How to Optimize B2B Buying Journey for Long-Term Revenue

Creating a high-performing product that solves a relevant need is top of mind for all B2B businesses. But most fail to notice that their customers’ experience with the product begins long before they even start using it. 

According to Salesforce research, 88% of B2B buyers say that the buying experience is just as significant as the product or service itself. Moreover, Zendesk found that 60% of buyers would choose a vendor over a competitor based on the service alone. 

As a result, perfecting the B2B buying journey pays off. Accenture states that “Meeting and exceeding customer expectations at scale can increase win rates, boost retention and enhance customer value and sales efficiency, ultimately driving business growth.”

So, if you want to improve your B2B buying journey but don’t know where to start, here’s everything you need to know about perfecting your B2B buying journey.

What is a B2B buyer journey?

In the simplest terms, the B2B buyer journey is the process that your customers go through when they are purchasing your products or services.

Considering the growing complexity of B2B sales, it usually involves a series of touchpoints and interactions that influence the final buying decision.

Understanding the B2B buyer journey can be incredibly helpful for businesses. It can serve as a guide to align the marketing and sales efforts to better meet the needs of the buyers at every step. This is especially true if there are multiple decision-makers and influences involved in the process.

Understanding the difference between the buyer’s and customer journey

In B2B, it's crucial to differentiate between the buyer’s journey and the customer journey. While both journeys are interconnected, they focus on different stages of the buyer's relationship with your business.

The buyer’s journey refers to the pre-purchase process where a prospect identifies a need, evaluates solutions, and makes a purchase decision. It focuses on understanding their pain points and guiding them toward the right solution.

On the other hand, the customer journey begins after the purchase and continues through the ongoing relationship with your product or service. This journey is about ensuring customer satisfaction, fostering engagement, and driving long-term loyalty.

Ultimately, both journeys are key to building lasting relationships—starting with attracting the right buyers and evolving into nurturing satisfied customers who may advocate for your brand.

What are the phases of the B2B buyer journey?

The B2B buyer journey is typically broken down into several stages. While the number of stages may vary depending on the business and the complexity of the sales process, the journey generally starts with the buyer recognizing a need and ends with a post-purchase evaluation.

Here are the key stages of most B2B buyer journeys:

Awareness/Discovery:

The journey begins when a potential buyer realizes they have a problem or need. They start researching possible solutions and may first visit your website or social channels to explore what your product offers. At this stage, your content should help them understand how your solution can address their pain points.

Consideration:

As the buyer narrows down their options, they begin comparing different solutions and vendors. This is where your sales team, particularly Account Executives, can engage with the buyer to provide more detailed product information, proposals, and demonstrations. Here, you need to offer resources that educate and build trust, such as case studies or success stories.

Decision/Purchase:

After considering their options, the buyer makes their final decision and purchases your product or service. This is a critical stage, and having clear, seamless processes in place—like easy sign-ups, pricing transparency, and smooth negotiations — will help close the deal.

Post-purchase:

After the purchase, the buyer evaluates their experience with your product or service. This is when customer support and onboarding begin, ensuring a smooth transition. It’s also a time to gather feedback that can inform future improvements.

Renewal/Repurchase:

If the buying experience has been positive, the buyer is more likely to renew their contract or make additional purchases. This is the ultimate goal: to build long-term relationships that foster repeat business and referrals.

Funnel vs. flywheel: Evolving the B2B buying journey

The traditional sales funnel and the newer flywheel model offer two different ways of thinking about the customer journey. While both are valuable, understanding how they apply to your B2B buying journey can help optimize your strategy.

The funnel approach: Linear and transactional

In the traditional funnel model, the buyer journey is viewed as a one-way, linear process. The buyer moves from the top of the funnel (awareness) to the bottom (purchase), and once the transaction is complete, the journey is considered over. This approach works well in straightforward sales processes where customer engagement doesn’t continue much after the sale.

Pros: It’s easy to measure and track, and provides a clear framework for managing leads.

Cons: It focuses too heavily on acquisition and doesn’t take into account post-purchase experience or long-term customer engagement.

The flywheel approach: Continuous and customer-centric

The flywheel approach, popularized by HubSpot, takes a more holistic, customer-centric view. Instead of viewing the journey as a linear path, it emphasizes a continuous loop where happy customers can become advocates, helping to fuel future growth.

• Attract: Just like the funnel, the first stage involves attracting potential customers through content, marketing, and awareness-building efforts.
• Engage: In the flywheel model, engagement extends beyond the initial sale. This stage includes interactions that help nurture leads and build relationships through personalized communication, valuable content, and customer support.
• Delight: The key difference here is the focus on delighting the customer after the sale. By ensuring they have a positive experience, businesses can create advocates who refer others, thus keeping the flywheel spinning and generating organic leads.

Why the flywheel model is gaining traction?

The flywheel approach is gaining traction because it recognizes that customer success and retention are just as important as acquisition. In B2B, where the sales cycle is often longer and more complex, creating a delightful experience that encourages repeat business, renewals, and referrals can lead to sustainable growth.

