41 → 80 is much easier than 400 → 800.
Happy to answer questions on the category change or the products section if anyone's doing B2B and wondering whether this is worth the time.
Note: Some content is created from AI.