Why customer experience is so important for b2b

Customer experience or UX is so important for b2b business because so many of us are getting it wrong.

Where does the customer experience responsibility lie? This is the problem. It is everyone's responsibility but needs to be spearheaded at the top. Usually motivated by marketing's desire to create a real point of difference in the marketplace, customer experience is one of those really tricky things to implement because there are so many people that influence it. The client or prospect now has so many touch points across their journey with us.

Why is it so important in b2b? Chris Aldard a CX expert makes some really valid points:

• Because your brand has no secrets and most buyers have done their research (e.g. from other customers, analysts etc.) before they even speak to you (or your salesperson) 70% don't engage until they are ready to buy according to Gartner.
• Salespeople are coin-operated and paid based on quarterly performance and most B2B clients need at least a year, if not years, to make big purchasing decisions. So if the salespeople don't make their number, they leave. There are no KPIs around CX and no commitment to creating lifetime customers.
• Because customers want trusted partnerships with vendors, where the experience they receive from the vendor, across all functions is as joined up and frictionless as possible. They do not want transactional, short-term interactions. And guess what, they can smell a target-driven salesperson a mile off whatever their title! Our organisations are not set up this way.

Here is a short video from McKinsey and Co talks  b2b customer experience and how it is different to a b2c experience.

Nicholas Maechler discusses in this video:

• Talks about user and the buyer and prescriptors.
• The different journeys for each of the customers.
• Role of digital tools

Visit our knowledge center to learn more about customer experience.