Top 5 B2B buyer expectations: Creating the CX they crave

With tech-savvy generations entering the global workforce and the adoption of digital technologies for personal use, accelerated by the pandemic, B2B buyers’ expectations have changed. Whether they’re buying for their business or themselves, they want a similar experience.

For B2B sellers, the stakes are high: Those that fail to meet these new B2C expectations will quickly lose business to those that do.

According to Gartner, 80% of B2B sales interactions between buyers and sellers will happen in digital channels. Clearly, companies need to rethink their customer engagement strategies, but how?

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5 expectations of the modern B2B buyer

Businesses tend to oversimplify the challenge of shifting buyer needs. They think that they only need to create a nicer user interface with better navigation, images, a mobile-friendly UI and they’re ready to go.

But it’s much more complex than that.

B2B buyers today expect:

1. Fast and simple onboarding
2. Single interface
3. Visibility into product availability
4. Real-time pricing
5. Omnichannel

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At the end of the day, technology is just a tool. You still need a new approach and a business strategy to engage complex and dynamic B2B buyers.

B2B selling: Simple, complex and everything in between

When we think about the B2B buyer’s needs, it’s important to consider the many forms B2B selling takes:

• Selling raw materials and ingredients as commodities
• Selling finished products as components of another product
• Selling to specialized business that resell products
• Selling to businesses for them to consume
• Selling to retailers

Some of these involve long, complex sales cycles just to create a contract while others have very simple and short buying patterns. Some have recurrent orders and/or customer specific pricing One organization can have several selling motions, depending on their go-to-market strategy and industry.

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Fast onboarding and easy access

In the B2C world, we can buy from most vendors just with an address and credit card. In B2B, legal requirements can make it more complicated, but buyers expect to have a fast and effortless onboarding process nonetheless.

In some cases, this can involve provisional payment options if credit limits and terms haven’t been fully processed, so they can start ordering as soon as possible.

As consumers, we don’t expect to use different websites or apps to buy, pay, track deliveries, get product information and training, or manage returns, tickets, complaints, and warranties.

Likewise, B2B buyers expect a single point of entry with different user role profiles and authorizations so each buyer involved in the purchase can have full visibility of the relationship with the seller.

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B2B buyer needs: Real-time visibility & easy payment

When ordering a consumer product, knowing if the product is in stock and when it’s going to be delivered is a must. B2B buyers also expect this kind of information. It might involve complications such as inventory restrictions, different shipping locations or even made-to-order products, but they expect real-time visibility to the logistic network.

When buying from a retailer, we always know exactly how much we are going to pay. B2B buyers have the same expectation. Sellers need real-time integration with pricing engines to guarantee consistent pricing.

And when it comes to payment, B2B buyers want options that make it easy, including multiple payment options, advanced features for electronic payments, invoice reconciliations, and credit and debit notes.

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The omnichannel B2B challenge

As consumers, we expect the ability to execute any part of our journey in any channel, digital or physical. B2B buyers have the same omnichannel expectations, with the added complexity that many people from their organization interact with many people from the seller organization in any digital or physical channel.

Having a complete view of the customer, available across sales, marketing, and service, helps a B2B seller organization better manage the relationship to meet these omnichannel expectations.

Companies that break down internal silos, and connect front-office and back-office processes, will deliver the B2C-kind of experiences their buyers want. They’ll make customers happy, boost revenue, increase customer lifetime value, and enjoy efficiencies that strengthen the business for the long term.