B2B buyer behaviour patterns are evolving with an increasing focus on controlling their own buying experiences and gaining access to self-service. Additionally, buyers are beginning to value references and testimonials over companies’ promises to meet their needs (see image below). As these trends show no signs of slowing down, B2B suppliers are having to deal with a more discerning and demanding target market.
To overcome the challenges posed self employed phone number data by these advances, Forrester highlights that sales teams in B2B organizations must prioritize openness, connectivity, intuitiveness, and immediacy over other concerns. What's more, failing to stay ahead of these changing dynamics can have a direct negative impact on results.
While having highly skilled sales agents is one key factor in B2B success, it is not the only one. To drive success in this demanding market landscape, they must have access to technologies that help them engage with customers and meet their expectations.
Treating buyers as partners
Today’s buyers expect to be part of the buying experience. They no longer want to be talked into it by a salesperson or feel like they’re being sold something. Their goal is to find a person who can help them solve their problems, which explains the Forrester report that claims buyers are more likely to engage with empathetic salespeople.
This means that to meet buyers’ expectations, sellers must have tools that enable them to understand their industry. They must open up to reduce frustration and establish trust. And they must connect with buyers to create peer-to-peer relationships. Sellers must also develop a greater sense of intuition to deliver personalized experiences more quickly.
An article from Forbes highlights that leveraging a proper CRM system will improve sales to B2B buyers. Investing in digital purchasing options, chatbots, and virtual assistance allows you to create a seamless experience for buyers that puts their needs at the center of the sale. Understanding the customer buying journey
It's not possible to have a one-size-fits-all approach if you want to understand and adapt to buyer expectations. Today's marketers need to realize that buyers fall into different categories based on their specific situations.
Forrester’s Buyer Journey Matrix uses buyer familiarity and decision complexity to help marketers understand the buying journey of potential customers (see image below). By leveraging models of the category their customers fall into ( transaction, upgrade, reaction, or transformation ) , marketers can create the best experiences that meet buyer expectations.
