Perfecting the B2B buying journey

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 a Salesforce research, 88% of B2B buyers say that the buying experience is just as significant as the product or service itself.

And spending time on perfecting the B2B buying journey pays off - Accenture found that 70% of customers who have a great buying experience are likely to refer the company to their friends and colleagues, bringing in more business and revenue in the long term.

Want to improve your B2B buying journey but don’t know where to start?

Find out below everything you need to know about the B2B buying journey, and how to perfect it.

What is a B2B buyer journey?

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

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.

What are the phases of the B2B buyer journey?

The B2B buyer journey is usually split into several stages. While their number depends on the business and the complexity of their unique sales process, it usually begins with the buyers recognizing that they have a need, and concludes with a post-purchase evaluation.

Below are some of the stages common in most B2B buyer journeys.

Awareness/Discovery: A B2B buyer journey starts off with a buyer identifying an issue or a need and starts to look into solutions that might help.

On this stage they are the most likely to visit your website and social channels to better understand what your product offers.

Consideration: The buyer begins to weigh their different options, and compares the different solutions and vendors against one another.

If your sales process is particularly lengthy, this is where your Account Executives come into play. Documents, materials, and proposals might be shared.

Decision/Purchase: The buyer makes a decision and the purchase is finalized.

Post-purchase: The buyer assesses your service or product. They may simply offer some feedback and ask any remaining questions, or, if your product or service requires onboarding, it would start here.

Renewal/Repurchase: If you’ve provided a wonderful B2B buyer journey, congratulations! Your buyer is statistically more likely to renew their contract/subscription, or make additional purchases from you.

How do I create a B2B buyer journey that stands out?

Now that we know more about what a B2B buyer journey is and what it entails, let’s explore a few strategies to smooth out your process.

Personalize the experience: Did you know that 71% of B2B buyers say they are looking for more personalized experiences from companies when they are considering purchase decisions?

This personalization can be twofold. The first is creating custom links, landing pages, and tailored material that incorporates your buyer’s name and company as much as possible for a more personalized experience.

Second is to analyze your audience and your various buyer personas to pinpoint each of their exact pain points, needs, and preferences. By adjusting your messaging and the language on your materials in light of this research, you will ensure that the buying journey truly resonates with your customers.

Provide valuable content: B2B buyers typically consume 13 pieces of content before they finally make a purchase decision. With decision-making processes getting longer and longer, it is paramount that informative and educational content is readily available to properly nurture your buyers, and help them make more informed decisions.

These materials might include blog posts, written or video testimonials, success stories, webinars, whitepapers, and more.

Focus on customer service: To establish trust and loyalty with your buyers, providing exceptional customer service is key. And companies who excel at this grow their revenues 4-8% above the market!

While this will look different for each business, it may include providing quick and timely responses to their questions, offering additional help as they transition to your product, and dedicated post-sales support.

Leverage technology: While providing great customer service is key, it might also demand a lot more time and end up stretching your team thin.

Technology is your friend. AI-powered chatbots and custom landing pages can enable you to create an efficient and seamless buying experience for your customers, while ensuring there isn’t too much extra workload for your team.

Collaborate with other businesses: Like any other business, yours too is limited regarding the extent of what you can provide to your customers. But modern buyers love all-in-one solutions that meet multiple needs with minimal hassle.

Consider partnering up with other companies to either offer joint solutions, or to broaden the scope of your offerings.

This can serve multiple purposes: it will provide more value for your buyers, expose your business to a much wider audience, and differentiate your company from your competitors.

Don’t know where to start?

If you’ve never invested time on perfecting the B2B buyer journey for your business, it might be daunting to figure out where to begin.

Flowla is a great start!

You can unite all your sales materials in a single place to create bordered journeys that your customers can easily follow.

Then personalize everything automatically in a few seconds with your buyer’s name, company logo & colors for a sleek & custom look.

Want to see it up close? Book a quick call here.