Why B2B decision-making is harder than ever: it’s time to rethink the B2B buying process

What was your last experience making a big purchase? Maybe you recently needed to upgrade your television, or you finally decided to invest in a more powerful oven. I’m assuming you didn’t just walk into a store and buy the first one you saw; you likely conducted in-depth research online, trawling through customer reviews and video overviews, and maybe you even consulted friends or family members for advice. By Dustin Deno, SVP of Global Sales at Showpad

The B2C buying experience has changed. We rarely walk into a store with no prior knowledge and trust exactly what the salesperson is telling us – we’ve become much savvier buyers. The same goes for B2B interactions; our preference for digital, asynchronous interactions with sellers in our personal lives has naturally spilled over into our professional lives. How can businesses navigate this increased complexity in decision-making without losing out on deals?

Navigating the tangled web of a B2B buying decision

The classic ‘sales funnel’ through which buyers follow a logical step-by-step buying process, is a thing of the past. Today’s business buyer follows more of a maze than a funnel – it’s up to your sales reps to make navigating that maze as frictionless as possible. These sales reps are said to only have around 5% of a customer’s time during today’s B2B buying journey, which doesn’t give them much room to make an impact on buying decisions.

It’s not only time pressure that affects the B2B decision-making process, but the sheer number of stakeholders involved. Today’s typical buying group includes six to 10 decision-makers, each armed with different priorities and knowledge. Your business’ sales reps have the difficult job of streamlining the tangled process, getting each decision-maker on side, and sharing the right information at the right time to ultimately close the deal.

Leveraging technology to optimise the decision-making process

As a business, when trying to attract the attention of business buyers your number one priority should be to meet the buyer where they are, both physically and mentally. In a physical sense, buyers now operate in hybrid, on-site, and remote environments. Such diversity in the locations where business decisions are taken means that buyers are coming into content with many more channels and touchpoints than ever before. This is where the mental aspect of the business buying process comes in: supplying your customers with the type and format of content they find most easy to digest.

There is no doubt that the buyer is in control these days, we saw that with the example of B2C customers doing significant online research before even speaking to a sales rep. You need to let your buyers make their own journey – you are just there to facilitate it with relevant information

along the way. That information must always be tailored to buyers’ needs, timing, and preferences, replacing low-engagement tools like static emails with interactive, visual content like personalised videos. 80% of prospects will open a piece of video content but ignore any other type of content they receive, demonstrating that the most successful buying experiences are interactive and individualised.

The three core tenets of successful B2B interactions

How do you ensure that your team are prepared to deliver an interactive, personalised experience for their business buyers? You follow these four steps:

1.   Build a strong onboarding programme that speaks to staff. Today’s sales reps are exactly like today’s buyers because they too are buyers in their personal lives. They enjoy varied and engaging content that allows them to learn at their own pace. Formal, in-person training sessions are out.
2.   Meet buyers where they are. Business buyers no longer decide to buy something and promptly pick up the phone to talk to a sales rep. Delivering immersive buying experiences is the only way to truly engage today’s buyers, and ultimately close more deals.
3.   Eliminate inefficiencies through centralised content. You can’t schmooze with your buyers anymore, because they simply don’t have time for lavish dinners at luxury restaurants. They need to find information quickly and easily about the product or service they intend to buy, so the easier you make that process, the more successful you will be.

B2B decision-making is harder than ever before, but it doesn’t have to be. Facilitating a smooth decision-making process with the support of digital technologies will pay dividends when it comes to closing deals. Don’t get left behind – your buyer certainly won’t be there with you.