Why Customer Experience Matters in B2B Sales

Regarding B2B sales, it’s not enough to just have a good product or service. It's a competitive area where buyers have high expectations, including a positive and smooth experience during the sales process. That is why customer experience in B2B sales matters. It combines all interactions between a business and customers, from the first impression and awareness to post-sales support. However, to learn more about the importance of customer experience for B2B sales, keep reading as we dig deeper into the key reasons optimizing your strategy can make or break deals.

Role of Customer Experience in B2B Sales 

Because of the overall nature, the importance of customer experience for B2B sales can be overlooked when dealing with other businesses. Although the end consumer is a significant focus of the overall success of any business model, so is the experience of different companies in the B2B model. Although a business themselves, that is no reason to ensure they too have a positive, memorable customer experience when dealing with your company.

Remember, B2B buyers are also consumers; they’re just different types of consumers. When someone acts as a consumer with your brand, business, or individual - it’s important to treat them the same, as everyone is human and deserves the customer experience when buying.

Why is Customer Experience Important for B2B Sales?

B2B sales depend on customer experience because each interaction, whether business or consumer, will affect your reputation and brand perception within the marketplace. It is your job as a business to provide the best customer experience possible every single time.

Without a well-planned focus on your B2B customer experience, you will likely suffer from poor customer retention levels, spend extra money on marketing when searching for new customers, and carry over the state of your profits at the end of the year when everything takes its toll.

If you want to be one of the best to do business with, then do that and never worry about the competition.

How B2B Differ from B2C

While you may think that B2B expectations are much lower than those of a B2C audience, the fact is that research has suggested that 80% of B2B customers are expecting to get a buying experience, and that means that it has to be just like what is offered to the B2C audience, and this is placing a ton of pressure on you as a business to step up your game. This is something you have to do because B2B customer experiences tend to fall short of the expectations set up by the B2C interactions.

If a consumer has a great buying experience with you, they will expect the same treatment when they come to you as a business. Most companies spend a lot of resources just to perfect and evolve their B2C experiences.

As Julia Roberts said in the movie Pretty Woman, “Big mistake. Huge!” Some businesses have admitted that B2B transactions are time-consuming and complicated, so equal thought needs to be given to revolutionizing B2B customer experiences.

These businesses want effortless interactions, advanced interfaces, personalized services, and recommendations based on previous purchase history. They have come to expect this in all B2C dealings, and a B2B journey should not be any different, especially if you want your business to stand out from the crowd.

Ways to Optimize Your B2B Customer Experience

Each part of the B2B sales process adds to the overall customer experience. The following are three areas to focus on to offer the best experience for your buyers:

B2B Lead Generation

B2B Appointment Setting

Setting up sales meetings with potential buyers should also be smooth. Provide flexible appointment options, use online scheduling tools to streamline the process, and train the sales team to qualify leads effectively while setting clear expectations for each meeting.

B2B Sales Meetings

Be sure to be informative and productive at the meeting. Before setting up sales meeting with the decision-maker, research about their requirements, company’s presence, product/service etc. plan accordingly, customize your approach each time. This includes preparing relevant material, setting up demos, or creating an environment encouraging collaboration and communication.

How to Setup B2B Sales Meetings with the Right Decision Makers

1.    Determine Major Obstacles

One of the most significant barriers to closing a deal is buyer objections early on. Usually, the lower-level employees need more authority to purchase things on their own. They also tend to concentrate on specifics of service or goods related to their jobs within the company, so they can often recognize the high-level values you provide.

Decision-makers can provide information about pressing business issues and what challenges the best solution overcomes to achieve an optimal fit as they speak with these customers. Understanding these obstacles will let you organize your selling strategy and successfully present solutions to these challenges.

You need to understand the players in the buying field. Research the business's leadership structure, its website, and LinkedIn. This will help you determine who the decision-makers are and provide you with the needed knowledge about the leadership dynamic and how it influences purchasing choices. If you find out who the gatekeepers are during your research, you have hit the jackpot. Gatekeepers will be covered a bit later.

2.    Plan out your approach 

Before you contact anyone, you need to have value business reason. Well, value business reason is a valid business reason. The value business reason will never center on your price, product, you, or even any bright ideas that you have, which will be the main reason these businesses want to talk to you right now.

3.    Get Seen by Acting if you Belong There and being observed.

The first thing that you should do is use the “How to a Socialite” manual as a type of model. You want to place yourself where people are going to see you then act just like you belong there. The whole idea behind this is so that whenever you call a business, they will accept your call if they are familiar with your name, plus it also helps to establish a bit of credibility.

Next, begin interacting with them in an appropriate but non-sales type of way. You need to be more like an expert that is just passing through way if they have LinkedIn or X (Twitter).  According to Rain Group Research, statistics show that 82% of buyers will check on the seller on LinkedIn before they ever except a meeting.

4.     Get Past the Gatekeepers

It is very common for you to run into a gatekeeper during scheduling. Gatekeepers are the low-level workers who guard the important time of the decision-makers. They are often employed in administrative positions. When you make appointments, you have to talk to the gatekeeper, but just remember they are not your enemies.

The first step is to politely ask who you should speak to and briefly explain the reason that you are calling because these are the staff members who screen hundreds of calls each day. You should consider to asking, “Who is in charge of the sales department in your business?” Even if the gatekeepers ask about your product, be sure to avoid pitching it to them and do not use a call script. You want to stick to a brief value pitch, otherwise, they could object, and you may not get to talk to who you need to.

Also, remember that these workers have good connections within their companies. While you are the account within your database, be sure to note their names and use their assistance to find the right contacts.

In conclusion, customer experience is crucial in B2B sales, transcending mere product or service quality. B2B buyers, like consumers, expect seamless, positive interactions, influencing brand perception and reputation. A superior B2B customer experience enhances retention, reduces marketing costs, and boosts profits. Businesses must offer personalized, efficient experiences from lead generation to sales meetings with decision-makers. 

By addressing unique B2B challenges and expectations, companies can build lasting relationships and drive success. In a competitive market, optimizing the B2B customer experience is essential for standing out and thriving. Investing in this area ensures stronger, long-term business growth.