• Customer advocacy: By focusing on delighting customers and providing ongoing value, you turn your customers into advocates who help drive new business, making your marketing and sales efforts more effective.
• Reduced churn: When you prioritize the entire customer lifecycle, from pre-purchase to post-purchase, you help reduce churn and improve long-term revenue retention.
• Higher ROI: While the funnel model focuses on short-term acquisition costs, the flywheel ensures that investments made in customer success and satisfaction pay dividends in the form of loyalty, referrals, and repeat business.

The bowtie model: A modern approach to the B2B buying journey

While the funnel and flywheel models provide useful frameworks for understanding the B2B buyer journey, the bowtie model offers a unique, more integrated perspective that considers the full lifecycle of a customer, from acquisition to advocacy.

What is the bowtie model?

The bowtie model visualizes the B2B buyer journey as having two distinct halves: the left side (pre-purchase) and the right side (post-purchase). The two sides come together in the middle, forming the "knot" of the bowtie.

• Left Side (Pre-Purchase): This side represents the stages of awareness, consideration, and decision-making. It's about attracting prospects, engaging with them, and guiding them through the buying process.
• Middle (Knot): The knot represents the conversion point—when the buyer makes the decision to purchase. This is the pivotal moment when the sales team seals the deal.
• Right Side (Post-Purchase): After the purchase, the right side focuses on the relationship-building phase, where customer success, support, and advocacy come into play. It's about ensuring the customer is satisfied, onboarded effectively, and encouraged to become a loyal, repeat customer who advocates for your brand.

Why the bowtie model?

The bowtie model recognizes that the customer journey doesn’t end once the purchase is made. In fact, that’s when much of the real value starts. Rather than viewing the post-purchase experience as an afterthought, the bowtie model places it right alongside the pre-purchase phases, giving equal weight to both sides of the journey.

Key benefits of this approach are:

• The bowtie model ensures equal emphasis on customer acquisition (left side) and customer retention/advocacy (right side). While the funnel focuses primarily on acquisition, and the flywheel emphasizes continuous engagement, the bowtie acknowledges that the customer’s post-purchase experience is just as vital for long-term success.
• It encourages collaboration across sales, marketing, and customer success teams to ensure the customer’s needs are met at every stage. The middle “knot” of the bowtie connects these teams, fostering smoother transitions from sales to service and ensuring consistent messaging throughout the entire journey.
• The bowtie model stresses the importance of post-purchase engagement and advocacy. Happy customers are more likely to refer others, which creates a powerful feedback loop that drives new business and strengthens the overall sales pipeline.

How to apply the bowtie model to your B2B buying journey

To apply the bowtie model effectively, here are some strategies for optimizing both sides of the buyer journey:

Pre-Purchase (Left Side):

• Attract: Utilize targeted content marketing, SEO, and paid ads to drive awareness and attract qualified leads.
• Engage: Nurture prospects with personalized content, engaging demos, and consultations to help them assess their needs.
• Convert: Provide clear, actionable next steps through case studies, testimonials, and product offerings to help prospects make their final purchasing decision.

Post-Purchase (Right Side):

• Onboard: Provide a seamless and supportive onboarding process that ensures customers get the most out of your product or service from day one. Leverage automation tools to reduce friction and manual efforts.
• Support: Implement proactive customer support with dedicated account managers and responsive support teams. Monitor customer health and step in when they need assistance.
• Advocate: Transform satisfied customers into brand advocates by encouraging them to share their success stories, leave testimonials, or refer others. Implement referral programs or customer loyalty incentives to further incentivize advocacy.

Measuring success with the bowtie model

To make the bowtie model effective, you need to track key metrics on both sides of the customer journey:

• Pre-Purchase Metrics: Conversion rates, lead qualification, time spent in each stage, and content engagement.
• Post-Purchase Metrics: Customer satisfaction (CSAT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), churn rate, customer lifetime value (CLTV), and referral rates.

By monitoring these KPIs across both sides, you ensure you're focusing on customer acquisition while still building a strong foundation for post-sale success.

Why the bowtie model works?

The bowtie model reflects a more customer-centric, long-term approach to sales and marketing. By ensuring that both the acquisition and retention phases are given the attention they deserve, it helps businesses build stronger relationships with their customers—ultimately turning them into loyal advocates who help drive future growth.

The bowtie model’s integrated approach also promotes collaboration across teams. From the marketing team generating awareness, to sales closing the deal, and customer success ensuring satisfaction post-purchase, each team plays an essential role in a customer’s journey, helping your business scale more efficiently.

If your current strategy is too focused on the funnel and doesn’t account for the entire journey, consider shifting to the bowtie model to ensure you're nurturing customer relationships beyond the sale.

How to create a B2B buyer journey that stands out

Now that we’ve outlined the key stages of the B2B buyer journey, let’s explore how you can perfect your own process. Here are some proven strategies to enhance each stage and create a memorable experience for your buyers.

