RESEARCH REPORT
Elevating the buyer experience in industrial B2B
How to create a buyer experience that matters
5-MINUTE READ
November 13, 2024
In brief
- Amid rapid market shifts, industrial B2B firms face pressure to elevate buyer experience for a competitive edge, yet many struggle to meet demand.
- To better understand what needs to change and how to make those changes, we interviewed buyer experts on their expectations and pain points.
- Our research uncovers the key drivers for exceptional buyer experience and the required steps to achieve it. It’s time for bold action.
Why Industrial BX falls short—and how to fix it
As competition in the B2B industrial landscape intensifies and growth becomes more elusive, delivering a positive buyer experience (BX) is now crucial for companies to succeed. Changing customer needs have further unbalanced this equation, leading to a growing demand for reinvention of traditional sales channels and tools. However, many industrial companies still have significant progress to make, despite their efforts in recent years to enhance buyer experiences. In short, the industrial B2B buying journey is ripe for reinvention.
Navigating complexity
The complexity of industrial buying journeys makes it difficult to elevate BX. The customers’ buying journeys are generally far lengthier and more complex than those of a B2C business. They often require continuous interaction with multiple services and sales touchpoints. Moreover, the services and products themselves are technical, highly customized and often bundled to meet specific customer needs.
To better understand what needs to change and how to make those changes, we studied the complexities of the B2B buyer experience. We interviewed industrial buyers about their preferences along two buying journeys: purchasing products (i.e. standardized industrial components) and purchasing solutions (ie. industrial machine bundled with a service contract).
Our research revealed over 1,600 customer pain points along the B2B buying process, emphasizing the need for industrial companies to reassess and improve buyer experience to gain a competitive edge in the future. The insights also confirmed six main drivers that make for an exceptional BX.
The six main drivers of exceptional BX
The consistency and dependability of a supplier, indicating that they can be trusted to deliver as promised.
The standard or grade of a product or service, where high quality is often associated with durability, performance and satisfaction.
The ease and simplicity with which a customer can interact with the supplier, navigate processes or use offerings.
The openness and honesty of a supplier about product features, service scope, pricing and risks to foster trust and confidence.
The speed and effectiveness of a supplier in responding to customer inquiries or issues.
The extent to which a supplier correctly identifies customer needs and then reaches out with solutions before the customer asks for any.
These drivers aren’t and shouldn’t be surprising. Similarly, the relative importance of each driver may vary based on the buyer’s role. For example, one of the most direct ways to improve the product-buying journey is to focus efforts on buyers in functional roles, as these professionals encounter most of the pain points.
A closer look reveals specific opportunities for improvement and, critically, differentiation. Nearly two-thirds of the pain points occur in the product-buying journey, mainly due to issues related to reliability and convenience. In the solutions-buying journey, quality emerged as the primary source of pain points, causing significant frustration, particularly when it comes to service delivery and fulfillment. Additionally, reliability and transparency were key contributors to a negative BX.
Initially, services and solutions were secondary considerations, but over time, they became a crucial strategic pillar for the company. Ultimately, it’s the service that sells the second machine.
Research respondent
It’s time for bold action
An enormous opportunity for B2B industrial companies is there for the taking. Reinventing the BX today will be key to leading tomorrow. By attaining a far more granular understanding of their customers’ unique demands, industrial companies can set a course for transforming their BX from a persistent challenge into a strategic advantage. A stepwise approach is necessary, starting with identifying where to prioritize investments to get the basics right. Furthermore, industrial companies should align their IT investments with customer needs, ensure seamless system integration, and equip employees with the training and tools required to address customer challenges effectively.
The future belongs to companies that seamlessly blend technology with empathy, creating personalized experiences that over-deliver on buyers’ expectations. Not only will these organizations gain a sustainable competitive edge, but they will also redefine industry standards. The path to an extraordinary buyer experience is clear—what’s needed now is bold action.