1. Personalize the experience

Did you know that 71% of B2B buyers say they expect more personalized experiences during the buying process? To stand out, your approach must be tailored to each buyer.

• Create custom landing pages and personalized content for specific buyer personas, including the buyer’s name and company. This makes the experience feel more relevant.
• Analyze buyer personas to understand their pain points, needs, and preferences. Adjust your messaging, product offerings, and content to resonate with each persona at every stage of the journey.

2. Provide valuable content

B2B buyers typically consume 13 pieces of content before making a final purchase decision. With decision-making cycles lengthening, providing the right content at every step of the buyer’s journey at the right time is essential.

• Offer educational content such as blog posts, eBooks, whitepapers, and webinars to guide buyers through the research and consideration stages.
• Create testimonials and success stories that demonstrate real-world results and build credibility.
• Consider hosting interactive content, like Q&A sessions or live product demos, to deepen engagement and trust.

3. Focus on customer service

Exceptional customer service is one of the most powerful ways to build long-lasting relationships. Businesses that excel at customer service grow revenues 4-8% above the market average.

• Timely responses to buyer inquiries, transparent communication, and a friendly, supportive team will go a long way in earning your buyers' trust.
• Offer onboarding support and dedicated post-sales service to ensure your customers feel valued and supported throughout their journey with you.

4. Leverage technology for efficiency

Technology plays a critical role in creating a seamless and efficient buyer journey. By automating repetitive tasks, you free up time for your team to focus on high-value interactions.

• Use AI-powered chatbots for instant responses to buyer queries and to guide them through the decision-making process.
• Implement CRM systems to deliver personalized, timely communication, and track buyer behavior across multiple touchpoints.
• Utilize Digital Sales Room software (DSRs) to centralize all sales-related content, communication, and resources in one place, making it easy for buyers to access the information they need when they need it.

5. Collaborate with other businesses

Buyers today are looking for integrated, all-in-one solutions that address their multiple needs. By partnering with complementary businesses, you can enhance your product offering and differentiate yourself from competitors.

• Form joint ventures or offer bundled solutions that expand your value proposition. This not only provides more for your customers but also helps expose your business to new audiences.
• Consider co-hosting webinars or events with your partners to attract a wider pool of potential buyers.

Addressing common B2B buyer journey pitfalls

While optimizing your buyer journey is crucial, there are some common mistakes that many businesses make. Here are a few pitfalls to watch out for:

• Lack of alignment between sales and marketing: Without close collaboration, sales and marketing teams can send mixed signals to the buyer, leading to confusion or frustration. Make sure both teams are aligned on messaging and the buyer’s journey.
• Overwhelming your buyers with information: While it’s important to provide valuable content, too much information at once can overwhelm your buyer. Ensure that the content you provide is digestible and useful at each stage of the journey.
• Failure to nurture leads: Not all leads are ready to buy immediately. Having a strong lead nurturing strategy in place, with tailored content for every stage of the buying journey and regular check-ins, is key to guiding leads from consideration to decision.
• Ignoring post-purchase experience: The buyer’s journey doesn’t end after the purchase is made. A poor post-purchase experience can erode trust and hurt future sales. Make sure to follow up with buyers to gather feedback and offer continued support.

Using Flowla to perfect the B2B buying journey

Perfecting the B2B buying journey requires a seamless experience across the entire customer lifecycle, from pre-purchase to post-purchase. Flowla’s versatile platform is designed to optimize both the buyer’s journey and customer journey, making it easier for sales and customer success teams to engage, onboard, and retain customers.

• During awareness and discovery stages, Flowla helps you engage prospects with personalized landing pages and tailored content, ensuring that buyers receive relevant messaging from the moment they first interact with your brand.
• At consideration phase, Flowla streamlines sales interactions with automated proposals, product demos, and centralized sales materials, making it easy for your team to share the right information at the right time.
• Decision phase is facilitated by Flowla’s digital sales rooms that simplify the decision process by centralizing key documents, proposals, and pricing options, creating a smooth, branded experience that helps close deals faster.
• After the sale is complete, Flowla automates onboarding workflows and delivers personalized materials to ensure a smooth transition, reducing time-to-value for customers.
• Ongoing engagement with Flowla relies on real-time insights, allowing your team to proactively engage customers with tailored resources, ensuring continuous satisfaction and fostering long-term relationships.
• All of the above leads to better retention & advocacy as Flowla makes it easy to nurture relationships, encouraging customers to become advocates through referrals and testimonials.

Why choose Flowla?

Flowla seamlessly integrates pre- and post-purchase processes, providing a personalized, automated, and centralized solution that enhances every stage of the buying journey. From initial awareness to customer retention, Flowla helps you deliver a smooth, efficient, and customer-centric experience.

Ready to elevate your B2B buying journey? Book a demo today to see how Flowla can transform your sales and customer success processes.